


Frozen: A Project's Past

by Chinsangan



Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Mystery, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-05-30 13:26:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 57
Words: 437,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6425776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chinsangan/pseuds/Chinsangan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>New to Arendelle's School for the Gifted, you try to build a new life for yourself over the one you lost. You meet new friends, new enemies and even love. However after you discover one of Arendelle's students has the power over ice, her past starts to come back to haunt her... and so does yours. Elsa x Male Reader</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The New Kid

# Chapter 1: The new kid

(Y/N) = Your name

A new school and new people – unfortunately, you know none of them. Making new friends hasn’t been much trouble for you in the past, but then, you always had at least one other friend to help you along. You approach the school and look around. Not much commotion outside – however, there are lots of high end cars parked.                                                                                             

 

“Perfect,” you mumble, “A bunch of rich snobs. I’ll fit in great here.”

You enter the school, spotting the name so prominently shown as you walk in: Arendelle’s School for the Gifted.                                                                                                                                

 

“The gifted, huh?” you snicker “Yeah, gifted with rich parents.”

You realize you are being too moody, too quick to judge. You know better than that.

You snap out of your trance and continue through the main entrance.

“Think you’ll do better here, I mean this isn’t your choice,” a voice taunts.

“True, I didn’t choose to be here. But hey, I am better than before.” You reply.

 

No response, empty.

 

You shake your head, imagining how that must look on the outside. Luckily nobody is paying attention to you, and you can’t blame them either. Most of them are in fancy clothes representing their “Upper Class” status. You notice another man that seems out of place. He has blonde hair and is quite bulky. He seems more like a worker then a “gifted student”.

 

“What’s the low class doing here?” one of the students taunts.

“Do you even have your own car? Or better clothes?” another asks.

“Shove off!” He snarls, getting personal with one of the other students.

They quickly disperse after his threat.

 

You walk over to him. He seems like someone who you might find tolerable.

“Hi, my name is (Y/N). I’m new here.”

He turns towards you and scans you. “Guessing you aren’t like them. You don’t look like it.”

You don’t know whether that is a compliment or an insult, but you ignore it.

 

“My name’s Kristoff Bjorgman. Nice to meet someone who doesn’t judge by appearance.”

“Well, that’s not true,” you joke. “I can tell most of these guys are stuck up and likely annoying”

Kristoff laughs with you. “Yes, very true.”

Seems you made a friend – or at least someone who you can make a friend.

 

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You and Kristoff tour around the school, trying to find your classrooms before class, figuring out you have some classes together, and looking at some of the cute girls. They may be snobs, but they are still nice to look at.

 

You eventually find your way to the cafeteria, which blows both of your minds. It’s enormous. Most of the students are residing here before classes start.

“Is there even a table for us? Can you see one?”

As you look around you see an empty table.

You turn to Kristoff. “Hey, I found one!”

You point towards it and he acknowledges, so you both begin to walk over there.

 

As you push through the crowd – which continuously gives you both condescending looks – you get closer to the table. However, you learn that it is not empty. One girl is sitting there, alone, reading a book. She has beautiful gold hair tied in a bun; her skin is pale but it compliments her. She is wearing a pair of light blue jeans with a purple turtle neck. She seems to have purple hands too, but you’re too far away to see her hands. You don’t care – you think she is beautiful.

 

“I know what you’re thinking, and no. Don’t even get any ideas. I will hit you,” the same voice from earlier threatens.

“Lighten up a bit, she’s probably crazy. Or mean. Or both,” You respond “And how can you hit me?”

“Uh huh, just don’t get too excited, lover boy,” It replies.

 

Kristoff looks at you awkwardly. “Who are you talking too?”

“Um… Hehe,” you chuckle as you scratch the back of your head. “Just myself. I can give some good advice sometimes.”

Your smile is contagious as Kristoff smiles too.

Kristoff breaks the smiling fest. “So I saw you staring at the girl over there.”

You look frantically back and forth between Kristoff and the blonde.

“No, why would I? I mean pshh, look at her. She probably-“you look over at her and she is gone.

 

 

 

You start looking around, trying to find her. You step into a different portion of the crowd to get a different angle when you bump into someone. You keep your balance but the other person fell to the ground. You shake your head and look down at the person. It is the same girl that you were looking at. You shoot a quick glance to Kristoff, who gives you a double thumbs up with a sarcastic look on his face. You turn back towards her as she gathers her books. You bend down to help her but only one book is left, which you handily grab for her.

 

“Here is your book,” you hand over to her. “Also, sorry. I didn’t mean to bump into you.”

She looks into your eyes then to her book. She quickly grabs it and walks past you. You turn to watch her go.

 

She disappears into the crowd in an instant.

 

You turn to Kristoff who is wearing a big goofy smile and is clapping slowly.

 “Very nice, very nice, indeed. Next time, she may even mutter a word to you.”

You laugh and give him a friendly push as you walk past him.

“Yeah, yeah. I’d like to see you do better.”

The two of you make your way out of the cafeteria laughing.

 

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Your first class begins and you find a seat. You are the first one there, so you have free reign to choose a seat. You choose one in the middle away from the door, which is to the left. Other classmates start pouring in. Unfortunately, Kristoff has another class, meaning you are on your own.

 

“Great, first class and I don’t know anyone. Not a single person to talk to,” you mumble to yourself.

“You know, if I actually cared, I would be hurt by that comment,” the same voice from earlier replies.

You shake your head with a smile. “I guess it’s a good thing I know well enough then, huh?”

 

No response.

 

“Of course,” you say under your breath.

 

You watch more people enter the class, but one person catches your eye: the girl from the cafeteria!

She doesn’t notice you, or anyone else for that matter. You keep your eyes on her until she sits down. She is to the right of you, one row up. Her blonde hair is very distracting, as it keeps dragging your attention to it. You shake your head and shrug it off.

“It’s just a girl,” you think. “A cute one, but a simple girl all the same.”

 

The class fills up and the teacher walks in. He is wearing a tacky sweater vest, but his entire outfit just screams out “stereotypical nerdy teacher.”

He lowers his glasses as he glances over all of you. He stops at you, giving you a stare that makes you shiver.

“Young man,” he says pointing at you. “Please, stand beside me.”

 

You slowly get out of your chair and follow his instructions. When you reach his side he spins you to face the class.

“Everyone, I’d like your attention.” He waits a moment to get the attention he asks for. “We have a new student in our school.”

 

You look around the room, seeing all these rich looking teenagers. They are paying attention – for the most part. When you look to the back of the class you see two students: A red haired woman and a brown haired man. They seem caught up in their own conversation and are in close proximity to each other.

 

“Ms. Anderson? Mr. Westergaard?” He inquires.

The two shoot back to their respective desks – which are right beside each other – and give their full attention to the teacher.

 

“Thank you. Now, as I was saying.” He clears his throat and continues. “I expect you to show your utmost respect to this boy and make him feel welcome here.

“I’m, ah… I’m not a boy. I mean I am a boy but not a boy. I’m a man. An aged male figure.” you say in your own weird way.

Some of the class chuckles while others stay completely serious. The teacher looks at you strangely.

“This man,” he states looking towards you. You can’t help but smile. “Now, before I send you back to your seat, do you have anything to say?”

 

“Do you have anything to say?” the familiar voice inquires. “Because, I could speak for you”

 

You ignore what you heard and regain a straight posture.

“My first name is (Y/N) and, um… I hope this place is alright. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen” you say with a goofy smile.

The teacher dismisses you so you quickly walk back to your seat and sit down.

 

A half hour goes by and you’ve fallen into your own little world. You are just thinking about past events, your old school, your old life. But, it is obvious that you are not paying attention. The teacher notices this and grabs his clipboard.

“Mr… Hmm, that’s strange.” He pauses for a second, seeing you still staring off into space. “(Y/N)!” he shouts

 

You snap back to reality and notice that as you were day dreaming, you’ve been staring at the blonde girl’s head for who knows how long.

“Has the back of Ms. Anderson’s head been teaching the class for you? Should I step down as a teacher?”

 

The class looks at you but you are confused. When he said Ms. Anderson last time, he was talking about the girl in the back.  “Sisters?” you think.

You give the teacher your full attention “No, sir. I was just looking at the… door.”

The class laughs as you soon discover the flaw in your lie.

“The door? Mr… (Y/N) the door is on the other side of the classroom.”

 

“Nice one, (Y/N). How are you getting out of this?” your trusted voice asks.

 

You again ignore it, trying to find a way to respond. You notice that the blonde hasn’t looked back at you. Or, at least, you didn’t see her look at you. You assumed she would.

“That reminds me. What is your last name?” he asks you. “It is not listed on the attendance”

 

You widen your eyes for a moment and then, a sudden – yet familiar – sensation comes over you. Your left arm begins to throb in pain. You grab it and try to answer his question.

“Well, sir, that’s quite the…“ A large pain shoots through your arm. “Question…”

 

You start to gather the attention of the class. This gets you on edge. You know what is happening – you know exactly what COULD happen. That makes it worse. Your arm is really affecting you and your teacher keeps pressuring for an answer.

 

“Oh, you were right. You are SO much better than before. I applaud you, really. Listen idiot, just breathe. You are overreacting to a fair question.”

 

You listen and breathe. This helps a little bit, but you need some space. Luckily, the bell goes off and students begin to leave. They ignore what has happened – just a funny little stunt. You grab your things and start to leave as well. “That was a short period,” you think.  


The teacher stops you from leaving by putting his hand on your chest.

“You are okay, (Y/N)?” he asks with concern.

You play it off as if your arm didn’t feel like it was in lava, “Yeah, just… Getting used to the place. It’s different from my last school.”

He focuses on you, trying to see through a possible lie. “That is relatable. I used to be a new kid here too.”

 

“How? He looks old,” the voice questions.

 

You smile then run off.

“Kristoff is in my next class,” you say to yourself. “That’ll be helpful.”

 

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The pain in your arm has worn off, but it is replaced by numbness, as it usually is. That hasn’t happened in a long time, and usually you can deal with it well. However, being in a school again, with people around… It’s stressful on you – on your psyche and your body.

 

You continue down the hall to your next class. On your way you recognize two people: a red haired woman and a brown haired man. “Think, (Y/N), think. What did he call them” you say quietly.

It comes to you. “Ms. Anderson and Mr. Westergaard!” you shout out.

As soon as you do you throw your hand over your mouth, hoping they didn’t hear you. Unfortunately for you, they both heard you and looked right at you. The fact that you had your mouth covered by your hand made it obvious you called them out.

 

They laughed and the woman kissed the man on the cheek before she started walking towards you, waving. You keep your hand over your mouth and try to move out of sight. You shuffle to the right behind a crowd, but someone bumps into you and you fall on the floor.

 

It’s Kristoff!

 

“Whoa, (Y/N), you see a ghost?” he jokes, offering a hand to help you up.

“No, just did something silly,” you respond.

He reaches into his backpack and grabs something – a carrot. He looks at you before zipping up his pack.

“You want one?”

You shrug. “Why not?”

He grabs another and hands it too you. Before you even start he takes one giant bite and half of it is gone.

“You hungry?” you ask him.

He thinks for a second, taking your question seriously. “No, not really.”

“Kristoff, you ate half the carrot. You can’t say you aren’t hungry,” you point out with a smile.

 

He looks at you, and then spots someone behind you. He points, obviously telling you to look that way. Before you can turn you hear a girl speak.

 

“You know, most people call me Anna. I think you’re one of the first to call me by my last name, other than teachers.”  She giggles.

 


	2. Anderson Sisters

# Chapter 2: The Anderson Sisters

 

You turn around relate the voice to a face, but you already know who it will be. To no surprise, it is the same girl you saw in your class, and the same girl you caught the attention of a minute ago. You stand there speechless – you simply stare at her without anything to say. Kristoff notices this and nudges your back.

 

“Right! Yes, I’m sorry about that. I don’t know your name so I just took what I knew and said it.”

You smile, rubbing the back of your head. Kristoff looks at you with a curious look, then back to Anna.

 

“It’s not a problem at all,” she points out, extending her hand to you. “Once again, my name is Anna. Anna Anderson.”

 

You shake her hand “(Y/N). I don’t really have a last name,” you smile, as to shake the fact off.

She gives you an odd look but then a smile takes over her face. She then turns to Kristoff.

“And you are?” she asks, offering her hand again.

Kristoff shakes her hand. “Kristoff Bjorgman, nice to meet you.”

 

The handshake between the two ends. Anna then spreads her attention between the two of you.

 

“So I guess you’re both new here, huh? I should know. I know EVERYONE in this school. Some of them are jerks, but a lot of people are really nice once you get to know them! Would I lie to you?”

You laugh at the fact that she has to point out that she doesn’t lie. However, you do believe her. She seems innocent enough.

 

“Yeah,” Kristoff answers, “my folks think I should try and get a good education. This place promises a good one, so…”

“Your folks must be good people then, huh?” you ask.

“Well, they aren’t my real parents, but they take care of me well enough. They are an interesting bunch, let me tell you!” He lets out a small laugh.

 

Anna watches you both. She smiles while looking at you two talk, she can tell you have a good friendship. Curious on the matter, she brings it up.

“So how long have you two known each other?”

You and Kristoff look at each other. “About 45 minutes” you answer in unison.

Anna’s face changed to shock “Wow, really? I could have sworn you’ve known each other for longer. You seem to get along pretty well.”

 

Kristoff laughs, “I am a likable guy, you know.”

“Yeah sure,” you interject. “Remember those guys you talked to when I showed up?”

“What guys?” Anna asked.

Kristoff sat there for a second then responded. “Never got their names, just knew their attitudes.”

 

As Kristoff and Anna continue to talk you look at your arm. You attempt to move it with success. “Good, it’s back,” you think.

You wait, expecting to hear a comment on that but none is made. A double win.

 

“We all have the same class next!” Anna cheerfully expresses.

You chime in at that sentence and remember that you have classes.

“We should get going then!” You suggest.

“Yeah, let’s get going,” Kristoff agrees, beginning to walk in the direction of the next class with Anna and you on either side of him.

 

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The three of you sit side by side with Anna being in the middle. The classroom is full of chatter and your little trio is adding to it. While talking, you notice the same guys who were bugging Kristoff as they walk in. You don’t tell Kristoff, but you do keep that in the back of your mind.

 

“Hey, Anna, who was the other guy you were with? Westergaard, I believe his name was,” you inquire.

“Oh, yeah. That’s my boyfriend, Hans. He’s so sweet. I really love him.”

Kristoff gives her an odd look. “I heard you’ve only been dating for week.”

“Well, yeah,” Anna says, blushing “But when it’s true love you can feel it. (Y/N), you know what I mean right? Do you believe in true love?”

 

Both Anna and Kristoff look at you, waiting for your response.

“I don’t know, why don’t you ask your last girlfriend?” your trusty voice remarks

“I think…” you pause for a moment. “I think that true love is possible, but rare. It’s something you just know. You feel it with all your heart and you never let that person go.”

Both of them look at you. You don’t even look back – you just stare blankly at the ground. You don’t even realize you just said what you did. It was natural. Automatic. You have loved before, but has it been true love? Your mind wonders back to your old school – your old life. All your friends sit at a lunch table and smile at you when you approach. Your girlfriend always had a certain face when you were around – a face of comfort. It was the best time of your life.

 

Kristoff supposes you will come back to earth in time. “So, you think you love this guy when you just started dating? How long have you known each other?”

“Well, it was a blind date, so not too long. But I swear it is love! I really love this guy!”

Kristoff shrugs “Well, it’s your life. You can think what you want.”

“What does that mean?” Anna questions. Her voice indicates that she feels offended.

 

“Hey, fuck face!” a voice calls from across the room.

This grabs your attention and you follow where you think the sound came from. It’s the same guys who were annoying Kristoff. It isn’t a surprise to you that they would be causing trouble.

“Ha, guys, he responds to it. Don’t you, fuck face!”

 

Anna and Kristoff are too caught up in their own conversation to realize what is happening. You’re on your own here. Or are you?

“Let me take this, (Y/N). I won’t do anything bad.”

Before you can react you feel as if you are asleep.

Kristoff notices you get out of your chair and walk over to a group of students. He recognizes them right away and rushes to aid you.

 

You lean in to the group and link eyes with the one who yelled at you.

“So, you like fuck faces, huh? Well I’m sure if you keep asking I can make you the literal meaning of a fuck face. Your choice.” You wink at him and proceed to leave.

“Hey!” he says, “Who do you think you’re talking to?”

You spin around and rush him, getting in his face. “I think I’m talking to a spoiled brat who thinks money compensates for strength. You think that throwing money at someone will hurt them? Huh? Well trust me, tough guy, I’m the real deal. So sit down and enjoy your time with your friends, unless you want a lower class to kick your ass.”

 

You turn around and sit back in your seat, leaning your head back for a moment. The snob stands there in shock then sits back down with his friends. They begin laughing in no time.

You wake up and look around. Nothing is different. Nothing happened. Good.

 

Kristoff moves to your side “Dude, what did you say to him? He looks freaked out.”

“What?” you reply

“You talked to him,” Kristoff answered. “I saw you walk up to them. Seems both of us have tangled with those guys today.”

You hide your surprise in a smile. “You just gotta be polite sometimes, you know?”

Kristoff shrugs and heads back to his seat beside Anna.

 

“What the hell?” you say in your thoughts

“What? I took care of it and it didn’t have a huge effect,” The voice argues back.

You shake your head with disappointment and your expression follows.

“Don’t screw this up like he did,” you warn.

“Don’t worry (Y/N), I am nothing like him. You aren’t either. He’s an outcast.”

“A strong one,” you interrupt.

 

Silence fills your mind. You haven’t even realized that the teacher has arrived and is taking attendance. You contemplate for a moment.

“Just don’t do crap like that again. Please.”

You hear a sigh, “Fine. You rob me of my fun all the time, (Y/N)”

“That’s cause you don’t have the best definition of fun. Neither of you do.”

 

You start to focus again when you notice the blonde girl from the cafeteria and your previous class standing at the front of the class. She seems nervous and is holding a book, presenting it to the class. You see that her hands are covered by purple gloves.

 

“Ok, that makes sense,” you mutter out loud.

Anna turns towards you. “What?”

“Oh, well, I’ve seen her before and just now saw the gloves. I thought she had purple hands for a bit.”

Anna chuckles, but covers her mouth so as not to be heard by anyone.

“She wears gloves all the time. I don’t really know why. Weren’t you staring at her last class?” she giggles.

You start going red. “I wasn’t! I was just day dreaming and it so happened to be at her head. Must have been the way I was sitting.”

Anna giggles even more. “You’re blushing and everything. Oh my god!”

 

You turn away and hope that she was joking about the blushing part. You really didn’t mean to stare at her. You even thought that her hair caught your attention.

 

“You know, I could ask her about it,” Anna comments

You look at her with wide eyes. “Wait, why?”

“Well,” she starts, “she is my sister, so it wouldn’t be too hard.”

You were right to think they were sisters. “At least I picked up on that,” you think.

 

“Ms. Anderson and Mr… Why don’t you have a last name?”

You slam your head on the desk, but you hit it harder then you thought.

“Ow,” you complain, holding your head.

“Both of you stand beside Ms. Anderson. The Andersons seem to be quite the troublemakers today,” the teacher states.

 

You rub your head then stand up.

“I apologize, sir, but Anna here wasn’t talking to me. It was my fault. You shouldn’t punish her for my actions.”

Anna looks up at you and you look down slowly shaking your head telling her to be quiet.

 

“Very well, Mr. (Y/N). First day and already causing trouble. Mr. Key already told me about your little incident earlier.” He then looks over at the blonde. “Which also happened to involve Ms. Anderson. Coincidence?

 

The blonde shakes her head at the teacher. “I’ve never talked to this student, Mr. Baxter. I swear it is a coincidence. I promise not to read in your class again. May I please sit down?”

 

“Now what kind of teacher would I look like if I did that? A softy, that’s what! Both you and Mr. (Y/N) will go down to the office immediately.”

 

The blonde seems anxious. She is clutching her book tightly and has a worried look on her face. You notice the room begins to become a tad colder, but it doesn’t bother you. You conclude that the open window by Mr. Baxter’s desk is causing it.

 

“Yes, Mr. Baxter,” she says.

She is about to leave but is stopped by Mr. Baxter.

“You will go down together.” He looks at you and flicks his head.

You jog over to her and you both proceed to walk down. The A/C must be on because it was chilly the whole walk.

 

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“So, what’s your name?” you ask her.

She doesn’t respond.

“Hm… Well, if you don’t want to talk then just chime up. Otherwise I will assume you want me to continue,” you say with a smile, knowing you have to have trapped her.

She sighs. “My name is Elsa. Now please stop talking. You have sent me to the office and I don’t need any more trouble that you will inevitably cause.”

 

Elsa. Her name was Elsa. She seemed cold and distant. Maybe because she is mad. Maybe you’re just easy to hate. But you seem to have a desire to keep talking.

“Actually, I didn’t send you here. Mr. Baxter did. Plus, that wasn’t even my fault! Something about your book or another got you here,” you protest.

“If you didn’t add your smart remarks then I may have been able to sit down again and continue with this day,” she bluntly states.

 

It’s evident that she doesn’t want to talk to you. You’ve gotten off on a bad foot with this girl. Lucky for you the office is at the other end of the school and since this is a huge school it will take some time.  Plus, you honestly can’t remember where the office is, so you can’t leave her.

 

“Ok, we may have gotten off on the wrong foot. Let’s start on the other one.” You lunge in front of her and grab her hand, intending to shake it.

She quickly pulls her hand back towards her and looks at you with fear.

“Why do you look like I am trying to hurt you?” you ask.

She observes you for a second. You didn’t flinch. You didn’t feel anything. She thinks on this as she proceeds down the hall.

 

“I know your sister Anna!” you point out, hoping that will be some sort of a conversation starter.

She looks at you for a moment then back in front of her. “Who doesn’t know Anna,” she says sarcastically.

 

You can’t get anywhere with this girl. She is a stone that won’t budge. You try to think of something to say that may get her attention but nothing comes to your mind. “I have an idea,” you think.

 

“Elsa, can I ask you a question?”

“You’re probably going to no matter what I say,” she predicts.

“I’m taking that as a yes,” you say. “What do you think of true love?”

 

She stops for a moment. Just a quick one, then continues walking.

“I have nothing to say about true love. I’m sure people can find it, but it is nothing to worry about in high school.”

 

By that answer alone you can tell that the Anderson sisters are very different from each other. Then again it was quite obvious from the moment you first saw her. Elsa ran away while Anna confronted you. But why is she talking now? Maybe she just wants your curiosity to be filled so you will go away? Or maybe she is bored.

 

As the two of you walk you really start to take in the detail of the school. You notice that each brick has a design that is completed by the other bricks around it. You want to look at them all!

“Maybe later,” you think.

 

The two of you are about to reach the office when the bell goes off.

“Again, that was such a short time. Why?” you question aloud.

“It’s the first day, so it’s shorter. They will double tomorrow and all the days following,” Elsa answers.

 

You didn’t expect a response from her, but you took it. She began walking away from the office to her next class. She completely ignores the instructions to go to the office.

 

“Hey, what about the office?” you inquire.

“Once the bell rings the teachers have no control over you. So, thank you for slowing me down.”

“That’s why you talked to me” you say to yourself, not intending for her to hear.

 

She walks away and disappears into the crowd of students that poor out of the classes.

“She is something else,” you say with a smirk.

 


	3. The Shadow

# Chapter 3: The Shadow

 

The next period went by with ease. You weren’t with Kristoff, Anna, or Elsa so you kept to yourself. Nobody really talked much during the class and no major events occurred that you barely remember the period.

 

But this period was sure to be interesting. It was lunch time. The cafeteria was completely full, but luckily Anna and Kristoff already saved a spot. Her boyfriend Hans was there too. You’ve never talked to Hans, but you assume he is a good guy.

 

“(Y/N)!” Anna waves. “Come here, we have a table.”

You barely hear her over the crowd, but you make your way over. Kristoff is sitting opposite of Anna and Hans. He seems off to you, but you don’t pay much attention to it.

 

“Hey guys,” you greet, taking your spot beside Kristoff. “I assume you’re Hans?”

He looks at you and smiles. “You called me by my first name!”

You smirk and shake your head. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

“Don’t be!” Anna adds. “If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have met you and Kristoff!”

 

 

You look over at Kristoff, who is eying Hans. “What’s his deal?” you wonder.

Hans is too busy paying attention to Anna to notice, vise-versa with Anna.

“Kristoff,” you say, nudging him. “What’s wrong?”

“Later,” he brushes you off.

 

Kristoff waves his hand to get Anna’s attention. “Hey Anna, can you show me the cafeteria food? I’m not sure what to get.”

Anna shoots out of her seat.

“Of course I will. This place has some of the best chocolates around.”

“That’s not… Eh, never mind.“ Kristoff mutters, walking with Anna.

 

Hans watches the two of them walk away. You try and grab his attention.

“You two seem to be close,” you remark.

“Yeah,” he shrugs, “she can be a little clingy.”

“That does se-“ you’re interrupted.

“But have you seen her ass? It’s perfect! Her whole body is stunning. I just want to see it.”

 

You choke on your food for a second and look up at him.

“Excuse me?” you ask

He didn’t notice your little reaction. “Yeah, I mean, she is so hot. Maybe one of the hottest girls I’ve ever seen. Her sister is pretty hot too. What I’d give to see her…”

 

You can’t believe your ears. Anna seems like such a kind hearted person while Hans has displayed himself as a total pig. You can’t say you’re the cleanest guy yourself, but not like this guy.

 

“You think I could manage a three way between the sisters?”

You are so ready to speak up but the return of Anna and Kristoff stops you.

“Hey cutie,” Hans says seductively, grabbing Anna’s waist and pulling it towards him.

She giggles and grabs his waist. They lean and begin kissing.

 

You and Kristoff look at each other. Both of you have sour faces.

Kristoff clears his throat to try and gain the attention of the two.

They don’t notice and continue to make out.

You clear your throat more adamantly and they turn to you.

 

“Oh, sorry” Anna says, blushing and giggling. “We get caught up sometimes”

“It’s hard to stay away from her,” Hans says, winking at you.

You cringe.

“Yeah, we noticed,” Kristoff sarcastically remarks.

 

“Hey, where is Elsa?” you ask, facing Anna.

“She disappeared after class,” Hans answers. “She doesn’t really show up until next period.”

“Yeah, she’s always been like that,” Anna continues. “She finds her own little spot to read and eat.”

Anna’s face slowly sinks. “I hardly see her outside of the house, and even then she isn’t the most talkative person out of three of us.”

“Three of you?” you ask.

 

Anna shoots her head up at you, her expression happier then what it was.

“Yes, we have a little brother named Olaf. He always tries to get Elsa to play, and he succeeds most of the time.”

 

She smiles for a moment. So innocent. So pure. “She is nice, really. She just has a hard time interacting with people.”

“Really? Define that for me,” you ask

Anna looks at you oddly, “Why?”

“Well,” you begin, “when Elsa and I were sent down to the office, she did talk to me. I wouldn’t say we were best buddies but she did respond to most of my questions.”

 

Anna’s face lights up. “Really! What’d you say?”

You shrug. “Honestly I was just using silly conversation starters and random BS comments.”

Anna didn’t seem to get discouraged.

“Maybe she is opening up!” She turns to Hans. “I think you should talk to her, Hans! I would love to formally introduce you to her.”

 

“Bad idea,” you think.

As you look at Kristoff–who has been surprisingly silent–you guess he has the same thought as you. But why? Did Hans make a similar comment to Kristoff?”

Anna and Hans get into a conversation of their own, completely forgetting you two.

“We’re gonna head off to class now. We’ll see you guys later,” Kristoff states.

He grabs your arms and drags you off.

 

Hans and Anna wave as they continue to talk

 

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Kristoff and you had fitness class last period. After the teacher finishes his speech he lets you all into the workout area. It’s massive, filled with machines and empty areas for one to workout in solitude.

 

“My old school has nothing on this place,” you say aloud.

The teacher looks over at you. “We take all areas of expertise seriously. The computer labs, science labs and others are very much like this one: State of the art.”

The teacher then gathers the attention of the class. “We will work out here today, and then tomorrow we will have a game of dodge ball in the gym. Sound good?”

 

The class cheers and heads to their own respective areas. Kristoff and you take the bench and bar. He sets 25 lbs on each side then lets you go first.

“You insult me, Kristoff,” you joke.

“Well, you are small, (Y/N),” he chuckles.

“Compared to you, yeah. But I have more strength than you think. Set something that challenges you.”

 

Kristoff smiles and grabs 125 lbs worth of weights.

“150. Not the hardest thing, but not a walk in the park. A good place to start.” He says, looking down at you as you lie on the bench.

You grab the bar and nod your head. Kristoff lightly grabs the bar and helps you lift it to position. You begin your workout. The 150 lbs isn’t too hard, but it will wear you down eventually.

 

“So, I was listening in on some guys around the school. I heard some interesting things about Hans,” Kristoff states.

“Yeah, I heard something interesting too. You first,” you say, not breathing too heavily yet.

“Well, I heard he has quite the record of getting into women’s’ pants. He is trying to set a record over his brother of women he’s slept with in high school.”

 

“Sounds like… They are all… scum bags…” you say, breathing heavily.

“Yes, well, the difference is that his brother told the girls he wasn’t interested in a relationship. He just wanted sex. Hans on the other hand lures women in with promises of love and then abandons them afterward. A real asshole.”

 

You come to a realization. “You… don’t… want…” You lift the bar onto its placeholder. “Anna to get hurt..?”

Kristoff looks at you awkwardly “Well, no. I mean, this is what I was talking about. She thinks its true love and it’s not. By the way, 43? That’s pretty good.”

You smile. “I can make it an even 50. Saddle up!” you say, getting into position.

 

You lift it and begin doing your last few. Kristoff goes into his own little world and begins leaning on your bar as you push up.

“Kristoff…” you mutter. “Kristoff!”

He realizes he is leaning on the bar and gets off it. “Sorry, sorry.”

You put it back and stare at Kristoff, smiling. He smiles back.

 

“Listen, I agree with you about Hans. He told me something while you and Anna went to grab some food.”

You and Kristoff switch roles. He gets ready to begin his workout and you prepare to help him if need be.

“He told me how much he thought Anna looked beautiful. Not in a romantic way, a completely vulgar way. He wants sex. He even mentioned trying to get in a threesome with Anna and Elsa.”

 

Kristoff chuckles as he lifts the bar. He raises it a few times before answering.

“I doubt Elsa or Anna will go for that. But I’m worried Anna might think so much about him that she may actually do it.”

You laugh. “You’ve known her for a day, Kristoff”

“Yeah,” he huffs. “But, I’ve known you… for a day also. Think about that.”

 

He is right. You feel like you really know Kristoff after such a short timeframe. Maybe you don’t know all his likes and dislikes, but you are good friends. “So, this is what a real friendship feels like. I’d forgotten,” you mutter quiet enough so Kristoff doesn’t hear you.

 

He finishes and you taunt him. “That was only 41 Kristoff, I beat you.”

“Wait I wasn’t paying attention! That’s not fair!” he argues.

“I wasn’t either,” you remark.

He shakes his head with a smile then flicks his head towards the sparring gloves.

“Oh yeah,” you grin.

 

The rest of class goes well as you and Kristoff finish a solid workout. He invites you to his place and you accept. You don’t have much to do tonight anyway. You do have to swing by work quickly, but that’s basically it. You and Kristoff head up to the showers to clean up. You’re both sweating like crazy and have a horrible stench.

 

As you and Kristoff head out the door you see Anna and Elsa talking in the parking lot. Talking would be an understatement, as it was evident that they were arguing.

“Why can’t he come over? He means a lot to me!” Anna argues

“Because you’ve just met him. I’m sorry but true love doesn’t happen like that.”

“What would you know of true love, Elsa?” Anna protested.

“I may not have the experience of it, but that doesn’t mean I am unknowing of what it is.”

 

Elsa seems quite calm, if a little agitated. But Anna is quite upset. You can tell this could get out of hand. You and Kristoff begin to walk over when you see a car speeding through the parking lot. Dangerous, but nobody is standing out in the open, so it should be fine.

 

“Why can’t I live my life Elsa!” she yells as she storms off.

Unfortunately Anna is walking in the way of the car and it isn’t slowing down.

“Anna!” Kristoff yells, bolting to aid her.

“Kristoff! Damnit,” you say to yourself, also rushing to get there.

 

Anna doesn’t notice the car but she does see you and Kristoff running towards her. Before she can react Kristoff lightly pushes her out of the way. But he is caught in front of the car now.

“Move Kristoff,” he says to himself but he can’t find the strength too.

“Kristoff!” you yell pushing him out of the way.

 

You used your momentum to push him so you were now caught by the car.

“Let’s see what I can do.” You smile.

Before the car can hit you jump over it, spinning horizontally and straightening your body as much as possible. You start to lower towards the car so you use one of your hands to give you the momentum and air time to escape landing on the car. You shift your body closer in as you land on the ground. Your left knee and both your hands break your fall while your right knee almost hits you in the jaw.

 

You take a few heavy breaths and chuckle. “I still got some moves.”

You raise yourself to see Kristoff holding Anna’s arms.

“Are you okay? You have to pay more attention when crossing the street.”

She smiles, blushing a little bit. You can tell she is a little shaken after seeing what just happened and how Kristoff saved her.

 

Elsa walks over to you. Her posture is ever so perfect.

 

“They won’t give you credit so I will. That was brave of you to save Kristoff.”

“Well, I wouldn’t have had to but he froze. I won’t steal his credit, though,” you say, watching Kristoff and Anna.

“You are quite acrobatic as well.”

Your eyes widen a bit and look over at Elsa. She is giving you a lighter look then she has given before, but it was still quite stern. You put on a goofy smile and rub the back of your head.

“Oh, you know. It comes on naturally.”

 

Elsa nods, but you can tell that she thinks you are lying. “Does she think I am trying to impress her? It honestly is natural,” you think.

Elsa is about to walk to her care but you grab her arm. You feel her arm tense up and you let go.

“Listen Elsa, Kristoff did just save your sister. I have no doubt you care about her so some part of you has to be grateful. I think it would be nice if you thanked Kristoff.”

 

She stares at you for a second, then at them. She sighs then walks over to them and joins the conversation briefly before heading to her car. Anna seemed confused and Kristoff was blushing. You run over to the group but it seems their conversation had reached its end. Anna and Kristoff walk their separate ways but you could see both their faces were quite red. You knew exactly what to talk about during the ride to Kristoff’s place.

 

He owned a truck. It was old and quite beat up but it worked pretty well. He started it up and pulled out of the parking lot. You noticed how different you two seemed from everyone else. You were wearing a simple outfit and so was Kristoff. Everyone else was mostly in high end clothes and some in suits. Their cars were crazy expensive too. Even Anna and Elsa’s cars were really high end.

 

“So, Kristoff,” you start. “How did Anna react to you saving her? Did she thank her valiant hero?”

“Laugh it up, tough guy. Besides, I noticed you with Elsa,” he said, trying to move the conversation onto you.

“Ah, but that was a simple chat. You two were beat red and everything. You’re still a little pink,” you laugh.

 

He smiles as he stops at a red light. You look out your window and notice a huge field. It wasn’t a minute away from the school. It was actually pretty secluded as well due to the fact that the majority of it was deeper than everything around it. You liked that spot and would remember it for later.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

It didn’t take long to get to Kristoff’s house. It was a 5 minute drive, give or take. He pulls up to a fair sized house that has a message written on the front window.  

 

“Psychic Pabbie, a reader of minds and teller of fortunes,” you read.

“Yeah, gramps likes to do that as a side activity. He is the real thing, let me tell you,” Kristoff explains.

 

“A psychic, huh?” a voice states. “What could they find in your mind, (Y/N)?”

 

“By the way, we have a big and odd family so… be prepared,” he says.

That could never have prepared you for what you saw. A group of  children swarm you and Kristoff. At closer observation they aren’t kids, as you previously thought, but fully developed individuals.

Kristoff leans in your ear. “They are small, but don’t even mention it. They haven’t realized yet.”

You snicker and go along with it.

 

They barrage you with a hundred questions. Literally, you counted.

As the questions kept coming in you heard a voice howl over top of all others.

The family then split into a line for an older one to walk through, ending up in front of you. He waves his hand for you to follow him. Kristoff gives you a thumb up for reassurance. Before you leave you shout out.

“Hey Kristoff, tell them about Anna!”

 

Kristoff stares at you as the flood of family members overwhelm him with questions.

You burst out laughing as you watch the scene.

 

You arrive in a small room with a table and two chairs. He urges you to sit in the one on the left. You do so.

“I suspect you are Pabbie?” you ask.

He nods his head, then stands on the table and meets you eye to eye.

“Your aura is… different. An anomaly,” he states.

“Oh… That’s… cool?” you respond, not really knowing how to take that.

 

He touches your head with his hand. You feel a rush of thoughts. It’s like your brain is being sucked out. You push back, but maintain the stare.

“You are not alone,” he states.

You are extremely shocked. He touched your head for a second and concluded you weren’t alone. Did he know about the others?

 

“Come on out, Shadow of the mind,” he demands.

“I think he is talking to me,” the voice states.

“Don’t you dare!” you say in your mind, but before you know it you feel like you are sleeping.

 

“Shadow, huh? That’s a new one,” you say very coldly. “But, I do like it.

“You are the second, the medium?” Pabbie asks.

Shadow looks at him for a moment. He has cold eyes as he stares at the old man.

“I suppose you think there is a third then. You wouldn’t call me a medium otherwise.”

Pabbie nods. “You have quite the secret. Three people in one body… How does that work?”

 

Shadow begins pacing around the room. “Who cares how it works. It just is.”

“You lie,” Pabbie accuses. “You like to know things. You like knowledge. The fact that you don’t know how you were brought to this earth is something that haunts you.”

Shadow doesn’t react. He simply keeps his hands behind his back and a neutral expression on his face.

“Answers that I can’t find because they have been lost in time.”

“A rational answer,” Pabbie points out.

Shadow chuckles in a dark way. “What did you want?”

 

Pabbie follows Shadow’s movement as he continues in circles around the room.

“I wanted to see (Y/N), but to be honest I was not expecting you and the other. A dangerous thing you hold in yourself.”

“It’s contained,” Shadow snarls.

“It’s breaking free of the false chains you have it in. But, let’s move onto another topic.”

Shadow becomes curious. “What other topic?”

“Elsa,” he responds.

 

Shadow laughs. “I didn’t realize she was a topic for me.”

“You find her intriguing. So does (Y/N).”

“What’s your point, old man?” Shadow demands.

 

“You aren’t as inhuman as you think. That’s my point. From what I have seen you believe yourself to be an outcast. But you think yourself better than everyone else. This may be true in some aspects, but you are simply human. Just because you don’t have a body of your own doesn’t mean you aren’t a human being.”

 

Shadow snickers. “You have an odd way of putting things, old man.”

“You also think it to be an aid for the two of you. You both keep the third in check, and it comes with perks. You have a plan for dealing with pain, I saw.”

 

Shadow nods. “It’s no use explaining it to you. Now, as fun as this had been, I am letting (Y/N) talk. He’ll likely beg for you to not tell anyone. Be petty about it. He should act stronger.”

“Like you?” Pabbie asks. “Tell me, what would being similar accomplish? The fact that you are both so different causes strength. But, you already knew that.”

 

“You’re using my own ideas,” Shadow states.

“Then why did you fight them?” Pabbie asks

“To see how far you could go. Now I know, and you won’t have any more information out of us.”

 

You trip over yourself as you wake up. You know exactly what happened. You turn to Pabbie, who seems very calm.

“You…”

“Talked to him? Yes.”

“Shadow… He is now Shadow,” you whisper to yourself.

“I will not inform Kristoff. But listen to me here, (Y/N). You have a dangerous side to you, but you can make yourself whole.”

 

“Make myself whole?” you think. “What does that mean? And he knows about him… about that beast. That murderer.”

 

You let out a huff before leaving the room. Kristoff is still being swarmed with questions but Pabbie aids him by calling the family. You and Kristoff sit on the couch. You look disturbed and Kristoff can see it.

“Gramps has a way of pushing buttons. Don’t think too hard on it. So, wanna play some games?

You smile. “Hell ya!”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You enjoyed your time at Kristoff’s. The family stopped barraging you with questions and they were actually nice people. You can see where Kristoff gets his manners from. Well, when he decides to use them. But you had to go. You had to drop by work. Before you left, you asked if you could borrow Kristoff’s guitar until tomorrow. He agreed.

 

You thanked Kristoff and his family for having you and went on your way. Your work wasn’t too far. In fact you purposely looked for a place close to the school. It was a corner store called Oaken’s.

 

 It was a simple place but the owner, Oaken, was really nice. He let you keep your stuff in the back. You didn’t have too much anyway. He didn’t pay you much, but you asked for even less then he was planning to offer. You needed the money, but only for simple and trivial things.

 

You arrived to drop off some of your school stuff and hang your clean clothes up for tomorrow.

“How are you doing, (Y/N)? You look quite exhausted. Maybe a school blowout will cheer you up? All school supplies half off?”

You smile “Oaken, I already bought my school stuff from you.”

“Oh yes, I remember. Well remember to tell your friends!

 

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You kept the guitar you took from Kristoff to your destination, the field you saw earlier that day. Something drew you back there, you couldn’t explain it. It was very dark; you guessed it was around 11 or 12 at night. But you felt safe.

 

There was a need to relax. Pabbie worked you up a bit. But now you have a name for one of them. Shadow – the one who is always watching. You kind of like the name and you think he does too. He made it adamant on the way here that it was not his chosen name, but he accepted being called it. It was enough for you. “He may be a dick, but he’s my dick,” you think.

 

“Wait, no… that doesn’t work. Well, whatever,” you chuckle to yourself.

“Never refer to me as your dick again” Shadow states.

You start laughing uncontrollably. He snickers.

 

You arrive at the field. It’s empty and peaceful – just as you thought it would be. You find a nice spot and lie on your back, placing the guitar on your stomach. You get ready and start playing it. You replace the piano of the song.

 

_All around me are familiar faces_

_Warn out places, warn out faces_

_Bright and early for the daily races_

_Going nowhere, going nowhere_

_Their tears are filling up their glasses_

_No expression, no expression_

As you sing a figure approaches the field. You don’t notice them.

 

They carefully walk down the hill, holding a book and a flashlight. They are wearing a purple sweater with pajama bottoms. Their hair stood out in the darkness, but it was covered in a hood. They sat down but heard the sound of your singing. They quickly hide but realize you didn’t see them. They remove their hood to reveal beautiful blonde hair.

 

It’s Elsa!

 

She watches you as you lay there singing.

 

_Children waiting for the day they feel good_

_Happy birthday, happy birthday_

_And they feel the way that every child should_

_Sit and listen, sit and listen_

_Went to school and I was very nervous_

_No one knew me, no one knew me_

_Hello teacher tell me what’s my lesson_

_Look right through me, look right through me_

Elsa gets a little closer to you and recognizes you.

“(Y/N)?” she whispers. “You sing?”

 

You finish your song and lay the guitar beside you.

“Well, I would say that was good for today.”

You stand up and stretch, then start feeling your muscles.

“Ok, they feel fine. Let’s see if I’m any worse at this.

 

You assume a handstand and keep it balanced. You breathe, then move your left arm up.

You held the position for 20 seconds. Elsa couldn’t believe it, she tried to move a little bit but she stepped on a twig. She quickly ducked in the bush she was by.

 

“What was that?” you question, starting to lose your balance “Whoa, whoa!”

You lose it then fall on your back.

Elsa giggles a little bit, but she holds it in quite well.

 

“Ooooowwww!” you complain.

“Stop being a baby, (Y/N),” Shadow prodded

You attempt to try the hand stand a few more times but can’t seem to get it again.

“Man, I was doing well,” you sigh.

 

You get up and start walking around. Elsa throws her hood on so her hair isn’t visible.

“I think I had a good first day,” you say aloud. “I met Kristoff and his family. He is a good guy. Anna is good too. Her boyfriend isn’t good enough for her.”

 

Elsa nods her head to agree with your most recent statement.

 

“But a front can be convincing. I can’t hold it against Anna, she is too sweet. Plus I think her and Kristoff might have a thing going – at least, maybe in the future. They were blushing like crazy at the parking lot.”

 

Elsa thought back to her time at home. Anna was talking about Kristoff a bit. She could see it, and Kristoff did seem better then Hans, though she didn’t trust either of them completely – Hans especially.

 

“And then there is Elsa,” you say.

 

“Me?” she says softly.

 

“She seemed distant and cold. But there was something about her. Kristoff told me that she was known to be solitary. Anna said that too. Kristoff got a lot of information on the first day. What a resourceful guy,” you continue to ramble.

 

Elsa found some sort of enjoyment in eavesdropping on you, but she had to get back. She quietly made her way up the hill started walking away. You saw her at the top of the hill and she noticed. She began to run away and you bolted up. She had a head start on you by the time you got to the top so you decided to let it go.   


When you turned away you saw another figure watching from a distance. It began to walk away once you noticed it. That gave you a bad feeling. But you shrugged it off.

“Probably just an elderly man taking a stroll,” you say to yourself.

 

You run back down the hill to grab the guitar and started making your way back to Oaken’s. Something odd came into your mind. It was a thought – a person. You started thinking of Elsa.

You wonder why, but just shrugged that off too. You seem to be good at that.

 


	4. The Ice Queen

# Chapter 4: The Ice Queen  


The next few days went quite well. You continue to visit your new favourite spot, the field. You continue to borrow Kristoff’s guitar and practice songs. Elsa visited a couple of times. She enjoyed the company as she read, even if you didn’t acknowledge her existence.

 

You and Kristoff spent a lot of time together those days. You were pretty much best buddies now, even within the short amount of time you have known each other. You work on homework together and even practice music together. He is quite the drummer.

 

Its Friday now and that means the weekend is almost here! But school has just started. You enter your class and sit by yourself. You all take your respective seats and prepare for the lecture. It goes well, but you are distracted for most of the class.

 

“What did you and Pabbie talk about?” you ask Shadow, in your own mind.

“You ask this now? It has been 4 days since I talked to him,” Shadow retorts.

“Well, to be honest, I kind of forgot until now.”

You hear a sigh. “You… are an idiot.”

“I love you too,” you say, smiling.

 

Your smile, and sentence, carries over to the real world. Thankfully you didn’t say it too loud. Hell, you don’t even realize you said it aloud. Elsa did, however. Elsa looks back and you and sees your smile. Her face shows confusion, to your smile and your words.

 

“Who is he talking too?” she asks herself. “Maybe day dreaming? That makes the most sense. Yes, day dreaming.”

She looks down at her pages which are full of sketches. They are mostly sketches of snowflakes and one large canvas during winter time. However, on one of her pages are people.

 

The bell rings shortly after Mr. Key finishes his lecture and assigns homework for the weekend. Everyone gets up and begins to walk out the door. You notice Elsa is a little more disorganized then she usually is. Every time you have seen her she is out the door first and completely ready.

 

She quickly grabs her pages and starts to walk out the door. One of her pages drops to the ground without her noticing. Most of the other students step over it but you grab it as you walk by. Something compels you to look at this. You open it up and are surprised to see what’s drawn.

 

There is a drawing of Anna and Kristoff leaning in close over an object. You recognize this from yesterday during your science class. It’s extremely detailed and portrays the two perfectly. You smile at it. However it only takes up a half of the page. The other half is an unfinished drawing of you.

 

“These are the clothes I am wearing – at least, it looks like them.”

The drawing isn’t nearly as detailed as the other due to its unfinished state. You are wearing a big smile in it. Your face is the most detailed thing in the picture. A speech bubble comes out from your mouth, reading, “I love you”.

 

You are confused. You don’t understand why you are saying “I love you”.

“Does… she want me to say that? Does she like me?” you think aloud.

It doesn’t make sense if she did. You two haven’t conversed all that much these past few days. You have talked, but not in great length. You shove the picture in your pocket for later. You’ll ask her.

 

Mr. Baxter has set up some experiments for the students to do. You all partner up. You, Kristoff and Anna get into a group of three. The basis of it was that the groups had to create their own experiment with whatever materials they were given. Kristoff was excited for this.

 

“We should make something explode!” Kristoff declares.

You shake your head. “Kristoff, do you even know what chemicals we have?”

Before you can start explaining, Mr. Baxter comes over to your group.

“Could one of you be Ms. Anderson’s partner? The other Ms. Anderson,” he says, clarifying he means Elsa.

 

You look toward Anna but the other two look at you. You realize what they mean.

“Wait, me?  But you’re her sister,” you object. “Shouldn’t you be with her?”

“That’s the exact reason why we shouldn’t. Elsa can get caught up in work while I try and talk to her. Kristoff can’t because he doesn’t know her that well. That leaves you,” Anna debates.

“But… actually, I can’t argue that,” you admit.

 

You get up and walk over to Elsa. She notices you walking over and raises her eye brow.

“Ms. Anderson, Mr. (Y/N) will be your partner for this assignment.”

“I’m fine Mr. Baxter, really.”

“I know you are, but you could teach Mr. (Y/N) a few things. Hopefully I don’t have to send both of you to the office again.” He chuckles and walks away.

 

You grab a seat beside her. You lean in a little bit.

“Does he always think he’s funny when he really isn’t?” you whisper.

“He can make some pretty stupid jokes,” she giggles.

You look at her, surprised.

“A giggle? That’s not something I expected from you.”

 

She straightens herself out and pretends it never happened. You laugh at her attempt.

You both get to work. Elsa creates charts of what each compound could do with another while you listen to her. You really enjoyed listening to her. Her voice was calming yet firm. She knew what she was talking about and how she wanted to say it. You could imagine what kind of speeches she could write.

 

You just lean on your hand and stare at her while she talks. Eventually, you stop hearing what she is saying and just watch her say it.

 

“(Y/N)? (Y/N)!” she says snapping her fingers.

You shake your head and focus again.

“Yes, Elsa. Sorry, I must have been-“

“Day dreaming?” she finishes. “You do that a lot”

 

You laugh but then notice something.

“How would you know I day dream a lot?” you ask.

Elsa begins to blush a little. It is obvious on her pale skin.

“Well, we are in a couple classes together and… Well, sometimes my eyes wonder and I notice you.”

 

You see an opportunity to have a little fun.

“You notice me, do you?” you grin.

She is speechless, unable to think of some explanation that would get her out of the situation.

You see she is struggling and you decide to ease off.

“Don’t worry, Elsa.” You nudge her. “I was just joking.”

 

Anna and Kristoff watch the two of you interact. They have barely begun their own science work, but their other work has just started.

“You think they would get together? Elsa isn’t the most open girl and (Y/N) is quite closed off about himself as well,” Kristoff remarked.

Anna turns to him. “What do you mean?”

“Well, whenever I asked about where he came from before he always dodges the question or gives a very vague answer. I respect him for it though. He doesn’t have a house. Not one he lives at, anyway.”

 

Kristoff smiles for a second then turns back to Anna.

“I’m not gonna gossip about that, though. Sorry, Anna. You should talk to him about it. I know he wishes you two were closer.”

“Closer?” she asks with a smile.

“You know what I mean, Anna,” he answers with a smile. “Anyway, we should probably start working on this. You know what to do?”

“Not a clue,” she chuckles, “but I’m sure we could figure it out.”

 

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You arrive at your third period with a ton of thoughts flowing through your head. You sit down and rest your head in your hands, trying to think. You and Elsa got along so well right there. You never thought you would talk to her like that. She seemed much more reserved, but she was so open and happy.

 

You also don’t understand how she made ice with the compounds you had. You didn’t think it was possible but she pulled it off. She teased you with it too, not telling you how she did it. One thing did bother you though. There was a new kid in the class. You didn’t notice him until you came back from the bathroom.

 

He was staring at Elsa. Just sitting there, staring at her. When the bell rang and everyone left he followed her, and in turn you followed him. You had a bad feeling about this guy. He followed until she got to her art class. He watched her get ready until you “accidentally” bumped into him.

 

Those made the day a little more interesting. You were ready for another boring lecture about history but the teacher didn’t start with that. In fact, he didn’t start at all. The teacher didn’t show up to class. It was 10 minutes in before the replacement walked in. The individual surprised you.

 

It was Hans!

 

“Hello, fellow students. As, you know I am not a teacher, but they have asked me to teach the class today. Why? Well, apparently my perfect grades in history have earned me the chance to do this for one time. So, how about we make this a little better than usual?”

 

The class gets more pumped than you’ve seen it. Hans smiles and then looks at you. You have a small grin, but nothing to show you are as happy as the rest. You haven’t been comfortable with Hans lately.

 

You liked Anna, she was a great person and she deserved better than him. In your opinion, Kristoff was really good for her. They seemed to be really good together. They are good friends, and that’s how it should start. Blind dates rarely work, especially with people like Hans.

 

He reminded you of Elsa, in a way. They both had fronts that deceived you from their true self. However, Elsa was a great person once she opened up. Hans was simply a pig. It might not have bothered you so much if it was a girl other then Anna. But there is no changing your opinion now.

 

Hans waves for you to come up to the front of the class. You do so.

“(Y/N) and I will be the targets. This is a game of manhunt and you are all the hunters. You must capture the two of us. If you don’t get us, then you have homework for the weekend. If you do get us, I’ll convince your teacher to put on some good history movies next week.”

 

The class cheers. Hans pats your back and starts jogging out of the classroom. You follow.

“Count to thirty, then come get us. The entire school is open to us, inside and out.”

 

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“So, (Y/N), I’m having dinner at the Andersons’ house tonight,” he says with a smirk.

“Is that so?” you ask.

“I’m going to try tonight. Wish me luck,” he boasts.

“Listen, Hans,” you say, stopping him. “Just make sure she is ready. Anna is a good person and her affection isn’t something to take for granted.”

 

Hans looks at you for a second.

“Ha, nice,” he laughs. “I almost thought you were acting like a pussy, but you are one funny guy.”

He starts running again. You shake your head and follow him.

 

You can hear your classmates closing in behind you. Hans points at a door leading outside. It’s clear for now. You both exit outside onto the school’s field. It is much larger than the one you enjoy to hang out at. The field is overlooked by a lot of windows from the school. It is likely that anyone paying attention could see you and Hans.

 

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“Hey, Kristoff, look! It’s (Y/N) and Hans! What are they doing out there?” Anna points out.

Kristoff takes a look out the window and sees the two of you.

“What are you doing, (Y/N)?” he mutters.

 

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Elsa is located at a solitary seat in her art class. She is looking through her notes but can’t find a certain piece of paper. She wonders where she put it when she sees you and Hans. Curious as to what you are doing, she continues to watch.

 

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You and Hans catch your breath for a moment. Before you know it your classmates have found you, and are closing you in on both sides.

“Well, this is a predicament,” you state.

“No shit, Sherlock,” Hans replies. “We can swerve past one side. Well, I can. You nimble enough?”

You laugh. “I guess we’ll see.”

He chuckles too.

 

You dash towards the side that followed you in the school. If you pass them, then maybe you can lose them in the school. The students prepare to catch you. You duck back and forth to avoid most of them. One catches you by surprise and slides in front of you. You run straight towards him and roll over his left shoulder with your right.

 

He never saw it coming. Two more rush to get you. One goes to grab your legs and the other focuses on your upper. You hope nothing bad happens with this. You continue to run until they get close, then you lift your leg onto the student’s shoulder who is ducking to get you, and do a perfect back flip to land behind the second. You bow, and then begin to run.

 

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“Whoa, (Y/N), you have some moves,” Kristoff huffs.

“Never thought he had that in him,” Anna adds.

Kristoff smiles at Anna. “I wouldn’t underestimate him, he is a lot tougher then he looks. He is stronger than I am. Just don’t tell him that.”

Anna’s face has some shock in it. You are nowhere close to Kristoff’s size and yet he admits to being weaker then you.

“What other secrets do you hold?” Anna asks herself with a happy grin.

 

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“(Y/N)!” you hear Hans yell.

You stop and turn around to see that he is captured.

“Well, I guess I’m a little more nimble then you, Hans,” you chuckle.

“Yeah, yeah, but here is the lesson. Many times in history this very principle has been tested. I am your friend –your partner– and I am captured. You could leave me here and save yourself or come help with a risk of being captured.”

 

Hans’ words sink in. He has a point, and it’s a good one. What kind of person are you gonna be?

You let out a deep breath then rush back towards the group. Hans smiles.

The group is much larger now since the two sides have become one. You try to dodge all you can but they start grabbing a hold of you. You keep going but they are slowing you down. Eventually they stop you right as you get to Hans.

 

“You rushed right into the middle of them without any plan and got yourself caught. That is my lesson for you today.” He turns away from you. “So you won! You get the next week off!”

The class cheers. You don’t. You failed to save your partner.

 

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Lunch time comes around and your usual group of you, Anna, Hans and Kristoff find a table.

You are a little quiet today and everyone notices it.

“(Y/N), are you sad about losing the game?” Hans asks.

You look up at him. “No, not really. I’m just thinking. Sorry if I am being quiet.”

Kristoff laughs. “Anna makes up for it, don’t worry.”

“Hey!” Anna ripostes, “I am not loud! I stay quiet when I want to! I can do it you know!”

 

Her voice is quite loud in that statement and the whole table grins. Anna realizes what she just did.

“Darn it,” she says in defeat.

 

You feel like a big downer to the group even though they guaranteed you aren’t. You take your leave and decide to walk around a bit. You go through the halls of the school until you end up at a familiar wall. It’s the wall that caught your interest days ago, when you were walking with Elsa.

 

It gives you an odd sense of comfort. You simply love the designs on the brick. They flow from one to another.

“Like the wall?” you hear a male voice ask.

You turn your head to the left and see another student standing beside you. “I’m usually quite perceptive, how did I miss him?” you think.

 

He has longer hair then most guys do. It covers his ears and would cover his right eye if he let it. It is quite nice overall. The hair’s most unique feature is that it is white, which only adds to it.

“You know, a student designed this,” he begins. “When the school was being set up they did a contest to see who could make the best design for this wall.”

 

You listen to him carefully. For some reason you feel safe around him. He feels familiar to you but you know you’ve never met him before.

 

“Do you know who that student is? The one who made this?” he asks, turning to you.

You look at him “Who?”

“One of the famed Anderson sisters. Elsa, I believe.”

 

You are baffled. You knew she could draw, but the design of this wall is something else.

“I never knew she could do something like this,” you respond. “She is quite talented.”

“Yeah, that she is. The school asked her to do it again and she refused.”

“Why is that?” you ask.

“I’m not sure. She said because it was unique, like a snowflake. She could never make the same one again,” he explains.

 

After a short pause he starts again. “Anyways, just noticed you liked the wall so I thought I’d give you some back story on it. Nice meeting ya, new kid.”

He gives you a smile, shakes your hand and begins walking down the hall.

You still can’t shake the feeling that you know him, but you and Shadow can’t remember anything about him.

 

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Your little stroll leads you out to your signature field. You walk towards it, and then notice a figure sitting on the hill. As you get closer you see the person.

Elsa!

 

You are confused. “Why would she be here?”

You remember Anna always said that Elsa disappears during lunch, so is this where she goes?

You always assumed she went home.

You approach her and take a seat beside her.

 

“Hey, Elsa,” you state.

She jumps a little. Obviously you scared her. She puts her book down and turns her attention towards you.

“(Y/N), you scared me! What are you doing here?” she conveys.

“Sorry,” you laugh, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

She lets out a small smile. “I know, but really, what are you doing here?”

 

You shrug and look at her for a few seconds. “I’m just messing around. I felt kinda weird so I wanted to take a walk. It lead me here. I like this place.”

She looks out at the field. She knows you like it. She’s seen you here doing your own thing so many times. It’s almost normal for her, like a weekly TV show.

 

“So what are you doing out here, Elsa?” you question

“Well, I do enjoy my alone time. It’s hard to find a nice place in the school, and this isn’t too far away.”

“Oh, I can leave if you want to be alone, that’s no problem,” you mention, beginning to get up.

 

She chuckles as she grabs your shoulder and pulls you back down. She is stronger then she looks.

“Its fine, (Y/N), I don’t mind it right now. Oh, yeah, I saw your little game during third.”

You chuckle, guessing she’ll joke about your defeat.

“Yeah, that was fun,” you respond.

 

“You know, that’s two occasions you’ve show off your acrobatic skills,” she mentions “Where did you learn to do that?”

You shrug. “I really don’t know. Would you believe me if I said it was natural? I used to be really good at it before I came here.”

“What changed?” she asks

 

You sit silent for a moment, remembering your past.

“I took a break for awhile. Got rusty.”

“Well, it doesn’t show,” she says, giving you a nudge to raise your spirits.

It works because your face shows a smile. You nudge her back and she laughs.

 

“Hey, I think you dropped this today,” you say, pulling out the piece of paper from your pocket.

Elsa knows what it is right away and snatches it from your hands, stashing it in her bag.

“Hey, a little jumpy aren’t we?” you joke.

She starts blushing. “Did you look at it?”

You nod, smiling.

“Oh god,” she says, shoving her head in her hands.

 

“Hey, it was a really good drawing!” you say, putting your hand around her.

She didn’t struggle. You didn’t even mean to do it but you never stopped because she didn’t make you.

“So, why was I saying ‘I love you’?”

 

She lets out a small wail. You can tell she wasn’t actually crying or sad. She was embarrassed.

“You said it in class today. That’s where I got the whole picture,” she explains, head still in her hands.

“I did?” you say baffled.

You think back and remember you said it to Shadow. Then again, you sometimes say things out loud while talking to him.

 

She lifts her head and looks at you, seeing you are in thought.

“Hey, (Y/N), you won’t tell Anna and Kristoff, will you?” She requests.

You smirk. “Of course not, but I will say that the one you drew of them was a fantastic drawing.”

She pushes you and you fall over. However you are holding on to her so she goes with you.

 

You both tumble down the hill. As you do Elsa’s usual french braided bun falls apart and her hair lets loose. You’ve never seen her hair like that before, and you still can’t because you’re still rolling.

 

You both reach the bottom, filling the field with laughter. You finally get to look at her with long hair. She is stunning, even though her hair is a complete mess at the moment. She continues to laugh. It’s a soothing laugh. You wish you saw this more often.

 

After you both stop laughing you lay there, looking at the clouds. The peace is interrupted by your growling stomach. She looks at you and laughs. You remember you haven’t eaten today. No lunch to pack.

 

“What happened? Not enough food for you?” she chuckles.

“Yeah, kind of,” you say in a semi serious tone.

She senses this. “What do you mean?”

 

You sit there for a second, contemplating on telling her. You eventually do.

“Well… Okay, I haven’t told anyone this, so you better keep it secret,” you ask.

She imitates the action of locking her lips. “My lips are sealed.”

 

“Well, I don’t really have a house. Not one I live at anyway. My parents own a house, but that’s quite the distance away and I don’t go there much anymore. I usually sleep at the corner store, Oaken’s. You know the place?”

 

She nods. She shows genuine interest in your tale. She considers asking about your parents but doesn’t, in case it is a sensitive topic.

 

“I work there. Oaken is a really nice guy for letting me crash there and paying me when I work. I owe him a lot. Anyway, I don’t really have much to pack for lunch because I have to buy the food.”

 

You feel as if this is a sob story, but you don’t mean it to be. This is how it’s been for the months you’ve been here before school.

 

“Lately I spend my time in this field during the nights. It’s peaceful,” you finish.

“I know you do,” Elsa adds.

You sit up and look at her. “What do you mean?”

“Well, sometimes I like to escape the house. I am usually in my room most of the time so nobody notices if I sneak out. I come here to read. Lately, I have come here to read and watch your little stunts and songs.”

 

You go a little red. “You… you heard me sing? Oh god…”

“It’s okay, you’re really good. It was quite soothing while I read.”

You smile at her and she smiles back. You don’t even need to say anything; you are both content at this point in time.

 

“Hey, can I show you something?” Elsa asks.

“Of course,” you respond.

Elsa takes off her gloves and starts to create a ball of ice in her hand. Your eyes fly open, as you have never seen something like this before.

She shoots the ball of ice at the ground and it freezes over. She then melts and evaporates the ice.

 

“Elsa! That’s incredible! How do you do that?” you say excitedly.

“I have been able to do it for as long as I can remember. You are the first person I have ever told voluntarily.”

That feels like an honor to you. It’s not like this comes up in normal conversation.

 

“I feel honored,” you say, placing your hand on your chest.

“Oh shut up,” she laughs. “Also, would you like to come over to my house for dinner? As you have explained, it seems like you could use a good meal.”

You are surprised. Dinner at Anna and Elsa’s place? You know them really well, so I guess it won’t be too awkward. But meeting their parents? Oh man…

 

“Sure, I would love too,” you accept.

She smiles. “Perfect. Oh, don’t tell Anna about my powers. She doesn’t know about them.”

“No problem,” you say. “Hey, wait… Is that how you made ice in science class?”

Elsa stands up and shrugs. She begins to walk towards the school, fixing her hair.

 

“What is that suppose to mean? I knew those compounds couldn’t make ice! You totally cheated!” you joke.

“I did not!” Elsa defends.

 

The two of you bicker back and forth on your way to school. But someone has been watching the two of you. They saw Elsa’s powers.

“So I was right, she is the Ice Queen,” he observes. “Well, I think it’s time I introduce the Dark Prince of Fire!” he finishes.

He then opens his palm and a ball of fire appears, it then creates a figure of Elsa. He crushes it.

 

 

 

 


	5. Fire & Ice

# Chapter 5: Fire and Ice

 

“So, Kristoff,” you say, throwing a light punch at him, which he blocks. “I’m going to the Anderson’s place tonight.”

“Wait, what?” he hesitates.

You take the opening to strike Kristoff twice in the stomach and once in the jaw.

 

“Hey, that’s not fair!” he objects. “You distracted me.”

“Excuses,” you mock.

“So… Anna invited you?” he asks.

He knows she hasn’t, but he wants to hear you say it was Elsa

 

“Actually, Elsa invited me for dinner,” you respond

“Oh, really?” he asks, extending the word really.

He is also giving you a look. You can’t explain the look, but you know exactly what he means.

“No. No. No. No. I will hit you. No,” you protest.

 

“I didn’t say anything. What are you saying?” Kristoff says with the biggest grin you have ever seen on his face.

“You think it’s a thing. A dating thing. Those kinds of things. It’s not a thing,” you rapidly spew.

“You’re using the word ‘thing’ a lot, (Y/N),” Kristoff taunts.

You have nothing to respond with. He has complete reason to think this. You respond with the most childish response when defeated.

 

“Shut up,” you mutter.

“Oh man, I actually got you there!” he laughs.

You shake your head; you know he is only toying with you.

“We should stop sparring then. Wouldn’t want to damage that pretty face of yours,” he teases.

“Does that mean I can beat up yours since it’s not so pretty?” you return

 

You stare at each other for a moment then laugh.

“So, listen (Y/N), we’re good friends right?” Kristoff asks.

“Well, you’re my best friend here. I’ve told you some stuff. Oh, by the way, don’t tell Elsa I have told you about my housing situation. I told her she was the first to know.”

 

Kristoff chuckles. “No problem. Anyway, I would like to know a bit more about your past.”

You stay silent for a moment, unsure on how to respond.

“If you don’t want to then that’s fine. I just was wondering. Even Anna wonders.”

“Anna could ask me,” you say

“I’ve told her to,” Kristoff responds.

 

You take a deep breath and release it. “I don’t want to say everything, but you can ask away.”

“Really?” Kristoff reacts. “I didn’t think you would.”

“Well, we are friends and I have been really secretive. You deserve to know more about me.”

 

Kristoff thinks of some questions while you two work out.

“You have any brothers or sisters?” he begins.

“No, I was an only child.”

“Ok. Have you ever had a girlfriend?”

“At my old school, yes. She was amazing. She had reddish brown hair and an amazing outlook on things. There was never a dull thing that came out of her mouth. We would have conversations for hours.”

 

You begin to drift back into thought but explaining everything you were thinking. You remember the group of you went to a haunted house. It was critically acclaimed as being an amazing one. It was amazing – almost everyone got scared. You remember that you and Shadow were making fun of all your friends.

 

You left the part about Shadow out.

 

You remember when you and her first kissed. How cliché and silly it was, but so special to the two of you. How happy you were with your parents. Sometimes they got on your nerves, but you loved them all the same. How you used to be proud of your last name.

 

“What is your last name?” Kristoff interrupts.

You stay silent for a moment.

“My last name doesn’t matter. It doesn’t define me at all. I am (Y/N) and nothing will get in the way of that.”

Kristoff nods and allows you to continue.

 

You had a cat and a dog. The dog was a beautiful husky. It was so snuggly and loved everyone. The cat tended to stay away from everyone, but when you were alone it would snuggle on your lap. That usually happened when you were playing video games or writing music.

 

You used to play the guitar more actively. Your friends started a band and insisted on you being lead guitarist and back-up vocals. That’s why you scam Kristoff’s guitar when you can. You want to play like you used to.

 

The two of you finish your workout as you end your speech. Kristoff is satisfied with what he has, but he needs one more question.

“It sounds like you enjoyed your old life. Why did you come here?”

 

This makes you silent. You begin to relive what happened. Your arm begins to hurt and you hold it. You are too busy to actually feel the pain, but you know it’s there.

 

“Because, Kristoff, I couldn’t remain there anymore. Too much happened too quickly.”

It is obviously a sensitive topic so Kristoff leaves it.

“I hope I didn’t bore you too much with my past,” you state.

“No, not at all. It is nice to know you a little better. It’s nice to know where that musical talent comes from.”

 

You snicker. “You’re not half bad yourself.”

“I know,” he jokes.

You both laugh and make your way to the showers.

“Better clean well, wouldn’t want your man-stink to scare away Elsa,” he teases.

You smile and shake your head. “Shut up, Kristoff!”

 

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You meet Anna and Elsa in the parking lot. Anna has a huge smile when she sees you.

You can guess why.

“You’re coming over! Oh that’s so great! You can meet Olaf!”

“Olaf… Olaf…” you think.

“Their brother,” Shadow reminds you.

“Yes, I have wanted to meet him. See what a brother of you two would be like.”

 

Both girls look at you funny.

“What’s that suppose to mean?” they say in unison.

The two giggle, but Elsa tries to hide it.

“Well… I mean…” you try and respond, rubbing the back of your head.

 

You feel an itch on your leg and go to scratch it but your arm doesn’t move.

“What? I didn’t even…”

“Yes, you did. You were simply pre-occupied,” Shadow informs. “So it is gonna be out for a bit. You didn’t notice that you were washing yourself with one hand in the shower?”

You laugh, which makes sense for both the conversations you are in.

 

Hans joins in on the conversation.

“Hey cutie,” he says to Anna

“Hey cutie yourself,” she replies.

Elsa grabs your arm and begins to pull you. “On that note, we are gone. I’ll see you at home, Anna.”

“Bye, Elsa! Bye, (Y/N)!” Anna and Hans wave.

 

“Thank you so much,” you tell Elsa. “You don’t know how weird that is for Kristoff and I.”

She smirks “Yeah, it’s not the best thing to see, especially with Hans. It makes my skin crawl.”

“I don’t really like him too much either. What he’s said to me… It’s not friendly.

 

You enter Elsa’s bright white luxury car. She starts it up and drives out of the parking lot. Anna follows shortly after.

“What kind of things has he said?” Elsa asks.

“This probably isn’t what you were expecting, but he doesn’t really love Anna.”

 

Elsa doesn’t seem surprised by the news.

“I didn’t think so. It seems more or less one sided.”

“True, but he only intends to sleep with her then ditch her. He was talking about her body and everything. I know Anna is a beautiful girl and all, but to describe her in the way he was… Even Kristoff is disgusted by what Hans has told him.”

 

As you speak you notice the steering wheel is being covered in frost and Elsa’s face is very unhappy. You quickly grab the wheel and pull over. Some cars beep at you but you ignore them.

“Elsa! You still with me?” you frantically ask.

“I knew he was a jerk but… Using my sister like that… It’s despicable. I’m gonna talk to her about it as soon as we get home!” Elsa snarls.

 

You think for a moment.

“Elsa, I have a better idea.”

She turns to you, still infuriated. “What?”

“He mentioned trying to get a threesome with you and Anna.” Elsa bursts out laughing. “I know, but if he tries that then it gives purpose for her to break up with him. Plus, I don’t think Anna will do it anyway.”

 

Elsa starts to calm down a bit. You can see frost growing in her glove. You take it off and hold her hands.

“What are you doing?” Elsa asks, blushing.

You don’t notice she is blushing. “I’ve been told I had warm hands. It may help.”

 

You hold her hands for a minute and it seems to have worked. She has a baffled face, however.

“How did you not freeze? That usually happens to what I touch,” she says.

You shrug. “As I said – warm hands. Plus the cold never bothered me much anyway. Neither did heat, come to think of it.”

 

She smiles and puts her gloves back on.

“You know, that was the first time I’ve held someone’s hand in a long time.”

She gets back on the road.

“Really? But you have before?” you ask.

 

“Yes. I used to hold Anna’s hands all the time. My parent’s too.”

“Well, what happened?” you inquire.

Elsa remains silent for a second. It reminds you of what you must have looked like when Kristoff asked about your past.

 

“When Anna and I were younger we used to use my powers to play all the time. We could build snowmen, have snowball fights, and everything whenever we wanted as long as we kept it a secret.  One day our playing went a little out of control.”

 

Elsa pauses for a moment and you feel it get colder.

“Elsa, it’s okay. You don’t have to tell the story.”

She glances at you for a quick second before returning her eyes to the road.

 

“Anna was being too reckless and I couldn’t keep up with her. I accidentally hit her with an ice blast. It knocked her unconscious and left a streak of white hair which she still has today,” she continues.

 

“Wait, I’ve never seen white hair on Anna. It’s all red,” you add.

“She dyes it constantly to keep it all the same colour. I have a picture with her normal hair, if you wish to see it.”

“I would. I think it would look nice. Is it kind of like yours then? A stroke of it, anyway.”

“No, mine is blonde. Anna’s is white,” she clarifies.

 

“Anyway, my parents were scientists and found a way to stop the freezing. It was a miracle and it scared me. They advised me to keep my powers in check. I did that by keeping distance from everyone and practicing a bit in my room.”

 

“Were you afraid of yourself?” you ask.

She remains silent.

“Well, Elsa all those years ago didn’t know as much as Elsa nowadays.”

 

She smiles. “You are half right. As I said, I used to hold hands when I was younger. Now I freeze what I touch with skin.”

You touch her ear for a moment.

“What are you doing?” she asks, shooing your finger away.

 

“You said you freeze things you touch with skin. I didn’t freeze. That’s twice I haven’t, actually.”

“That’s… that’s very true. Maybe you are special,” she guesses.

“Or maybe you can control it better than you know.”

 

The drive goes on for a few more minutes before you realize something.

“I have to meet your parents!” you declare. “Oh man, this is gonna be… new.”

Elsa laughs at your reaction. “Calm down (Y/N), you don’t have to meet them. They are gone.”

 

Your attitude changes “Oh… I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. They died 3 years ago so I have coped with it. Anna too.”

“Oh, ok. I felt really bad for a second.”

 

Elsa then thinks of a topic. “What about your parents? Where are they?”

It’s your turn to stay silent.

“They aren’t around too much,” you respond.

“Oh, I am sorry,” Elsa apologizes.

 

To make up for it, you tell her everything you told Kristoff. You felt comfortable around her, and it had to be the same for Elsa. She wouldn’t have told you about her powers if not. Your explanation keeps her interested. She seems to enjoy knowing more about you. Kristoff was the same way. It’s been some time since you had people interested in you. It was different but not in a bad way. You rather enjoyed it.

 

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It didn’t take too long to reach Elsa’s house. When you saw it your jaw dropped. It was massive, one step away from being a castle.

“Wow, you guys are in a modern day castle!”

Elsa laughed. “I wouldn’t go that far”

“So, if that’s a castle,” you start, “does that mean you and Anna are princesses?”

“Well, technically I’d be the queen, since I am the oldest and our parents are gone.”

 

“Wow, I’m riding with a queen,” you remark.

“Shut up, (Y/N),” she playfully tells you.

You chuckle a bit. It couldn’t be denied though. This place is basically a small castle without all the old timey things.

 

Anna and Hans have already arrived at the house. They are just getting out of the car when you pull up. They both wave at you and you wave back. Elsa parks neatly and gets out of the car. Two people, a man and a woman, are standing at the door.

 

“Ms. Elsa, Ms. Anna, are you both having company for dinner?” the man asks in a proper, butler type tone.

“Yes we are, Kai,” Anna cheerfully states. She grabs Hans’ arm and leans on it. “This is Hans, I’ve told you about him.”

“Indeed you have,” the women states, her tone is as serious as Kai’s.

 

Elsa nudges you to step towards them.

“This is (Y/N),” Elsa introduces.

You bow and everyone laughs at you, even Kai and the women.

“We’re just joking around (Y/N),” Anna laughs. “You don’t have to be all serious around Gerda and Kai.”

 

You chuckle in embarrassment. You notice that even Elsa was laughing. You all enter the house and it blows your expectations out of the water. The place is beautiful, bright and overall stunning. Elsa nudges you to follow her.

 

She leads you to the kitchen where Gerda and Kai are about to prepare dinner.

“So, what would you like?” Gerda asks.

You aren’t sure how to respond.

“I told them that you could choose what to eat tonight” Elsa whispers,

Without a second thought you accidentally blurt out, “Steak!”

 

They all chuckle.

“Not a problem,” Gerda acknowledges.

Elsa walks with you out of the kitchen. When you reach the living room the TV is playing a soap opera which Anna and Hans are “watching”. You and Elsa don’t want to sit next to them making out so she takes you on a small tour of the house.

 

She ends the tour at her room.

“So that’s about it. It’s smaller then you think, but that’s probably because I’ve been here for so long.”

“What about your brother? Olaf, was it?” you ask.

“Oh he’s not our real brother. He is adopted, but he doesn’t know that. I am surprised we didn’t see him on the tour. Oh well, you’ll see him at dinner.”

 

She begins to show you some things in her room. It’s mostly books but she has some interesting items. She takes off her gloves, and then shows you a collection of some figures she made from ice. They were truly amazing. One was of Anna, another of Olaf and the last was both her parents together.

 

You could tell what her parents looked like through this figurine. Anna really looked like her mother. You two talked for quite some time. Most of it was random bantering but it really worked. You start to remember when you first met Elsa.

 

“Hey, Elsa.”

“Yes (Y/N)?” she responds

“What did you first think of me when we met in the cafeteria?”

She blushes for a moment. “Other than ‘who is this person who knocked me off my feet?’”

You smirk. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

 

She nudges you with her shoulder “Don’t worry about it. Well, to be honest I never cared about you. Most people were the same in that school and I never paid much attention to the random people I met.”

 

“That makes sense, I suppose. Kristoff was sort of like that too. Well, he was judging on looks.”

“He has good reason; a lot of the people at our school believe them better because of their money. I have heard students wondering why you two were here, and why Anna and Hans were hanging out with you,” Elsa explains

 

“Well, I’m not the most impressive looking guy around.”

“No, you do look good,” Elsa accidentally says.

You raise your brow and look at her. Her face is beat red and she’s trying to come up with something to save her.

 

“Don’t worry Elsa, you look quite exquisite yourself,” you complement.

She remains red and you start laughing.

“Why do you have to do this to me?” she whines

“It’s fun,” you respond with a smile.

 

She pushes you but you don’t fall of the bed, instead you start pushing her back. You end up wrestling a little bit. She uses your momentum to flip you over and lock herself on top of you.

 

“I guess I win,” she says victoriously.

“Yeah, well, I let you win,” you respond.

“Oh really?” she smiles

“Yeah, plus my body is tired from all the working out Kristoff and I have done.”

“All excuses.”

 

You both sit there for a moment, staring at each other.

“No,” Shadow denies. “No way is this actually gonna happen.”

She starts to lean in to you, closing her eyes and pouting her lips. You do the same. You start to feel the heat emanating from her lips.

 

Right before you two connect Anna rushes in, getting a spectacular sight of this.

You and Elsa hear this and you toss her off you. However she is locked on you so you both end up on the floor in the same position.

 

Elsa quickly gets off you. Her face is completely red.

“Hey guys!” Anna says with a massive smile. “Whatcha doin’…?”

“You know…” Elsa responds.

“Stuff,” you finish

 

“What kind of stuff?” she continues.

You both know she saw. That she wants you guys to say it. She wants her sister to say that she likes someone.

“You know… I was pretty tense after working out with Kristoff so Elsa was massaging me.”

Elsa looks at you and you give a questioning shrug.

 

“I never know that you massaged people like that. Also what kind of massaging technique was it when you guys were about to lock lips?” Anna continues to smile

 

You and Elsa just look at each other, then back at Anna. You then hear a voice.

“Anna, what’s taking so long? Dinner is ready,” Kai yells.

You and Elsa bolt out of the room down to the kitchen. Anna continues to smile as she goes there as well.

 

When you entered the dining room a young boy runs up to you. He has copper hair and is extremely pale. He is wearing a hollowed-out carrot on his nose. “Kristoff would call that a waste,” you think.

“Hi! My name is Olaf! Who are you?” he asks you enthusiastically.

 

“My name is (Y/N). I’ve heard about you, Olaf.”

“Really? What did they say? Did they say I give the best hugs, cause I do.”

He opens his arms for a hug. You look over to Elsa and she nods at you to hug him. You lower yourself to his height and give him a hug.

 

He squeezes really tightly so you fake a sound of pain.

“Man Olaf, you are super duper strong. How did you get so strong at such a young age?”

“Chocolate!” he smiles.

You laugh and go pick a seat.

 

Anna and Hans were sitting at one end of the table, Gerda and Kai at the other. Elsa sat in the middle on the left side. You decided to sit opposite to Elsa. She smiled when you locked eyes with her. Olaf took the seat beside Elsa.

 

Anna didn’t stop smiling. All through dinner she just stared at you and Elsa with that big victorious smile. You and Elsa did your best not to pay attention to her. You spent most of your time talking to Olaf, who grew fond of you. The whole family could see it, even Hans.

 

Halfway through dinner, Elsa kicks your foot. You look at her and she has a challenging face.

You smile and lightly tap her leg. You start playing footsy. Nobody notices it. Dinner goes quite well over all. Gerda and Kai both ask you and Hans questions. Likely testing you or something.

 

Near the end of dinner Olaf shouts something.

“Elsa, why aren’t you wearing gloves?” he asks.

Elsa looks at her hands. They are indeed bare. She didn’t even realize it. All the things she touched and nothing froze. She even touched you once or twice and nothing.

 

She was mixed with happy and scared emotions. Her dinner was mostly finished so she took her leave to go grab her gloves.

“That’s odd,” Anna says. “She is always wearing her gloves.”

“Yes, that she is,” Kai adds.

 

Gerda and Kai look at each other. By the look on their face you suspect they know about her powers. Whether they are happy or not is unknown. They both look at you ominously. You quickly finish the last of your food and get up.

 

“That was the best meal I have had in a long time. Thank you both very much. Now, where is your bathroom?”

“Just down that hallway on the right,” Kai responds, still staring at you.

 

You speed into the bathroom and begin doing your business. You can still hear everyone in the kitchen. You hear that Elsa has returned and has offered to clean up after everyone. Hans offers the same thing.

 

You wash your hands and exit the bathroom. You look over in the kitchen to see Hans moving quite close to Elsa. You are unseen, so you move closer to hear exactly what he says.

 

“So Elsa, how close are you willing to get your sister?” he says with a dirty tone.

“What is that suppose to mean, Hans?” Elsa bluntly states.

“Well, I’m just saying that the three of us could have some fun tonight.”

 

Elsa’s face turns to disgust. She knows exactly what he is talking about. She slaps him and walks away.

He chuckles. “Well, I will have one sister tonight”

You cringe at his comment then walk away.

 

As you go through the house you bump into Anna.

“Oh, hey,” Anna cheerfully says. “Have you seen Hans?”

“Yeah, he was talking to Elsa in the kitchen,” You answer.

 

Just then Elsa walks up to both of you. She seemed to come out of nowhere.

“Anna, I need to talk to you,” Elsa adamantly states.

“What is it Elsa? Is this about you and (Y/N)?” she giggles.

Elsa blushes a little bit, but then regains her serious manner.

 

“Your boyfriend just tried to convince me to have sex with both of you.”

Anna looks at her sister oddly. She is trying to process what Elsa just said.

“What?” she asks softly.

You could tell her spirit was hurting right now.

 

“He intends to sleep with you, Anna,” you add. “He boasted about it to me. He did want to have a threesome with you and Elsa.”

Anna finds a place to sit and stares at the wall. She is in shock.

 

“Kristoff was right. He told me but I didn’t believe him. I got mad at him. I need to call him right now!” she states. “Kai!”

 

Kai strolls around the corner. “Yes, Anna?”

“Please show Hans to the door. He is no longer welcome here,” she demands.

“Very well,” Kai says, giving a slight nod and walking away.

 

Anna grabs her phone and runs up to her room. You can tell she is on the verge of tears.

You feel bad for her. You knew this was coming, but you still couldn’t stand the sight of Anna upset.

 

You then heard yelling.

“What? Why must I leave? Where is Anna?” Hans shouts

You and Elsa start laughing. She stops and excuses herself to the bathroom.

As she leaves, Hans is in view of you.

 

“(Y/N)! What’s going on?” he asks frantically.

“Elsa told Anna what you tried to do. I’m sorry man – you went for the wrong girl. Had to back Elsa on it,” you explain.

“What? Why would you do that to me? I’ll get you for this! I swear!” he yells as Kai tosses him out of the house.

“Damn Kai, you’re stronger then you look,” you think.

 

Elsa brought you back up to her room. You guys watched Jack Frost.

“See, a talking snowman seems silly,” you point out to Elsa. “There is no way one can be alive.”

She gives you a light smack to shut up and keep watching. She is a lot cuddlier than you would have thought. Was it because of what happened earlier?

 

“Was she actually going to kiss me?” you think. “It very much seemed like it. She leaned in and everything.”

“I think she was,” Shadow concurs. “Congrats (Y/N), you have another girl that likes you.”

“Yeah, I guess I do.” A smile takes over your face as you continue to watch the movie.

 

You actually enjoy the movie. It ends and you look over at Elsa. She is sleeping. You can’t really move because her head is on your chest. You smile and stroke her cheek. You haven’t felt like this in awhile.

 

After 10 minutes you decide it is time to leave. You lightly lift Elsa’s head off your chest and on to a pillow. You cover her with blankets, even though you know she isn’t bothered by the cold. You give her a light kiss on the forehead “Good night Elsa.”

 

You exit her room to see Anna standing there with her phone giving you the same grin she gave earlier.

“Yeah Kristoff, he even kissed her on the head. It’s adorable.”

“Do you have anything better to do then follow Elsa and I around?” you smile.

“Not really,” she says, still smiling.

 

She listens to her phone for a second and looks back at you

“Kristoff wants to know your cell number,” she asks.

“I don’t have a cell phone,” you reply

“Really?” she says in utter shock. “Well hold on one second.”

 

Anna runs into her room for a minute then comes back out holding an up to date smart phone.

“Here, take it. It has a plan and everything.”

You grab it but seem confused. “Why do you have a spare phone with a plan?

“I lose my phone sometimes. But I’ve gotten better. I’ll tell Kristoff and Elsa the number. Expect a text.”

 

You nod and say goodbye to Anna. Gerda and Kai nod as you leave.

 

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It was quite the walk back, but you didn’t mind it much. It gave you some alone time. Some time to enjoy the nice night. There was a slight breeze but it only complimented the night. You felt a vibration in your pocket. “What is…? Oh, right. I have a phone,” you think.

 

You grab it and look at it. You don’t know the number but the text says it’s Kristoff and he’s asking where you are and offering a ride back to his place. You keep walking until you reach a street sign and respond to him. He arrives in 15 minutes.

 

You jump into his car and drive off. He has a similar look that Anna had, so you knew what was coming.

“Go ahead, Kristoff, I know you are dying to ask something.”

As soon as you finish he starts. “So did you two actually kiss? How is she alone? Does she smell nice?”

“No, I didn’t kiss her,” you start. “And she is actually really nice alone, to me anyway. She trusts me, I think. Lastly, what? What kind of question is that?”

 

Kristoff laughs and keeps questions going the whole ride to his house.

“You have picked up too much from your family, Kristoff,” you say as you exit the car.

Kristoff’s face changes to genuine concern. “Really? Oh no…”

 

You laugh. “I was kidding, Kristoff. Plus, you could explain talking with Anna all night.”

He blushes a little. It was funny to see on such a big bulky guy. He’s just a big softy.

“You like Anna, don’t you?” you poke.

“Maybe a little. Just a teeny bit”

“Well, looks like we fell for the sisters. They have a certain magic to them, you know?” you joke.

 

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You didn’t stay up much after Kristoff set up a makeshift bed for you. It was quite comfy, in fact. You thanked his family for allowing you to stay. Pabbie always gave you an odd look, but you understood why.

 

You woke up early, as you usually do. You’re used to it. You check your new phone and see you have a text from Elsa.

“Anna said this is your new number. I already had the number in my phone so I know it’s you. I had a lot of fun with you yesterday, (Y/N). Olaf did too. We could all tell. You’ll have to come over some more and play with him. Anyway, can you meet me at that field around 1:30?”

 

“I had fun too, Elsa. Sorry I slipped away like I did. I’ll meet you there no problem,” you reply.

You get ready to leave. Nobody is awake. You easily sneak out and make your way to Oaken’s to grab some new clothes and a shower.

 

It was no hassle getting there. You jogged there to try and warm your body up for the day ahead. Surprisingly, the working out that you and Kristoff have been doing hasn’t fatigued your body. You won’t complain. You reach Oaken’s and Oaken is sitting at his table like he always is.

 

“Hello (Y/N), come to buy things?”

“No Oaken, next time. I just need a shower, my clothes and my pay. Plus, what are you doing up so early?”

“I never sleep,” he says with a smile. “Also I placed your pay with your belongings.”

“That’s not creepy…” you say to yourself.

 

You put on a new set of clothes and grab your pay after taking your shower. You feel better. You check the time – it is 7am. You do think of something to buy.

“Hey Oaken, you have a charger for this type of phone?” you ask, showing your phone to him.

“But of course, I’ll go get it.”

 

He grabs it and gives it to you for $10. You plug your phone in and decide to take a quick nap to pass the time. It works, as you wake up at 1.

“Oh crap!”

You grab your phone and rush out the door.

 

While you were running you saw a text from Kristoff.

“Hey, I noticed you weren’t around when I woke up. Hope everything is OK. Listen, me and Anna are going to go to the mall around 1:30, do you want to come?”

 

“I’m gonna meet Elsa at 1:30 near the school. Can you come get me around 2?”

Not a minute after you send it and he replies

“Yeah, not a problem. Have fun lover boy ;)”

 

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You reach the field with time to spare. Elsa is already there, however.

“Elsa!” you yell.

She turns towards you and waves. You rush to her side.

“So, what’s up?” you ask.

“I need to talk to you about last night. When Anna ran in on us.”

“Oh god, she’s gonna say it was all a mistake and she didn’t mean it,” you think.

 

She takes a breath. “I’ve never been one to be close to people, but you seem to be different. I’m not scared to touch you or talk to you. You make me feel comfortable. I just want to say… I want to finish what I was doing.”

 

“What you were doing?” you ask.

She begins to lean in to you.

“Well, well, well. Look what I have found. The infamous Ice Queen,” a voice interrupts.

 

You both separate and look at the source of the voice.

“Wait a second, I recognize that guy,” you mutter. “It’s the same guy who was following Elsa the other day”

“What do you want!” Elsa demands.

 

He grins. “I want to fight you, Ice Queen. I want to see how you fare against the Dark Prince of Fire!”

As he says it a rush of fire appears behind him, circling in on his hands. He then shoots it at Elsa.

 

“Elsa!” you yell, pushing her out of the way.

The ball of fire hits you and smoke covers your body.

“(Y/N)!” Elsa screams.

“Well he’s gone, that blast would melt the skin off anyone’s bones.”

 

The silence of the smoke is broken,

“My butt is on fire!” you yell, patting it when you rush out of the smoke.

“Wh… what?” the Fire Prince questions.

“Hot, hot, hot!” you continue.

 

Elsa chuckles for a moment then shoots ice at your butt to cool it off.

“Thanks Elsa.”

The Fire Prince begins walking down the hill towards you two.

“Well, I suppose I have some more sport. No problem for me,” he taunts.

 

Elsa summons some ice around her and enters a stance in which she can easily fire off ice.

You enter a fighting stance as well. The Fire Prince stays relaxed, looking very cocky. He shoots another fireball. Elsa raises an ice wall to block it.

 

With the distraction you rush around his side to get him. He fires three fire balls at you which you dodge easily. You then jump and perform a spinning back kick to his face. He stumbles back and you deliver a small flurry of punches which knock him on his back.

 

He growls and flips himself back up only to be close-lined by you.

“See, when you think powers are all you need you end up being a weak opponent,” you point out.

“A weak opponent, huh?” he laughs.

He creates a vortex of fire around him which causes you to get some distance.

 

Elsa can’t do much right now. She knows the fire will easily defeat her ice, but she remains ready for anything.

 

The Fire Prince then creates a small volcano of fire. The flames start burning the surrounding area. Elsa stops this however, so there is no need to worry. You don’t think much of the volcano until a large lava monster comes out. It is bulky and huge. It roars at you.

 

“Hi… I’m going to call you Marshmallow. That way you are always a roasting marshmallow,” you joke quite inappropriately.

Marshmallow grabs you, and throws you towards the school. He then begins to head that way.

 

Elsa begins to rush towards you but a fireball stops her.

“No, I want to fight the Ice Queen,” he smirks.

Elsa’s face gets serious. She summons dozens of ice spikes and shoots them at the Fire Prince.

The battle between fire and ice has begun.

 

You pick yourself up after a couple seconds. That wasn’t the best landing. Marshmallow comes screaming from around the school. He sees you and rushes towards you.

“Here boy,” you taunt, clapping your hands as if he were a dog.

When he gets to your position you easily duck under his waist and punch his right leg. It doesn’t do much.

 

Marshmallow throws a punch at you and you hold it back using your whole body. As you hold it you begin to feel the heat. It’s like holding a scorching hot plate with oven mitts. You will feel it eventually.

 

You push back a bit then jump on his hand and proceed to run up his arm. He tries to grab you but you are too fast. You begin punching the side of his face. It disturbs him, but not much more. He starts shaking and tosses you off. You land on the ground, doing a couple of rolls then bouncing back up into a fighting stance.

 

“You’re not doing anything to him,” Shadow remarks.

“I noticed,” you respond. “There has got to be a way.”

“Let me try a bit,” Shadow says, taking control.

 

Shadow looks around and sees some good branches lying about. He rushes over and grabs one. Marshmallow bolts towards him. Shadow somewhat copies you move of ducking under his legs, but instead of his fist he uses the branch to smash Marshmallow’s leg. Marshmallow’s leg gives out and he falls to his knee. Shadow uses this opportunity to get into position to hit Marshmallow’s face.

 

He succeeds in his attempt and it angers Marshmallow. He gives a powerful backhand that sends Shadow flying into a tree, knocking the wind out of him.

“Fuck,” Shadow snarls.

 

Marshmallow goes to grab him but Shadow handily dodges it.

“Shadow! I have an idea,” you mention.

“Be my guest,” he allows.

 

You regain control and dart towards the school. Marshmallow follows you. You stand right in front of the wall leading into the gym. Marshmallow goes in for a tackle but you dodge and he smashes through the wall.

“Perfect!”

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Elsa raises wall after wall of ice while firing some blasts of her own. The two seem to be evenly matched. They aren’t missing a beat. Elsa, however, is tiring out. She has never used her powers so much. The Fire Prince notices this and decides to try and finish it. He creates one giant fire ball.

 

Elsa amazed by it. In a weird way – it’s beautiful. She erects an ice wall but the intensity from the ball melts it.

“This is not good,” Elsa states.

The Dark Prince is about to launch the fireball but a solid punch to the jaw distracts him.

 

It’s Kristoff!

Anna runs towards her sister and gives her a big hug.

“Elsa, what’s happening? Who is this? Where is (Y/N)?” she frantically asks.

“I’ll explain later!” she states, forcing Anna behind her.

 

The Fire Prince gets up and smiles. He spits out some blood.

“That was interference,” he states. “I don’t like it!”

Heat begins to fiercely emanate from his body and he rushes Kristoff.

 

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You run into the school after Marshmallow. He is pushing debris and such out of his face. You use this time to turn on the sprinklers. The water begins to lightly douse out Marshmallow,  but not fast enough. He grabs you and throws you in the air. You hit the roof but grab onto one of the sprinkler pipes.

 

Marshmallow grabs you, but doesn’t try and pull you down. Instead he starts to squeeze your lower half. You struggle, but it is in vain.

“(Y/N) pull down the pipe! Let the water pour on him!” Shadow advices.

 

You look up at the pipe and use your strength to break it off. Water begins flowing onto Marshmallow and he howls. You land hard on the ground, but you ignore it for now. Marshmallow falls to his knees. You feel bad, but you don’t hesitate. You run up his back and bring the pipe down on his head. Still holding on, you jump off and land on the ground, forcing Marshmallow down. He melts into a lava patch then sinks into the earth.

 

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Elsa and Kristoff are facing the Fire Prince. Neither Kristoff nor Anna can believe the powers that Elsa has control of, but they don’t question it right now. Unfortunately the two are losing. Kristoff suffers from the shockwave of a fire ball, sending him face first in the dirt.

 

Elsa shoots a beam of ice at the Fire Prince and he shoots one of fire right back. Elsa is losing it. The beam is closing in on her.

“Alley-oop!” you yell, roundhouse kicking the Fire Prince in the face.

“(Y/N)!” Anna and Elsa shout.

“Of course, who else would it be?”

“Could have been me,” Shadow mentions.

“Shut up, Shadow.”

 

The Fire Prince gets up and sees you. For some reason he is seeing you in a different way. He remembers you!

“I remember you! You were there! You were with us!” he accuses.

You are confused. His accusations don’t make sense.

“Your stupid attitude hasn’t changed! You cocky motherfucker!”

 

He gets up and creates a phoenix out of fire.

“I’m beating you this time!” he shouts, as the phoenix rushes at you.

It hits you but doesn’t do that much. You look at the small burn mark and laugh.

“Looks like you’re all tuckered out.”

 

“I’ll kill you!” he yells.

He begins throwing punches at you which you easily deflect or dodge. You give a quick sweep kick and he falls on the ground.

“I will not accept this!” he shouts.

He pulls out a knife and goes to stab you with it.

 

Elsa shoots a quick beam of ice that hits his hand. The blade bounces out and stabs him. He coughs up some blood and falls on his back. He chuckles.

Kristoff starts to come to and raises himself to his knees. Anna starts to run towards Kristoff.

“One of you shall perish,” he declares.

 

He pulls out the knife and surrounds it with a fireball. He mysteriously explodes into flame but you see that the knife and fire is going towards Anna.

You begin to sprint over to her.

“Anna!” you scream.

 

Then silence. You are positioned in front of Anna, staring at her. She watches you for a moment. Her eyes move downwards to see a knife pierced right through your lower stomach. Her eyes widen as she looks back at you. You cough up some blood before smiling.

 

“Hanging out with you guys… Is proving to be dangerous for my well being.”

You can’t keep yourself awake anymore. You fall to the ground.

 

 


	6. The Third

# Chapter 6: The Third

 

You open your eyes but it doesn’t look like it. You only see darkness and small grey clouds everywhere. You pick yourself up and survey the area. It’s the same thing over and over. Nothing differs. Nothing changes.

 

It is a place of juxtaposition. That’s the only word you have to describe it. It can be cold yet warm. The place gives you the creeps. You don’t even know how you got here. Last thing you remember you stopped the flaming knife from hitting Anna. You get a shiver down your spine.

 

“Am I dead? Is this what the afterlife is like?” you speak aloud “Wow… This sucks. I’m already bored.”

You then see someone in the distance. You start running towards them, hoping to get some answers. As you get closer you realize it’s yourself in a black suit. He is facing opposite to you.

 

You stop running and tilt your head at him.

“Am I the leader of the afterlife? That would be pretty cool, I have to say.”

“Do you ever shut up?” the man in the suit asks.

 

You couldn’t mistake that tone anywhere. It was Shadow. He turns towards you and crosses his arms.

“Shadow? Am I dead?” you ask.

“No, moron. You were exhausted from the fight and the stab wound was the last straw. Plus all the exercising you’ve been doing.”

 

“I don’t get fatigued when I work out,” you argue.

“Your body still feels it. You may be good, but you can only take so much. Same goes for me.”

You start to look around again. “So, what is this place?”

 

Shadow huffs and tries to explain.

“Honestly, I’m not one hundred percent sure, but I think it is the place in your mind where he and I reside when you are in control. You likely come here when I take control.”

“So it’s like… like a sort of limbo in my mind?”

Shadow shrugs and puts his hands in his pockets. “That’ll work for now.”

 

You two sit there for a moment and hear a menacing howl. You both get in a ready stance and scan the area. You both know what is coming. He is coming.

“You got him?” you frantically ask.

“No, I don’t,” he bluntly responds.

 

As you continue to look around you spot someone. He also looks like you in tattered clothes. His head is hanging down so you can’t see his face. He is slowly walking towards you.

“Shadow!” you yell.

 

He turns his attention to the incoming threat. Your legs begin to shake. You are flooded with fear. Shadow is also nervous. A drop of sweat comes down his face and his muscles are tense.

The figure continues to move towards you.

 

“Carnage,” it mutters “Total. Unstoppable. CARNAGE!”

He raises his face. His eyes are pure red. His teeth seem sharper and his smile is disturbing. He bends his legs a little and begins charging at you. He opens his hands to reveal sharp nails.

 

“(Y/N), we have to move now!”

You aren’t responding. You are trembling. Such an evil being and he is you.

“(Y/N)! I need your help!” Shadow shouts.

 

You ignore your fear and nod. You both start running in opposite directions but in a curved motion to attack from two sides. You both reach him and connect two good punches to his face. He laughs manically as he grabs your arms and slams them together in front of his, causing you and Shadow to smash into each other.

 

He then grabs your shoulders, spins you so you face each other, and begins crushing your heads together. He repeats this four times before letting you go. You stumble back and he slams your abdomen with his foot, sending you flying back.

 

He then takes Shadow and slashes his stomach with his nails. He proceeds to head butt him, and finishes with a spinning kick to his face. Both you and Shadow slide across the floor and lay there for a moment. You get up first.

 

“I just beat a lava monster. There is no way you are keeping me down!”

You sprint in his direction. He gives a smirk then throws a slash. You dodge it and deliver a good shot to his stomach. You follow up with some punches to the face then finish with a side kick.

 

He catches the kick then bites your leg, tearing skin off.

You scream in pain. He laughs then pulls you in. He grabs the back of your head and begins continuously punching your face.

 

You grab his hand and twist it. You then knee him in the stomach and extend your leg to get some distance between the two of you.

 

Shadow comes behind him, jumps, and then kicks him to the right. The man stumbles back and laughs. Shadow lifts you back up. You shake it off and get ready. He gets on his hands and knees then begins running at you like a dog. He pounces at you.

 

You get ready to punch him, but as he approaches he evaporates.

“What the..?” you question.

Not two seconds later he appears behind you with the momentum he gained from earlier. He gets you face first on the ground and begins slamming your head against the floor.

 

Shadow realizes what has happened and rushes over to help. The man guesses this and rolls on his back still holding onto you. He uses his foot to toss you at Shadow. Shadow catches you and turns his eyes at you. When he looks back the man is standing there with a gigantic smile.

 

He raises his fingers to Shadows face and cuts an X on his cheek.

“That’s where I’ll hit,” he predicts.

He begins laughing the same laugh as before.

Shadow snarls as he tosses you aside and begins facing the other in hand to hand combat.

 

You come to and watch them fight.

“He… He is Carnage. Pure terror,” you state.

Looks like they both have names now.

 

Shadow and Carnage continue to fight. Carnage obviously has the upper hand. He is toying with Shadow. Laughing in his face. You get up and move behind them. Carnage doesn’t notice you.

You surprise him with an elbow to the back of the neck. He pauses for a moment.

 

You and Shadow begin a combined flurry which ends with you both kicking him away. Carnage slides across the floor then bounces himself up and into a crouched stance. His smile is still there.

 

“We do good sometimes,” you state.

Shadow smirks. “We do.”

The two of you bump forearms and get back into your fighting stances.

 

Carnage licks his lips and tilts his head. He then jumps and latches on to a wall.

“A wall? There’s an actually wall here?” you say.

Shadow ignores you and remains ready, keeping his eyes on Carnage.

You run over to where Carnage is perched. You keep running and end up behind him.

“No wall… What is with this place?”

 

Carnage lunges off the wall at Shadow. Shadow grabs Carnage’s arms and uses the momentum to toss him aside. Carnage lands smoothly then lunges again. He repeats this and it is wearing on Shadow.

 

“I got an idea!” you whisper.

You begin to run towards the two. You jump randomly and begin to believe there is a wall there. You latch onto one. You do this again to get closer and closer.

 

You use the height to jump onto Carnage, effectively keeping him down. You get some revenge and start punching the hell out of him. Shadow observes this. He remains ready, but has relaxed a bit.

 

As you continue to pummel Carnage into the ground you accidentally punch him into the ground. He quite literally melts into the ground.

“Did I kill him?” you stutter, raising yourself to Shadow’s height.

 

A laugh is once again heard as Carnage appears in full force. He shoots at a blinding speed and catches Shadow’s cheek with his nails. It just so happened to be the one he marked. He throws Shadow away and rips the check off.

 

 Using his momentum he rushes you and stabs you in the stomach with his hand. It has entered you body. He begins twisting it around and you scream in pain. He continues this for a bit and he simply grins.

 

He pulls in back then tackles you to the ground. He prepares the finishing blow.

“(Y/N), can you hear me?” a voice asks.

A bright light starts appearing in the distance. It gets brighter and brighter. The light starts burning Carnage and he retreats. You remain stationary.

 

“Come on (Y/N), you’ll survive. It’s me, Elsa. I’m waiting for you.”

The light consumes the entire plane you’re on.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

4 hours earlier.

 

You land face first on the floor in front of Anna. She shrieks. Kristoff darts over to you. Elsa does the same.

“(Y/N)!” Kristoff yells. “Come on man, don’t go like this.”

He rolls you over to expose the knife and blood. You are completely unresponsive, but you are obviously breathing.

 

“Kristoff, pull the knife out!” Elsa commands.

“What? No, he’ll bleed out!” Kristoff argues.

“Trust me, I can stop the bleeding.”

 

Kristoff stares at Elsa for a moment then back at you. He flips you to your back. He then grabs the knife and lifts it from your stomach. You let out a small grunt of discomfort. Elsa then freezes the wound over on both sides. The bleeding stops.

 

“Elsa… You…” Kristoff begins.

“I’ll explain it to you both, but let’s get (Y/N) back to our place for now,” Elsa suggests.

“What? Elsa, we need to get him to a hospital,” Anna pipes up.

“And what will we say, Anna? Nobody will believe that he ended up like this from a lava monster and a manipulator of fire!”

 

Elsa is getting a little stressed. She doesn’t want to argue this but that isn’t the problem. She knows both Anna and Kristoff are wondering about her powers in the back of their minds. But she tries to ignore that for your sake.

 

The three of them continue to argue but you break the silence. You begin screaming in pain. They all forget what they were arguing about and examine you.

“Listen! Both Gerda and Kai have medical history. If they think he needs to go to the hospital then we’ll take him. Now let’s get him home!” she demands.

 

Kristoff and Anna look at each other for a moment, and then submit. Kristoff picks you up and tries to ignore your screaming. They put you in Kristoff’s car and speed back to Anna and Elsa’s house.

 

You don’t stop screaming the whole way. You hold your arm, face and stomach in intervals.

“You think the knife has poison or something?” Anna thinks aloud.

“It’s possible,” Elsa concurs.

 

Kristoff does his best to ignore you. He’s known you for so short but never dreamed of you in such pain, and the worst part for him is he can’t do a thing to help. He grips the steering wheel tighter as he thinks of what he could have done.

 

He could have been there sooner. He could have taken the knife instead. Then he remembers something Elsa said.

“Elsa, what did you mean by a lava monster?” he asks.

 

Elsa is confused for a moment but then remembers.

 

“(Y/N) was trying to help me, and he was doing quite well. The Fire Prince, as he called himself, didn’t like that so he summoned a huge monster. It distracted (Y/N) and it got him to fight near the school and away from us. I assume he beat it, but I can’t imagine how,” she explains.

 

“You are full of surprises, aren’t you, (Y/N),” Anna babbles. “But I’ll have to thank you when you wake up.”

Elsa looks at her then smiles. “We’ll both have to.”

 

Kristoff pulls in the drive way and parks. He rushes to the back seat and grabs you. You are squirming and screaming more than you were before. Kai and Gerda rush out to the sound. Anna and Elsa tell Kristoff to put you in a bed, and then went to explain the situation to them.

 

Gerda and Kai both knew of Elsa’s powers and the news that there was another like her was troubling. As Elsa explained she tears up a little bit. Everyone could feel it get colder. Anna hugs her sister and they both tear up. Gerda and Kai lead them inside.

 

Kristoff enters the first room that he sees, which just happens to be Elsa’s room. He rests you on the bed and watches you squirm. He pulls up one of the chairs in Elsa’s room and sits beside you.

 

“You know (Y/N), you saved Anna. I have to thank you for that. I wouldn’t have made it.” He takes a pause. “I do like Anna, you know. I suppose you already guessed that though. So… Thank you.”

 

He gets up and walks over to the door. He turns back to you for a moment.

“Don’t die man. You matter more than you think.”

You respond with more screaming.

“That’s the spirit,” Kristoff jokes.

 

He goes downstairs and sees everyone in the living room. He sits down on the couch beside Anna. He puts his arm around her and she responds by leaning on his stomach. The room is extremely silent.

 

Kai and Gerda excuse themselves and went up stairs to observe you. Every so often a loud scream would interrupt the silence. They would all cringe and sometimes the girls would tear up a bit.

 

Kai and Gerda came downstairs after an hour. It was one of the longest hours for everyone.

The three eagerly wait for what they have to say. Kai and Gerda look at each other for a moment then back at the others.

 

“Elsa’s ice has stopped the bleeding extremely well, and he seems to already be healing. Whether that is an effect of the ice or not is unknown,” Kai states.

“However for his screaming and pain, we can’t say. There is no sign of any toxin in his bloodstream,” Gerda finishes.

 

“So, basically, we have no idea why he is like this,” Elsa clarifies.

Kai turns to Gerda. Gerda sighs.

“Basically, yes. All we can do is wait and see. I’m sorry. You can go watch him, if you wish.”

 

Gerda and Kai take their leave. Elsa stands up and looks over to Anna and Kristoff.

“I’m going to go see him. I have to.”

They both nod.

 

Elsa follows the screaming, which leads her to her room. She opens the door and quickly closes it behind her. You are tossing and turning. Your screaming has gone down a little bit. She takes the seat Kristoff set and grabs your hand.

 

You begin screaming harder than you have before. She begins crying. She hates seeing you like this, and it is because of her. She couldn’t stop the Fire Prince and it got you hurt. Her tears start freezing on her face. She wipes them off.

 

“(Y/N), can you hear me?” she asks, hoping you respond.

Your screaming dies down a little bit.

“Come on (Y/N), you’ll survive this. It’s me Elsa, I’m waiting for you,” she says softly.

 

Your screaming is gone now. You seem peaceful. Elsa is surprised.

“Was that me?” she asks herself. “No, it had to be timing. There is no way I did that.”

You begin to open your eyes a little bit. You see Elsa’s hair and automatically know it’s her.

 

“Elsa?” you ask slowly.

 

She basically jumps out of her chair to hug you.

“(Y/N)! Oh thank goodness. You had us all so scared!” she exclaims.

“Is Anna okay?” you ask.

“She’s fine, (Y/N). Thanks to you she is fine. Kristoff is with her right now.”

 

You sit up. Elsa keeps her eyes on yours. You give a smile. She knows you are alright. You can tell by the look on her face that she is overjoyed to see you are okay, but she won’t openly show it.

 

You get off the bed and onto your feet. It isn’t too bad.

“You should get some rest,(Y/N); it’s been quite the day.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” you smile.

 

She puts her arm on your chest and starts pushing you towards the bed.

“Go back to sleep.”

You shrug. “I’ve been through worse. I’ll say that a lava monster is quite new for me. It was pretty fun though”

 

“Uh huh, how did you beat him anyway?”

“I lured him into the…” you remember. “Oh crap! The wall to the gym in broken!”

“We’ll fix it tomorrow, don’t worry,” Elsa says.

 

You are confused on how you’re gonna fix it, but you trust her.

“Oh, by the way,” she says.

She grabs you and kisses you. You are shocked, your eyes are wide and you aren’t kissing back much. She pulls away and looks at you. She giggles when she sees your expression.   
“But… I… We…” You can’t finish a sentence.

 

“I’ve wanted to do that for two days now, and each hour you show me another reason why I should.” She smiles. “Why? You don’t want to?”

She leans in again and this time you participate. While she kisses you she uses her hips to push you on the bed. This goes on for a bit before she breaks off.

 

“Now you better get some rest,” she smirks.

You’re still quite confused but accept what she says. You get under the blankets and assume a comfortable position.

“Thank you, (Y/N). For saving Anna. I’ll never forget that,” Elsa says.

 

She leaves the room and goes downstairs to tell everyone the good news.

“He woke up,” she starts. “He’s sleeping now though, he’ll probably wake up later today or tomorrow.”

“That’s my boy!” Kristoff cheers.

Anna giggles.

 

You lie in the room and fall back asleep. You then open your eyes in a familiar area. It’s your own personal Limbo. You look around and see Shadow standing with his arms crossed and his eyes closed.

 

“So am I gonna show up here every time I sleep?” You shout.

“No, I summoned you here,” Shadow calmly states.

“Sounds very official,” you mock.

“Carnage beat the shit out us, (Y/N).”

 

You huff and look at the ground. You look back at Shadow.

“Wait, how do you still have a cheek? Didn’t he tear it off?” you ask.

“He did, but I believe that injuries we obtain during a fight only last for that fight. If we didn’t, then you would have a hole in the stomach and a chunk of flesh gone from your leg.”

 

You shrug. “That’s true.”

You walk closer to Shadow, he doesn’t flinch. He doesn’t even open his eyes.

“We were weak,” he states

“Oh come on! We beat a 9 foot lava monster. By the way, that was pretty damn cool,” you mention.

 

Shadow chuckles. “Yes, it was. Good thinking on the sprinkler system.”

“I have my moments.”

“Like when you and Elsa made out?” he asks, raising his eyebrow over his still closed eye.

 

You shake your head with a smile. But it quickly fades.

“Shadow, you wouldn’t–“

“Take over to have a time with her? No, she likes you. Not me. I have a respect for that”

 

The more you talk to Shadow the more you like him. He is an asshole, there is no doubt, but he has a charm. He is a good person when he wants to be. He simply covers it. You like him though, you’ve been through a lot with him and you might be dead without him.

 

“So Shadow, I have one more thing to ask.”

“I assume it is the reason I called you here,” he responds.

He opens his eyes. “The Dark Prince of Fire,” you both say in unison.

 

“He mentioned that he recognized us,” you say.

“I’ve never seen him before. I can’t even remember his face,” Shadow responds.

“Other than the one time at school,” you mention.

“You think he was that figure you saw the first time you went to the field?” Shadow asks.

 

It’s possible. He did interrupt you and Elsa at that location.

“You think there could be more than just Elsa and him? It’s possible,” you bring up.

“I think we should be more cautious,” Shadow advises. “And we should watch your friends. Especially Elsa. She was the reason he showed up, after all.”

 

You sigh. You don’t want Elsa to be in danger. You don’t want anything to happen to her. You do care about her and she obviously cares about you. You smile at that thought.

“Anyway, I’ll let you sleep. We both need some rest,” Shadow finishes.

 

You seem to have fallen asleep in that world too. It was a peaceful rest, and one you would thoroughly enjoy.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Two men are sitting at a table. They are wearing hoods, as to protect their identities. The door shoots open and someone limps in.

“Hello, Dark Prince of Fire,” one greets. “Did you have fun with the Ice Queen?”

 

The Prince of Fire takes a seat at the table.

“The Ice Queen is alive,” he informs.

The two turn towards him.

“How did YOU lose to ice? You are fire!” the second asks.

 

“Shut it Tempest, I don’t need it from you,” he snarls. “It wasn’t her that beat me. It was the aid of her friends.”

Tempest laughs “Normal people beat you? You must be losing it.”

The Fire Prince slams his hand on the table. “It was that boy!”

 

The room goes silent.

“What boy?” the first asks.

“You should remember him, Gaia.”

The Dark Prince begins describing you in perfect detail. He finishes.

“You would know him if you saw him,” the Fire Prince claims.

 

The room is silent again.

“I never thought he survived. They moved him to a different project afterwards, didn’t they?” Tempest asks.

“We never knew exactly what they did to us, just what it resulted in,” Gaia finishes, using a vine to bring him a drink.

 

“We’ll find him, and Ice Queen,” Tempest reassures.

“We’ll wait a little bit,” Gaia concurs.

“What! Why?” the Fire Prince shouts. “We should kill them all now!”

“If it is the same person that you believe it is, then I want to see how different he is,” Gaia finishes. “That is the end of this discussion, now go heal up.”

 

The Fire Prince storms into a different room. Tempest keeps his eyes on him until he leaves.

“What if it really is him? What if he is the same as the recordings we saw?” Tempest asks.

“Then we’ll die,” Gaia declares, taking a sip from his drink.

 

 


	7. A Calming

Chapter 7: A calming

It didn’t take long for you to get up and moving. You sleep that whole day but get up early the next. You notice Elsa isn’t here. You also remember you are in her room, and wonder where she slept. 

You check your pockets for your phone but it isn’t there.  
“Did I drop it earlier?” you ask yourself.  
You look around the room and memories of you and Elsa pop into your mind. You smile.

You leave the room and look around. You don’t hear much sound. You did notice the sun shining in from a window, so you know it’s day time. You go down stairs. You can’t even find Gerda or Kai.

“Where is everyone?” you say under your breath.  
You go to the living room. You finally find someone. Elsa is asleep on the couch. She is curled up and giving a light snore. It sounds so cute.

You slide yourself behind her and lay down. You throw your arm around her waist and she lightly holds onto it. Is she awake? You don’t care. You enjoy this moment. You just hope she won’t wake up and kick your ass.

You don’t know how long you’ve sat there with her, but it doesn’t bother you at all. She wakes up eventually. She somehow knows it’s you, because she doesn’t freak out.  
“You’re up,” Elsa notices.

She slightly turns her body so she can face you. A smile resides on her face. She is obviously happy you are up and moving. She keeps holding onto your arm.  
“Yeah, thanks to you.” 

She smiles and kisses you.   
“So where are Anna and Kristoff?” you ask.  
“They are sleeping, I think. You’ve been out for a day, you know.”  
You look at her for a second, thinking. It does make sense. 

She turns her body to completely face you.   
“I know I’ve said it before but… Thank you for saving Anna,” Elsa repeats.  
“Honestly, it was no problem. I would do it for any of you. To be completely honest I would rather not, but I will if need be.”  
She giggles then wraps her hands around your neck.

She pulls you in and you start kissing again. It’s passionate, it’s comforting. It reminds you of your old girl friend. You quickly dismiss that thought. That’s a little awkward. You simply enjoy the moment, as Elsa is.

You both hear someone clear their throat and you stop.   
“Please don’t be Anna,” you think.  
You both peak over the couch to see Kai.

“Ms. Elsa, Mr. (Y/N), breakfast will be ready soon. Would you like me to wake up Mr. Bjorgman and Ms. Anna?”  
“No, that’s fine Kai. We’ll do it,” Elsa responds.  
Kai leaves the room.

“I thought Gerda and Kai aren’t all business?” you ask.  
“Well, they seem to switch it up a lot. We never know,” she responds. “Come on, let’s go get the others.”  
She gets off the couch and you do as well. You both head up to Anna’s room.

“Should I wait out here?” You ask.  
“No, she’ll want to see you,” Elsa smiles.  
You both enter the room to see Anna on the bed. She is in the same clothes as yesterday.

“Anna,” Elsa whispers as she lightly shakes Anna. “Anna wake up.”  
Anna’s eyes slowly begin to open. As you come into her view her energy sky-rockets to full.  
“(Y/N)!” She yells, jumping off her bed and hugging you.  
You hug her back.

“Hey Anna, how’re you feeling?”  
“How am I feeling? How are you feeling! You were the one that got stabbed and wouldn’t shut up for hours,” she redirects.  
The latter part confused you. Elsa never mentioned anything like that.

You look at Elsa and she meets your eyes. She doesn’t pick up on it.  
“What do you mean I wasn’t shutting up?” You ask Anna.  
She releases you.  
“Well, shortly after you fell unconscious you kept screaming in pain. You were holding your arm, head and stomach a lot.”

You knew exactly what happened. It has to be the fight you were having in Limbo. You had no idea it was having a real world effect. 

“Oh, well that seems odd,” You excuse.  
They have no reason to question it.  
“I’m just glad you’re okay, I’m the reason you were hurt and it makes me feel bad you went through all that.”

“Anna,” you say, grabbing her shoulders, “it wasn’t your fault. Never think that.”  
She looks at you and grins.  
“We should tell Kristoff you’re awake,” Anna suggests.  
“Where did Kristoff sleep anyway?” Elsa asks.

Anna laughs and leads the way. She ends up in front of a room.  
“That’s Olaf’s room,” Elsa notices.  
“Olaf is at a friend’s house this weekend. I told Kristoff to come here.”  
“Anna, Olaf’s bed is small. Kristoff couldn’t fit in that.”  
Anna laughs. “I know.”

You and Elsa share a concerned look as you enter the room. You find Kristoff on the floor with blankets that only reach to his waist. He is covered in three blankets to keep him warm.  
You all break out into laughter and it wakes Kristoff up. He knows what you’re laughing about.

“You know, Anna, this was a sick joke to pull on me,” he complains, raising himself.  
When he gets up he notices you standing there.   
“(Y/N), you’re okay!” he shouts, rushing up to you and giving a big bear hug.  
“Kristoff,” you struggle to say. “Kristoff!”  
He lets go and you breathe again.

Kristoff wears a goofy grin. “Sorry about that.”  
“No problem. I think I can take a hug after what happened yesterday.”

“Elsa…” Anna starts ,“I know this may be uncomfortable for you, but you said you’d explain your ice thing when (Y/N) woke up.”  
Kristoff nods in agreement.

Elsa lets out a huge sigh but feels something on her hand. It’s your hand grabbing hers. She feels more comfortable.   
“Ok, I can tell you. Let’s all go down to the living room so we have a place to sit”

You all move down there. Since you already know, none of this will be a shock to you.  
You sit beside Elsa while Kristoff and Anna sit together.

Elsa takes in one deep breath before beginning.

“For as long as I can remember, I have had this power to control ice and snow. You used to know about it Anna – when we were younger. But you were hurt during one of our games. I hit you with an ice blast. You know that white streak of hair you have? That’s why you have it.”

“You have a white strand of hair?” Kristoff whispers to Anna.  
Anna elbows him in the stomach.

“It was advised that I keep my powers secret after that. Our parents didn’t want another incident so they made me hide it from you. It became so natural that I didn’t want to tell you about it.”

“So… were the gloves…” Anna starts.  
“I use to turn anything I touch to ice. That’s different now,” Elsa says, intertwining her hand with yours.

Kristoff notices but Anna is too distracted to notice.

“Please, Anna, I don’t want you to hate me for this. I was just so scared that I would hurt you again and our parents thought it was best. I didn’t want to go against them and by the time they left it just seemed…”

“Too late?” Anna finished.  
Elsa stared at the floor. You can see that tears are beginning to form in her eyes. Before she knows it Anna is on top her giving her a hug. Elsa lets go of your hand to hug her sister.  
“I thought you hated me!” Anna cried. “I thought you wanted nothing to do with me!”

Both sisters are crying now.  
“Never Anna! I love you!” Elsa comforts.

You move off that couch and sit with Kristoff. You allow the sisters to have their moment.  
Kristoff looks at you. “You did that, you know? You got them closer.”  
You smirk, “Yeah… Yeah I did.”

The girls hug it out and say loving things to each other as you and Kristoff sit there awkwardly. You both have no idea what to do other then stay silent. No jokes. No remarks. 

After a minute both girls turn to you two and blush.   
“Sorry,” Anna apologizes.  
“It’s no problem at all,” you say.  
“It’s nice to see,” Kristoff adds.

Anna and Kristoff head back upstairs while you and Elsa stay downstairs.  
“That went better than I expected,” Elsa sighs.  
“I’m glad,” You respond.

Elsa sits beside you and leans on you.  
“I’m so glad you’re okay. When I saw the knife in your stomach…”  
“Elsa, there is no need to think on that. That fire guy is gone now and we’re all okay.”  
She looks up at you and smiles before returning to her previous position.

“Hey, Elsa, as much as I don’t want to disturb this that wall at school is still broken. I don’t think that will end well tomorrow,” You mention.  
She pats your stomach. “Always thinking of others instead of personal pleasures, huh? Alright, let’s go.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Elsa pulls into the schools parking lot. There isn’t that much damage considering Marshmallow tore through the place. It barely looks touched, in fact. You both walk around to the back of the school. The wall is completely demolished.

“Oh man…” you complain.  
“How did you stop the monster?” Elsa questions.  
“Marshmallow? Well I activated the sprinkler system. That’s basically how I did it.”  
“Marshmallow?” Elsa asks with a brow raised.  
You shrug. “What? I named him. If you look past his murderous intent then he was cute.”  
Elsa laughs.

“So how are we gonna do this?” You ask.  
“Stand back,” Elsa warns.

You take her advice and move away. She summons ice to clear out the debris then replaces the wall with ice. It takes the same colour of the wall. The only difference is that there are unique markings in the brick. It reminds you of something. 

The other wall! The one with beautiful markings.  
“This is how you made the wall in the school,” You state.  
Elsa smiles and turns towards you. “Indeed it is.”  
She wraps her hands around your neck again. You remember what happened last time she did that. You put your arms around her waist.

“So you used your powers on occasion when you were younger? How bold. How daring,” You compliment.  
“I find myself a lot more daring and outgoing nowadays. Let me show you.” She seductively states. 

You lips press together. Elsa flicks her wrist a little bit and creates a design of the two of you in the wall. It is abstract, so not everyone will know it’s there. You pull Elsa in a bit more. Things are getting a tad serious. Maybe because you both know there is a very low chance of anyone disturbing you out here.

Elsa is quite passionate. You wouldn’t have guessed when you first met her. The Elsa you know now is way different from the one you met before. But one thing was the same. Both were absolutely stunning. Her tongue makes your way into your mouth. You’re a little surprised, but you don’t mind it.

As the two of you have your moment a figure walks across the field with their hands in their pockets. They look in your direction and notice you.   
“No fucking way,” they say moving closer towards you. 

It’s Hans!

He moves in and sees you two kissing.   
“She likes him but not me? Damn you, (Y/N). Elsa didn’t accept me before. I thought after seeing how I was with Anna she would accept me, but no. You ruined my plan. I can’t have either sister because of you!”

Hans scurries away, but he won’t forget what he has seen.

The two of you finish for a moment then stare at Elsa’s work. It was still amazing to you.  
You get an idea. You search for your phone but remember you lost it this morning.

“Looking for your phone?” Elsa asks, pulling it out of her pocket.  
You grab it. “Where’d you…?”  
“I took it out of your pocket while you slept. You didn’t look so comfy laying on it”

You take a few steps away and dial in a number.  
“Come on, come on… Yes, Oaken, it’s me (Y.N).”  
“What do you need? Some big sales nowadays,” he advertises.  
“No, listen. Remember that thing we talked about? The dinner and all.”  
“Oh yes, do you have a use for it now?”  
“Yes, please set it up for tonight at 7. Thanks Oaken.”

You hang up the phone then look at Elsa.  
“You have plans tonight?” You ask.  
“I don’t know, my boyfriend might be taking me out.”

You stutter for a moment but realize she is talking about you.  
“Aw, that’s too bad. What does he have planned?” You play along.  
“Not sure, it’s suppose to be a surprise.” She smiles.  
“You sound like one lucky girl.”

She pulls you in once again. “You have no idea.”  
She kisses you again.  
It goes well until your stomach ruins it. It growls from hunger. You rub it then wear a silly smile.  
Elsa laughs, “Gerda and Kai said breakfast would be ready. We may have missed it, but let’s get some food in you.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They had food indeed. You and Elsa arrived just after breakfast started. There was so much food. Pancakes, waffles, french toast, bacon, eggs. The whole table was covered. Your mouth watered as you saw it. Elsa saw this and chuckled a bit.

Kristoff was already stuffing his face. Anna was too, just more lady like. They greeted you as you came in and started bugging the two of you as to why you left. You told them you had to fix something, but they didn’t believe that was the whole story. That’s fair – it wasn’t the whole story at all. 

After you finished breakfast Kristoff asked if you wanted to hang out with him for a bit. You accepted. You haven’t had time with just Kristoff. You help clean up the table with Gerda and Kai. Kristoff helps once he sees you are. He doesn’t want to seem rude.

You begin to walk out with Kristoff but Elsa stops you for a moment.  
“I’ll see you later?” Elsa asks.  
“Of course,” you give her a quick peck on the lips. “I’ll come by around 6:30. Be ready.”  
“For what?” She playfully asks.  
“Oh, you’ll see,” You laugh.

Elsa retreats back to her room, giggling the whole way. Anna sees this and chases after her.  
You chuckle and go meet Kristoff in his car. He starts it up and begins driving back to his house.

Elsa is grabbing some new clothes and preparing for a shower. Anna knocks on her door.  
“Anna?” Elsa presumes.  
“Uh huh,” Anna responds.  
“Come on in.”

Anna enters the room and shuts the door behind her.  
“So, whatcha doing?” Anna asks, swaying front and back.  
“Nothing Anna, just cleaning myself up.”  
“You and (Y/N) have been spending a lot of time together,” Anna points out.

Elsa begins to blush a little. “Yes, that’s very true. What about it?”  
Anna changes to a slouched position for a moment, letting her arms droop down. She regains her posture and jumps In front of her sister.  
“Why won’t you admit you guys like each other?” Anna demands. 

Anna’s face is a tad serious, but Elsa knows she just wants her to get with (Y/N).  
“Who says we haven’t?” Elsa teases.  
Anna’s face lights up with a huge smile.  
“Have you?”  
Elsa shrugs with a smile on her face. “Maybe. I’m not too sure”

Anna’s smile turns to a frown and she crosses her arms.  
“Elsa…”   
“What would you like me to say Anna?” Elsa asks.  
“The truth! That would be nice now.”

Elsa knows what she is referring too. Anna has a point.  
“Yes, okay. (Y/N) and I can be considered a couple.”   
Anna lets out a big girly shriek and hugs her sister.  
“I knew it! I knew it! Kristoff knew it and I knew it!” Anna lets out a huge sigh of relief, “Now that you told me that, I can tell you this…”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The car isn’t quiet at all. You and Kristoff are babbling.   
“So (Y/N)… You and Elsa?” He brings up.  
“So… You and Anna,” you counter.  
“Oh man, you know how to turn things against me,” Kristoff chuckles.

You laugh and start to think. Why shouldn’t you tell Kristoff? It’s not like you’re announcing it to the world, and he’s your best friend. He doesn’t say anything but keeps giving you a look. You remember that look. He gave it to you when you told him you were going over to Elsa’s for dinner.

“Fine, Kristoff. Elsa and I are in a relationship. At least I think… She did call me her boyfriend so I guess we are.”  
Kristoff chuckles in victory. It is one of those fake laughs.  
“Well, I guess I’ll tell you something too. I’m dating Anna now.”

You quickly look over at him. “What? Really? When did this happen?”  
“Well, it started after Hans broke up with her. I suppose it started fast but there was that week build up. We’re hoping Elsa won’t disapprove.”

“No way man. After everything that has happened… She likes you much better then Hans,” you reassure.  
Kristoff chuckles, “Well that’s good. So it looks like our little group of misfits is pretty close now.”  
“Yeah… yeah we are.”

You remember the last time all your friends were close. The peak of your friendship with so many great people and just gone. No warning, no reason. Just gone. A chill runs through your body as you begin to remember that night. Too much happened in one night. That’s the night you abandoned your last name.

“(Y/N),” Kristoff says, shaking your shoulder, “we’re here.”  
“Oh, okay.”  
You both hop out of the car and enter the house. As per usual, his family swarms you. You remember last time this happened, so you did not bring up Anna or Elsa at all. 

Kristoff offers you a shower.  
“But I still have old clothes on…” you complain.  
“We’ll have them washed by the time you get out,” he reassures. 

You enter the bathroom and take off your clothes. You toss them out the door for someone to grab. You turn the shower on and test the water, changing it accordingly. You hop in and it feels nice. It feels like you haven’t showered in ages. It feels like the past week has been a year, in fact. 

You hear the door open. You are uneasy about this. You’re naked and someone is in the same room.   
“I wish to have a word with you when you clean up,” a voice states.  
The door closes. It was obviously Pabbie. What does he want? Last time you talked he learned one of your deepest secrets. What would he want this time?

You clean yourself up and walk out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around your waist.  
As soon as you open the door one of the family is holding your fresh, clean clothes.  
“Thank you,” you say as you grab your clothes.  
They nod and run off.

You put your clothes back on. It’s good to be clean again. You then remember what you have to do: go see Pabbie. You walk into his little room and he is standing on the table waiting for you.  
“You know, you could have waited till after I got out of the shower,” you joke.  
“Please sit down,” he requests.

You take the same seat you did before. Pabbie touches your head again but this time it isn’t as shocking. His face cringes some as he continues. This is sort of awkward for you, but you remain silent.

He takes his hand off you and sighs.  
“You’re alter has done quite well at blocking me out. I can’t find anything on those two. I did find one interesting thing, however.” He takes a pause. “How much do you remember of your childhood?”

You tilt your head.   
“I remember quite fine, why?”  
“That’s a lie,” he calls out. “When I search your mind there is a large time frame that you don’t remember. It is being blocked by all three of you.”

You are surprised at this news.  
“I remember my child hood just fine. When I was young I… Well I did do…” You try to remember but nothing is clear. “Shit, I can’t remember anything.”

You haven’t thought about your childhood in a long time. It’s possible you may have simply forgotten it. It hasn’t really mattered lately. This news doesn’t shake you up too much. It’s like asking what you had for dinner 37 days ago.

Pabbie looks at you.  
“You don’t seem surprised by the news.”  
“Well if you know my past then you should know I tend not to think about it. I have good things here, in the now. I have things now that mean the world to me and what I can and can’t remember shouldn’t affect that,” you adamantly state.

Pabbie lets out a sigh. You leave the room and join up with Kristoff.  
“He doesn’t realize that the key to what he is going through is his past. I hope he finds that out, or we’ll all be in trouble.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

You and Kristoff hang out for the majority of the day. He talks about the start of Anna and his relationship. How she talked to him all night after Hans was a pig, how they hung out at the mall and finally learned they cared for each other.

He also reveals that they weren’t going to tell you until you both admitted it.  
“You guys did catch our build up quite a few times,” you chuckle.  
“It was mostly Anna. She was loving the whole thing, “Kristoff says.  
“Yeah, I noticed that. I’m glad they are both happy now. That they won’t be so closed off towards each other. It’s nice to see,” you ramble.

The time flies and you notice the time, 6:00. Your plans are about to come to fruition.  
Kristoff notices a smile on your face.  
“What’re you so happy about?”

You explain your plan for the night. It was simple, yet nice. A good first date. You even mentioned the twist you added in for Elsa. Kristoff applauds you and wishes you luck. 

You make your way to Elsa’s house. Gerda is the one who answers the door. She calls Elsa down. You can’t believe your eyes when you see her. She was always beautiful, but now Elsa actually tried to look good. She was stunning, gorgeous. You couldn’t find the words for it. 

“Well hello there (Y/N), have you seen my boyfriend? He’s suppose to be picking me up,” She jokes.  
“I guess he isn’t coming. Guess you’re stuck with me.”  
She lets out a fake huff and follows you to her car. You take the wheel and drive to Oaken’s.

You both enter the main room but it is different. There are decorations all over the place. Fancy ones. It looks like a 5 star restaurant. Oaken is sitting at a booth near the door and shows you to your seat. It is the only seat in the place, but you let Oaken enjoy his moment.

There is a nice cover over the table with a swan candle in the middle. Its cliché, but still nice.  
“I always thought Oaken’s was just a corner store,” Elsa states.  
“You’d be surprised what he can pull off if you know him,” You smile. 

You rest your hand on hers and she intertwines her fingers with yours. You enjoy the silence since you’re both together. That’s all that matters. She starts up a small conversation which lasts for a bit. You both laugh and have a good time.

Your food finally arrives. There is a steak for you and to Elsa’s surprise, her favourite dish.  
“How? I never told you…” She says confused.  
“I asked Gerda,” You respond.

Elsa smiles and takes a bite. It melts in her mouth. Truly delicious. You try to have your best table manners. You don’t always have the best ones, but you are trying with Elsa. She notices this.

While you are eating, some of Oaken’s family stands in a line. They begin to sing a song. Neither of you understand what they are saying, but it does sound amazing and adds to the whole experience. 

Elsa takes a moment to watch you. You are staring at the singers and smiling. You’re evidently enjoying the music. She thinks of how different this all could have been. How she could have completely ignored you and never experienced any of this. She would never have known the difference. But she wouldn’t give this up for anything.

You look back at Elsa and see her staring at you. You smile and she blushes. You can tell she is enjoying the moment, at least you hope she is. You want this to be special. You want her to remember this.

You both finish your meals. Oaken takes your dishes and returns with a heart-shaped container filled with chocolate.  
“For you, my lady,” Oaken politely states as he slips away.

Elsa eats a few pieces before saving the rest for later.   
“This was very thought out, (Y/N). Thank you,” she smiles.  
You chuckle, “I have one more surprise.”

You lead her to the room you usually stay at. It is covered in fake snow.  
“Snow?” She asks.  
“Well, it’s not as good as you can do,” you shrug. “But I thought we could have some fun.”

You grab some in the form of a ball and throw it at Elsa. It hits her chest and she starts laughing. She creates a snow ball in her hands and tosses it at you.  
“That’s cheating!” You laugh.

You begin with a snow ball fight then move on to making a snow man. You messed around with the snow man, giving it silly faces and dressing it oddly. After that you two began wrestling a bit in the snow. You wanted revenge for her beating you the other day.

You start with the advantage. You are much stronger than Elsa, but she does have some good strength to her. She uses your momentum to flip you over but you do the same to her. You keep rolling until you hit the wall. She is on top. You then take a little snow and splash her face with it. You use the time to flip her over.

“See, told you it was the fatigue,” You smile.  
She nods her head sarcastically. “Yeah, we’ll stick with that story.”  
She then flicks her wrist and a snow hand picks you off her places you on the floor. She jumps on you then uses some ice to lock your hands and feet down.

“See, that is definitely cheating,” You remark.  
“Oh shut up, I prefer it this way,” she says.

She leans in on you and begins kissing you. Before anything starts to happen she flicks her wrist towards the door and covers it with snow and ice. She then becomes even more passionate. You are able to keep up. You break the ice rings Elsa put around your hands. You wrap them around her. She keeps her hands on your shoulders. 

After a while you both stop. You are simply snuggling in snow that Elsa summoned. It’s complete silence. Just you and her. Not a care in the world.

“I’m happy I met you (Y/N), I’m so happy I met you,” She says softly.  
“I’m happy I met you too Elsa, you have no idea how grateful I am for you.”  
You both fall asleep in peace.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Anna and Kristoff are cuddling on Anna’s bed, watching a movie. Anna is laying her head on Kristoff’s stomach while he holds her close.   
“Hey Kristoff, do you know where (Y/N) and Elsa are? It’s getting late,” Anna softly asks.  
“(Y/N) took Elsa out on a date. You should ask her about it when they get back. But as to where they are, Oaken’s, most likely.”

Anna acknowledges and continues to watch the movie. The door bell is heard but she doesn’t have to worry about it. 

“Anna, could you come here for a moment?” Kai shouts.

Anna gives Kristoff a kiss, “I’ll be back in a moment.”  
Anna comes down stairs to find a girl standing at the door. She is quite beautiful and has long green hair.   
“This girl asked to talk to you for a moment,” Kai informs.

Kai moves out of the way but remains close to Anna.  
“Hi, my name is Gia,” she starts. “I’m looking for (Y/N), I’ve been told he is often here.”  
Anna crosses her arms, she is suspicious.   
“Sometimes he does. Why, what do you want from him?” 

“I have news about his parents. I would like to share it with him. I assume he isn’t around?” Gia asks.  
“No, he’s out at the moment,” Anna responds.  
“That’s too bad. Well, when you see him could you give him this letter? It’ll give him a location for me to meet him.”

Anna takes the letter and nods. Gia walks away and Kai shuts the door.  
“His parents…” Anna wonders. She is tempted to open the letter to see what it holds.  
But she knows that your parents are a sensitive subject. 

“Who was that girl?” Anna ponders.


	8. Talent

Chapter 8: Talent

You wake up the next day. The room is warm and dry again. Elsa is still in your arms, sleeping away. You debate whether to get up or not, as Elsa is still sleeping and she has your arm. You shrug and try to get back to sleep. 

Right as you try to go back to sleep Elsa begins to wiggle. She is waking up. She turns to face you.  
“Hey,” she says in a soft, morning voice.  
“Hey,” you respond. “Did you sleep well?”  
“I slept wonderfully,” Elsa smiles.

She kisses you then leans her forehead on yours. You notice something new. Her smell. She smells like mint. One of those mint flavoured gums you can buy. “So that’s what Kristoff meant by the smell… I thought he was just being weird,” you think.

You both lay there for some time but you then notice Elsa’s eyes widen.  
“(Y/N)… What day was it yesterday?” She asks.  
“Sunday…” you stretch the word.

You realize what she was talking about. It was a school day! You both jump up and start running to school. As soon as you get out of the store Elsa stops for a moment and looks at her attire.  
“I can’t run in this! I have heels!” Elsa observes.

You get in front of her and bend down a bit.  
“Get on my back!” You suggest.  
“What?”  
“I can run fast with 150 lbs on my back, and you are definitely not... You know what I’m not talking about your weight just get on!”

Elsa giggles then hops on your back. You run as fast as you can back to the school. Thankfully it wasn’t too far away and Elsa was pretty light. You dash through the streets and through random strangers. They give you some weird looks but they are likely to forget you a minute later.

As you were running one person does catch your eye though. It was a girl with green hair. You get a weird feeling as you run past her. You connect eyes and time seems to slow down. You ignore it and continue to run.

She turns to watch you run. Her brow raises and a smile resides on her face. She begins walking in your direction.

You reach the school then let Elsa off your back. She looks relatively okay. Maybe a little gritty, but still beautiful. You are pretty much the same, minus the beautiful part. You both enter the school and look at the time: its third period.

“We missed that much?” Elsa gripes. “Our teachers are gonna kill us.”  
You put your hand around her shoulder. “Well, we could just hang out at the cafeteria until class ends. Anna and Kristoff will no doubt go there.”

Elsa shoots you a look. “Go to the cafeteria? I haven’t gone there in years.”  
You pull her in a little closer and lean in on her ear. “I’m here. Nobody will say anything.”  
You then kiss her on the cheek and she blushes. “Ok, let’s go.”

You both make your way to the cafeteria. Elsa grabs your hand. You enter the cafeteria and it is relatively empty. A couple people look over at you two and are surprised to see Elsa. You both sit at the table you usually do and wait. You discuss some silly things, such as who really wins your little wrestling matches. 

Elsa claims it’s her but you always defend that you let her win. It’s half true. After some good chuckles the bell rings and the cafeteria begins to fill with students. Kristoff and Anna are not yet among them. 

Many students stare at you and Elsa. She becomes uncomfortable, you can see it.  
“Elsa, I’m here. Focus on me, not them,” you say.  
She nods and starts focusing on you. 

“Look at the love birds,” a familiar voice shouts.  
“Oh no…” you snivel. “What do you want Hans?”  
Hans and his friends walk up to your table. Hans puts his hands down on the end of the table and leans in. Elsa slides down from him.

“I’m sorry Elsa, am I making you uncomfortable? Would you and (Y/N) like a room to kiss it out?”  
You stand up and confront him. “Lay off Hans.”  
Your tone is serious. You’re not messing around.

This begins to gain the attention of all the students. Anna and Kristoff show up but they are blocked off by waves of students. They don’t realize Elsa, Hans, and you are in the middle of the commotion. 

“What’s wrong (Y/N)? Struck a nerve?” Hans grins.  
“Not my nerve, hers. I wouldn’t push her buttons, Hans,” you warn.  
“But you push her buttons and can’t you push the right ones.”

“This isn’t right, he knows something,” you think.  
“Should I deal with this?” Shadow asks.  
“No,” you respond. “Elsa is here, and I want to do this.”

You and Hans have a small stare down. His buddies surround you. The room becomes colder. You know what this means. You take a quick look at Elsa. She is watching you both. Her hands are against her chest. She’s uncomfortable.

“You think you’re good because you defend her?” Hans asks.  
“No, not at all. I simply don’t like people being assholes. It urks me.”  
“How about this then, (Y/N), there is a battle of the bands going on this week at school. Why don’t you enter and see if you can win?”

You are confused at this challenge. What does this prove? You don’t understand his intention.  
“Sure, I’m down for that,” you bluff.  
Hans and his buddies disperse and the cafeteria returns to normal. You rush beside Elsa and put your arms on her shoulders.

“Are you okay Elsa?”  
“I’m fine, I promise. I just don’t like him,” Elsa responds. “And with all these people staring I got nervous… Usually I can handle myself.”  
“That’s the Elsa I know,” you smile.

Kristoff and Anna rush over to your table.  
“(Y/N), Elsa! Where were you guys?” Anna demands.  
You let out a smile. “Just enjoying some time together. Sorry we gave you a scare.”

“Man, you really have to get used to looking at your phone,” Kristoff says.  
You take out your phone and see all the notifications. 12 calls from Anna, 4 from Kristoff with about 23 texts from Anna. You chuckle at it.

“So what was all that commotion about?” Anna asks.  
“Hans challenged (Y/N) to join the battle of the bands,” Elsa explains.  
Anna’s eyes go wide. “Why would you do that?”

You tilt your head. “Why wouldn’t I?”  
“For one,” Kristoff starts, “Hans’ band has never lost once. Second, the loser of the finals gets a huge bucket of stuff dropped on their head.”  
“What kind of stuff?” You ask.  
“Whatever the winner decides, within reason,” Anna finishes.

“So if I won, I could dump a bunch of stuff on his head?” You ask, grinning.  
“You’re actually gonna do it,” Elsa notices.  
“Hey, you said I had a pretty good singing voice. Plus I can play guitar. That just leaves a drummer,” you say turning your head slowly at Kristoff.

He looks at you for a second but realizes what your intentions are.  
“No. No way.”   
“Come on Kristoff. You can impress Anna with your drumming skills,” you mention.  
Anna starts shrieking in excitement. “My boyfriend’s a drummer! Oh you have to do it Kristoff. For me?”

Anna gives him a puppy dog face. He can’t resist that face. He submits.  
“Fine, but we better win,” Kristoff demands.  
You crack a smirk. “Damn right we will.”  
You and Kristoff shake hands on it.

Elsa seems to have calmed down. She starts to actually take part in the conversation. You can tell Anna loves this. You do too. Thankfully Anna doesn’t bug you two about last night. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The rest of the day proceeds normally. You are happy that there is a shower at school. Kristoff offers you a ride to his place but you decline. You’ll meet him there after you grab some new clothes. 

Before you leave Anna approaches you. She gives you a letter and tells you about the girl who stopped by. By Anna’s description, it was the same girl you remember passing on your way here. Another surprising fact is that she mentioned your parents. That’s not something you expected to hear.

You begin walking to Oaken’s, letter in hand. You pass by your field and decide to take a seat. You open the letter and begin reading it. It doesn’t say much.  
“Meet me at… your field,” You read.  
You look around and see the same girl standing across the way.

You toss the letter away and proceed to the base of the field. You take a position in front of her.  
“So, what do you want?” You bluntly ask.  
She seems insulted. “No manners? I thought you were nicer than that.”

She begins to look around at the field. It isn’t as beautiful as before. She sees patches of dead grass and burn marks. She waves her hand a bit and it all comes back to life. You are surprised at first but maintain a serious look.

“I knew there would be more people with powers,” Shadow chimes in. “Keep on guard, there may be more.”

You follow his advice and remain alert.  
“So what did you want, Gia?  
“Oh, you can call me Gaia. I prefer that.”  
“I’m guessing you use that in accordance to your earth powers,” you observe. “That may make you a leader, as Gaia was said to be the mother of all. Something along those lines.”

She smiles. “Aren’t you clever.”  
“I try,” you coldly state. “So does that mean you sent the Fire Prince after Elsa?”  
“Ah, yes, Pyro. That I did. However to find you both together is quite interesting.”

She begins to pace around you. Your body is ready for anything; there is no way she’ll surprise you.   
“Why is that weird?” You ask.

“We were all separated. Hidden. Yet you find the Ice Queen with no effort at all.”

She stops behind you. You don’t move. You know that she is trying to toy with you.  
“You know nothing about my parents, do you? It was simple trick to get me out here.”  
She grins. “Well I had to get you to meet me somehow.”

“Listen; there is no doubt that we will attack the Ice Queen again. But I offer you a chance to join with us. We eliminate the Ice Queen, and then go after the people that did this to us.”   
You chuckle. “Nobody did anything to me… and you’re not touching Elsa.”  
Gaia’s grin turns into a frown.   
“Very well, but realize that we won’t hold back. We’ll kill her and you.”

You turn to face her. “You can try.”

You stare at each other. You know that you will have to defeat her, possibly kill her, but you appreciate her. She doesn’t seem blood thirsty. She has a type of conviction that won’t be broken. She needs to do this, but you don’t know why.

She puts her wrists in a different position and flicks them. You hear something behind you so you duck. A block of earth zooms past you. It stops before it hits Gaia. She smirks. She sends it back at you. 

You use your forearm to hit it, causing it to fall into dirt stones.   
“So you break that, huh?” She says.  
She then summons vines from behind her and whips them at you.  
“Oh joy,” you sarcastically state.

You run forwards a bit and perform a barrel roll in mid air, dodging most of the vines. Some come at you while in the air. You grab them and use them as a force to move yourself through the air. Gaia notices you holding on to the vines, so she changes them into thorned vines.

You feel the thorns and let go of it. You land on the ground quite smoothly but the rest is brief. More thorned vines begin shooting from all over the place. You prepare yourself. You begin jumping and dodging as fast as you can. 

You know you can’t keep this up forever. You jump out of the area where the vines are attacking you. They stop and begin to follow you. They remind you of snakes. You begin running towards Gaia. She sees this and erects a large wall from the ground. 

You stop in front of it, trying to think. You turn around to see the vines closing in on you. You back away from the wall a bit then wait 2 seconds. You begin to sprint at the wall, and then use the wall to backflip out of the way of the incoming vines. 

The vines break through the wall and proceed towards Gaia. She easily stops them. As she does you drop down from the sky and land on her. Just like you did with Carnage. You punch her once then get off. 

She quickly gets up and wipes the blood off of her face. She smiles.  
“You have technique. I’m looking forward to facing you later.”  
All the earth and plants she summoned returns to the ground. 

You relax and stare at her. You knew you could have killed her right there, but you didn’t. Some part of you wants to see what she has in store. There is a need to face her full power. Killing her isn’t what you want to do. You want to show her that even if she throws everything at you, you’ll win. 

She nods at you then begins to walk away. You simply watch her leave.  
“I too await our next fight,” you whisper.

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You arrive at Kristoff’s place. You’re quite distracted by your meeting with Gaia but you shove it to the back of your mind. Kristoff has his drum kit set up and an amp for you, just in case. You enter the room and smile at him. He smiles back.

“So, we’re gonna need some songs to play. I talked to Anna and we’ll need at least 4,” Kristoff explains.  
You grab his electric guitar and set it up the way you like it.   
“Well, maybe some impressive guitar and drum songs? We can start off simple and use some complex songs to win,” You say.

He agrees.   
“I was thinking 7 Nation Army by The White Stripes would be a good starter. It’s simple, but has a charm to it,” Kristoff recommends.  
“I know how to play that, and the lyrics. So that would work. You want to try it?” You ask.  
“Sure,” Kristoff says, getting ready to play.

You pull the some off quite well. You even added a few personal touches that added to the song. You always had that talent. You could really personalize a song if you were in the mood.

“That was pretty damn good,” Kristoff joyfully states. “Have any others you wanna try?”  
“I have a couple in mind. But, we really need one great finisher.”   
“We’ll worry about that later. We need are base right now,” Kristoff advises.

He was right. You guys played a combination of songs you liked and songs he liked. You guys sounded really great. You’re singing wasn’t even bad. You were happy with all this. It was really comforting for you to be playing with friends again; you hadn’t done it for months.

Kristoff is all sweaty after playing for 2 hours. It was understandable since your fingers are giving out.  
“I think that was a good first day,” Kristoff chuckles.  
You nod in agreement. “So I guess I should head out. You’re probably having dinner soon.”

“You can stay, if you want. My family does like you,” Kristoff offers.  
You smile. “Well if it’s alright with them then I’ll stay.”  
Kristoff walks by you and pats your shoulder twice. He leaves you in his room.

His room isn’t anything special. Its pretty bare bones, besides the drums and guitar.  
You fall on his bed and begin thinking about Gaia – what she said. She mentioned you were part of something. Some sort of experiment or another. 

“That doesn’t make sense though; I don’t even have any powers. I can believe that they know Elsa. I mean they all have some sort of control over an element. But what makes Elsa so special? Why would they want her?” You think to yourself. “But if they are telling the truth, then what do I have? I mean If I did have powers wouldn’t I have noticed them? Elsa said she had them as a child. It doesn’t make sense for me to have powers. Gaia must be trying to mess with me, and its working.”

You are surprised that Shadow doesn’t have anything to say. You’d think he would be full of ideas right now. You would actually prefer that he help you on this one. Gaia made it quite clear that she would go after Elsa, and you had to be there. You won’t let them touch her.

Kristoff enters his room with his phone In hand.   
“Anna just invited us out to dinner. You up for that?”  
You shrug. “Sure. Is Elsa coming?”  
“Hold on, I’ll ask,” Kristoff says as he types in his phone.

He rests his hands in his pockets.  
“So (Y/N), what’s up? You seem all tense and distracted,” Kristoff asks.

You debate telling him. He did see the Fire Prince –Pyro– so it wouldn’t be a shock to him. But he may start to worry too much. You don’t want to put that stress on him. You don’t even know whether to tell Elsa. She should know more than anyone but your mind goes back to the stress factor. 

She may become reclusive in fear of putting people around her in danger. Just like you used to be. You don’t want her to be like that. She is in such a good place right now and you don’t want to ruin it. You’ll protect her.

“Nothing much Kristoff… I’m just worried about what happened the other day, with that Fire Prince guy. What would’ve happened if you weren’t there.” 

Kristoff sits on the bed with you. “(Y/N)… From what I heard you beat a giant lava monster. It wouldn’t have mattered when I got there if you weren’t there to beat that thing. You saved Elsa and Anna. Hell, you saved us all. You can’t worry about that anymore. Plus you were the one who got hurt the most. Elsa probably has the same thoughts as you. What could she have to help you?”

You crack a smile. You know he is right. Elsa may have died right there if it wasn’t for you. 

“She cares about you man, I know it. As long as you are there then she will be safe. Nothing can beat you,” he continues.  
“I think you over estimate me,” you laugh.  
“All I wanted was that laugh,” he smiles. 

He checks his phone and there is a text from Anna.  
“She says that Elsa was waiting to see if you’ll go, so I assume she’s coming.”  
Kristoff begins typing, confirming that you are coming.

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You and Kristoff arrive at the restaurant. Anna and Elsa claim they already have a table and are waiting for you both.  
“This place… Man…” Kristoff mumbles.  
“What?” You ask.  
“It’s one of the most high end restaurants in Arendelle. We are SO underdressed.”

Surprised takes over your face.  
“When did you ever care about being properly dressed?”  
“Well, I don’t want to seem… I don’t know,” Kristoff stutters.  
“Ha, you care about your image in front of Anna,” You laugh. “Don’t worry, she won’t care. Also how did you not know we were going here? She sent you the text.

“She sent me an address. That’s very different,” he defends.  
“Uh huh,” you listen.

You both enter the restaurant and it’s filled with some high end people. They’re all wearing suits and dresses. You both stand out like a sore thumb. The waiter approaches you and leads you to your seat. It confused you. You didn’t even give a name.

She leads you to a table where Anna and Elsa are sitting. They are dressed up and look amazing. Elsa’s attire reminds you of when you took her to Oaken’s. “Wow, I can’t believe she took my date that seriously,” you think.

Both Anna and Elsa laugh when they see you. You take your seat beside Elsa. Kristoff does the same with Anna.   
“Ok, what’s so funny?” You ask.  
“Well we asked the waiter to bring two men who were obviously under-dressed,” Anna begins.  
“And it’s funny that they brought us the right people,” Elsa finishes.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Kristoff complains.  
“Oh Kristoff,” Anna says grabbing Kristoff’s cheek. “Where would the fun in that be?”  
You look at Elsa and she is still laughing a bit. Your stare at her makes her laugh even more.  
“Yeah yeah, laugh it up,” you state.

The dinner went quite well over all. You and Elsa held hands for the entire night, except when you ate. The thought of an attack was constantly at the back of your head. You continuously surveyed the area to make sure nothing would happen. Elsa noticed your uneasiness.

You stay awhile after you finish your meal. You all laugh and talk about your day. Kristoff boasts about his drumming skills. You let him have his moment. Anna talks about her difficulty picking a dress. This one is your favourite for the simple fact that you never understood the hell that was deciding on clothes. 

You mention your progress on choosing the songs for the show. Kristoff and you take over the show for a bit. Anna and Elsa seem happy about your endeavor. How you both are so excited to play that you forget Hans and everything that happened lately. You talk about some things to, but you refrain from mentioning your meeting with Gaia.

Anna and Elsa attempt to pay for it but you and Kristoff stop them. You both act casual about it but in reality you both had to spend most of you money on this dinner. The girls found it sweet.

You end your night with a kiss to Elsa and jump in Kristoff’s car. He drives you back to his place. You prepare for tomorrow. The battle of the bands begins.


	9. To Open Up

Chapter 9: To Open Up

You get a good sleep considering you are practically sleeping on the ground. You wake up and notice Kristoff isn’t in his bed. You hear his shower running so you assume that’s him. You lie down and take a moment. What Gaia said is still stirring around in your head. You honestly can’t shake what she said. 

You try to ignore this by thinking of Elsa. You imagine her from last night. She has her beautiful teal dress on and a beautiful smile on her face. You start to feel a little easier with her in mind.   
Your mind starts to wonder onto your other friends. With everything that’s been happening you haven’t asked Kristoff about his relationship much.

You know he’s not the most touchy feely guy, but you picture yourself as his best friend. You know he’s yours. But it may be good to remind him that he can talk to you about anything. The funny part was that you didn’t think the same for him. You still think you need to hide everything from these people. 

“I should tell them… I should tell them all soon,” You mutter.

Kristoff enters the room. His hair is still somewhat wet and he has a towel wrapped around his waist. He doesn’t notice you’re awake. He takes off his towel and you quickly close your eyes. You wait until you hear the zipper of his jeans. 

“Is it safe?”  
Kristoff jumps back in pure terror.  
“I hate you so much!” He chuckles.  
You start cracking up. “I honestly didn’t think you would get so scared.”  
You continue to laugh.

Kristoff grabs a shirt and sits on his bed. He seems a little off. You pick yourself up and stand in front of him.  
“Kristoff… what’s wrong?”  
He looks at you for a second. You think he is going to brush you off.

He lets out a huff. “Its Anna.” 

“Wow, that’s magnificent timing,” you think.

“What’s wrong? You guys seem to be doing well together.”  
“I know but… so were her and Hans,” He sighs.

You think you know what he is getting at.  
“You think that she is falling for you too fast?”  
“Yeah… I just imagine a relationship to take awhile to develop, you know? But Anna seems to fall for guys really easily and I don’t know whether she actually likes me or this is just what she does.”

You can’t think of how to respond to that. You could simply say that she really does like him and all but you don’t truly know that. Their relationship has been developing for less time than you and Elsa. 

“I could ask Anna.”  
Kristoff shoots you a look.  
“Well, not in an obvious manner,” You reassure. “But, I am her friend, she may talk to me.”

Kristoff sighs again. “I honestly thought you were going to give me some bullshit speech.”  
You laugh. “Who, me?”  
Kristoff cracks a smile.   
He gets up and looks back at you. “I would appreciate if you would ask (Y/N). But let’s focus on doing well on Battle of the Bands.”

You jump up and grab his hand.  
“Cause that’s what matters most of all.”  
He squeezes back and you both smile. You rush downstairs and to the car.   
Before you get in his car you remember something.  
“We totally forgot food.”  
He looks at you for a moment. “We totally did.”

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You both arrive at school and separate to go to class. You know you’ll see Anna and Elsa in your first period, so you prepare for some talk. However the teacher was content with giving a very long explanation of the next project. 

After he explains it he pulls you aside to give you the notes that you missed. He didn’t seem mad, which saved time. You, Anna and Elsa group together. It’s a simple presentation, so none of you worry too much about it. 

After a quick talk about what you may be doing Elsa leaves to go to the bathroom. It seemed odd to you. You’ve never seen Elsa go to the bathroom during school. You didn’t argue, though. This gave you the time you needed with Anna.

“So Anna, how are you and Kristoff doing?”  
“Huh? Oh we’re doing really well. He’s such a great guy.”  
Her words remind you of when she described Hans.  
“That’s an awful lot like the way you talked about Hans,” you mention.

Her face cringes for a moment.  
“Kristoff is nothing like Hans. I realize now that Hans was very fake. He always found a way to merge our interests. Kristoff is different. We are different but that’s ok. I care about him for him, not how much we have in common or how sweet he acts. Sometimes he can be stubborn or less then gentlemen-like. But that’s who he is and it’s who I love.”

She stops for a moment at what she says.  
“Love…” She repeats.  
“You love Kristoff?” You confirm.  
She giggles for a second at this realization.  
“You said it yourself (Y/N), you just know with all your being when it’s true love.”

“I didn’t use those… never mind,” you mumble. “So you’re using my random explanation to say you really love Kristoff? You don’t think it’s a little fast?”  
Anna turns to you. “Didn’t you and Elsa start liking each other pretty fast?”  
“Well sure, but–“  
“Then isn’t that true love too?” Anna interrupts.

You are about to respond but her words hit you. She has a point and she’s using your own words against you. Do you love Elsa? Does she even love you? This spins your head and Anna notices.

“Do you love my sister?” She asks, her face glowing with happiness.   
You can’t even conjure words to respond. You see Anna’s smile growing even wider. You know that your lack of words shows that you do indeed. But by your own logic, you should know right away.

You don’t know whether you are saying you do or trying to prove you don’t.   
“Do I love Elsa? I mean it’s been such a short time and it’s been so long since I’ve felt love that I don’t really remember. I mean, she does make me feel good and I care about her so much…” You take a pause.

You don’t realize you said that all aloud and Anna’s smile grows even wider. You didn’t think a smile could be that big. She starts shrieking in excitement and hopping up and down. She is attracting attention.

“Anna,” you say placing your hand over her mouth “Quiet! I can talk but only if you keep come composure.”  
Anna stops bouncing and allows you to continue. You remove your hand but her smile is still as wide as ever. Before you can talk Elsa comes back into the room. She sits down and looks at the notes again. She notices Anna’s huge smile and your blushing face.

“Did I miss something?” She asks.  
“Ye–“  
“No,” you interrupt Anna. “Nothing worth talking about.”  
Anna leans into her sister and whispers something. They both giggle.

“Well that’s not very nice. How am I supposed to know what you’re giggling about?” You complain.  
“That’s the point of the whispering, (Y/N),” Anna sarcastically points out.  
Elsa giggles some more. You begin to blush. She laughs some more.

You give up, you’re not beating the sister duo. You lean back and start to play air guitar. You’re doing some simple practice for your performance this lunch.   
“So what’re you two going to play?” Elsa asks as she writes down some more notes.  
“We decided on doing Seven Nation Army as are starter. It’s simple yet elegant. I have a few tricks to up the ante as well.”

Anna looks confused for a second. You can tell she doesn’t know the song. You start humming the tune and she remembers.  
“Kristoff plays that in the car sometimes. It’s alright.”

“I’m guessing you aren’t into that kind of music? What music do you like?”  
“I like a lot. Some classic romance songs are nice but I like some up-beat stuff here and there. I usually sing the simple sappy songs though,” Anna rambles.  
“I would have to agree,” Elsa adds.

“So you both sing? You both probably blow me out of the water.”  
“Probably,” they agree.  
“Wow, don’t hesitate or anything,” you sarcastically state.  
They laugh.

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Lunch rolls around as you and Kristoff set up in the schools presentation area – generally used for assemblies and such. You guys are up first. You test out the audio to make sure it’s all good. You have the schools music professionals help you with all the technical stuff.

“Hey Kristoff… Did we ever choose a name for our band?”  
Kristoff pauses for a moment.  
“Oh crap.”

The students begin to pour into their seats. You notice Anna and Elsa in the third row. They both give you thumbs up for good luck. You smile back at them. Kristoff doesn’t notice. He seems a little nervous. 

“You good Kristoff,” you reassure.  
“Yeah… I’ve just never played in front of a crowd.”  
“Just focus on what you’re doing. Live in your own little world for the next few minutes.”  
He nods and gets ready.

“So,” One of the announcers says over a loud speaker. “We are starting our yearly Battle of the Bands. First up we have… Um excuse me kids you never gave us a band name.”

You stutter for a minute, trying to come up with a name.  
“The Ice Harvesters,” Kristoff responds.  
You turn towards him and mouth “What? The Ice Harvesters?”  
He responds with an exaggerated shrug.

“Alright, we have the Ice Harvesters here. Show us what you got boys.”

You nod your head and focus on the guitar. You palm mute it to try and mimic the sound of a base. It does well enough. You begin the basic riff of the song. Kristoff starts the drums. You move to the mic and prepare your voice.

I’m gonna fight ‘em off  
A Seven Nation Army couldn’t hold me back

You hear a horde of girls start cheering over your voice. Anna nudges Elsa. Elsa smiles, she already knew you could sing.

They’re gonna rip it off  
Taking their time right behind my back  
And I’m talking to myself at night because I can’t forget  
Back and forth through my mind behind a cigarette

You hit every note perfectly and even use your voice to your advantage. The crowd cheers more.

And the message comin’ from my eyes says leave it alone…

You start playing the chorus.

Leave it alone, oohhh

You finish up the chorus and start the riff again. You don’t plan on playing the whole song. You’re going to end it at the next chorus, but you’re gonna end it with a bang. 

You do just as well singing the next verse. You do the build up again and start the solo. You hit it all perfectly. When the solo is supposed to end Kristoff begins a different drum beat that still fits with the song. He has his moment then you start a separate solo over top of the chorus tune. 

It also matches perfectly as you end the song. The crowd gives you a standing ovation. Hans and his friends aren’t happy about it. Elsa cheers your name as Anna cheers Kristoff’s.  
The whole place starts cheering your names.

You look at Kristoff who seems to be thoroughly enjoying the moment.  
“Thank you Arendelle!” You say into the mic, letting off a small selection of notes on the guitar.

You both take your stuff off stage and sit in the crowd. Anna and Elsa switch seats to be with you.   
“That was really great guys! I didn’t know you could sing (Y/N).”  
You smile and shrug. “I can be full of surprises.”

“Ok, that was great and all but I think we have to address something,” Elsa says gathering your attention. “The Ice Harvesters?”   
Kristoff throws his hands in the air for a moment.  
“I didn’t know what to call us!”  
You all laugh.

Other bands went up and played very well. They played a variety of rock, country and even adaptations of pop music. Almost every genre was played. You aren’t too worried about it. You are confidant in your performance. 

Next up was Hans’ band. They set up and prepare to play. Hans shoots you a look with a cocky smile. He begins playing. You recognize the song instantly. He’s playing Don’t Fear the Reaper by the Blue Oyster Cult. You have your own opinion on that song.

No matter your thoughts on him or the song, you have to admit that he played it good. The crowd cheers as he exits. You also give a clap out of respect. 

“Well that was a wondrous amount of talent we have seen today. We judges will decide who will proceed, then tell you at the end of the day. Thank you all for coming, and thank the bands for their fantastic performance. Give them all a round of applause!” The announcer says.

Everyone claps then proceeds to leave the area, shaking hands of band members along the way. You receive a couple handshakes and get hit on by a few girls. Elsa doesn’t mind since you politely deal with it. 

You feel pretty good about yourself. You like that all these people enjoyed you so much. Kristoff is pretty happy with it too. You can see that some girls are after him but he doesn’t find it so easy to brush them off like you did. Thankfully Anna can be quite scary, and the girls leave him alone.

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You and Kristoff take it easy during your workout time. You are on a treadmill the entire time. Kristoff does his own thing for a bit. He then walks over to you with a look on his face. You sense some weird conversation coming.

“(Y/N), did you ask Anna about what she thought of me?”  
“Yeah, yeah I did.”  
You prepare to tell him. You’re not nervous or anything. There is nothing to be nervous about. Anna said good things.

“Well… What did she say?”  
“Listen, can I tell you after I’m off the treadmill?”  
Kristoff huffs then walks away.

“Why not just get off and tell him?” Shadow asks.  
“Shadow? Where were you? It’s been days.”  
“No it hasn’t. It’s been a day at most,” he argues.

You contemplate what he says.  
“Maybe for you, in there.”   
“Explain,” he demands.  
“Well, remember when we fought Carnage? That felt like a half hour at most, but I later found out it was four hours. So maybe time is sporadic in Limbo.”

There is silence for a moment. You assume he is thinking.   
“That is a decent theory. It may be true.”

You huff for a moment. Your mind begins to wonder. You forget what you are doing which causes you to stumble on the treadmill. Its speed is quite high so it sends you flying back into the wall. You grunt when you hit it, but it doesn’t bother you that much.

Surprisingly, the only thing on your mind right now is what Anna said. “Do you love my sister?”  
Those words are spinning around your head. You remember a question one of your old friends asking the same thing once. 

You get yourself up and stand there for a moment. Your face fills with anger and you punch the wall. It leaves a big crack in the wall. You didn’t mean for that to happen. You back get away from it as fast as you can and head to the showers. Kristoff saw all this.

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You wait a moment before leaving the school. They are announcing the bands proceeding to the next stage of Battle of the Bands. First they call out Hans’ band.  
“Go figure,” you mutter.  
They then call out your band and three others. You are happy that you progressed, but you don’t feel it. You still feel odd.

You leave the school. You are a little on edge and don’t understand why. Anna sees you and walks up to you.

“Hey (Y/N)! Where’s Kristoff?”  
You look around then remember you didn’t leave with him today. You didn’t mean too. Your mind just feels like it’s on fire. Before you can answer, Kristoff walks out of the school towards you two. 

“Hey guys!”  
He and Anna share a kiss. You look away when they do.  
“So, what’re you guys up to tonight? Are you free? I could use the company,” Anna asks.  
“What about Elsa?” You question.  
“Elsa is taking Olaf out for the night. So I am on my own tonight.”

You and Kristoff look at each other. You assume he will say no since you have to practice for tomorrow. 

“Sure, we’ll come by for the night.”  
You give Kristoff a look and he automatically knows what you’re thinking.  
“We practiced five songs last night and nailed them all. We got tomorrow, don’t worry.”

You shrug then go to his car. Kristoff unlocks it for you. He stays behind for a moment to talk to Anna. She nods then gives him a kiss. They both walk to their respective cars.

“She… may love you,” you start.  
What a place to start it was. Kristoff quickly turned to face you then back to the road.  
“What? She said that? No… But she loved Hans too! How do I know she really loves me or if this is just Anna being Anna..?”

“Anna being Anna is what you like her for. Besides she loved the Hans that Hans wanted her to love. She loves you for who you are. You never put up an illusion when you’re with her. She sees your flaws and still loves you. She truly cares about you man.”

You see a smile creep onto Kristoff’s face. You tilt your head at it.

“I’m… I’m so happy,” Kristoff mutters. “She loves me…”  
You feel one of Kristoff’s “big softy” moments coming on. You enjoy these.  
“She loves me!” He declares to the world. “And I love her!”

These words surprise you. Kristoff isn’t one for love in a short period. At least that’s what he has said. This change is out of the norm for him.

“You love her? Have you told her?”  
Kristoff’s smile remains on his face.  
“No… I was kind of worried. I always thought I was over thinking it. But I believe I love Anna. You just know when you love someone, you know?”

You shrug. “I suppose…”  
“You suppose? You love Elsa don’t you?”

That’s the second time you have been asked that today. Did they plan this whole “love” scheme just to see what you thought of Elsa? But they two of them seemed too sincere with their words. They said it with such conviction and certainty. Anna and Kristoff love each other, they just haven’t told each other.

“I… I don’t know…” You respond. It’s the only thing you can say.  
“But I thou–“  
“I DON’T KNOW!” you yell.

The car goes silent. Kristoff is confused. What did he say? Is Elsa a sore spot? Did something happen between you two? Kristoff can’t find an answer. He remains silent and simply drives.  
You regret yelling at him. You don’t know why you did it. You just snapped and you have no idea why.

“Kristoff…” You say, waiting a few seconds to continue. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I snapped. I shouldn’t have.”  
“Don’t worry about it (Y/N),” Kristoff smiles. “I may not understand, but I know you wouldn’t have done it without a reason.”

You smile. You were worried for a minute. You start to feel butterflies in your stomach. You have no idea why.  
“What’s wrong with me?” you think.

You hope for Shadow to respond but there is nothing. You hoped he would have an idea why you were like this. He always helped when it came to you. He knew you better then you knew yourself at times. Yet you know next to nothing about him. 

That annoyed you, and it brought your mind back to Gaia. She said she knew about you. That she knew the people who had done this to you. You assumed that you were born this way. But what if you weren’t… What if there was a way to learn more.

You shake your head. You know that this line of thought leads to her deal. You won’t take that deal no matter what. You won’t hurt Elsa. Something else creeps into your mind: the fact that she hasn’t attacked yet. Why not?

Kristoff shakes you and you come back to reality. You notice that you are at Anna and Elsa’s house. You get out of the car and walk towards the house. However you don’t hear Kristoff get out of the car. Instead you hear his car drive away. 

“Kristoff! What the hell are you doing?” You yell.  
He either doesn’t hear you or doesn’t care. He’s gone. You let out a big sigh then walk towards the door. You knock. A couple seconds later Anna opens up.

“Hey (Y/N)! I see Kristoff left already. Well, he did say he would.”  
You stand there. You are confused. Why did Kristoff leave you with Anna and why doesn’t Anna seem to care. In fact it looks like she knew about this little stunt.

“Anna,” you stretch her name as you say it. “What’s going on?”  
Anna closes the door and smiles.   
“(Y/N), you are dating my sister and I am dating your best friend… but we don’t know each other as well as we should.  
“Anna–“  
“And,” she says, putting her finger on your lips, “I need to talk to you about something else.”

You are getting a bad feeling from all this. Why is there so much secrecy going on? Why is everything so different today? You keep on guard. You expect nothing dangerous from Anna but you have been on edge all day. That wall is an example of it.

You both sit down on the couch.  
“Kristoff is concerned about you, (Y/N). He saw you punch a wall today.”  
You sigh and look away from Anna.  
“(Y/N), please talk to me. What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know, Anna. I really don’t. I’m just…” you try to say.  
“Just what, (Y/N)?” She urges you to continue.  
Her voice is very soft at this point. You can tell all she wants is to help you, but you can’t even help yourself. She cares. They all do.

“You and Kristoff have been asking me whether I love Elsa… I… I’m a little scared, Anna.”  
She is shocked. Scared isn’t something she expected to hear from you.  
“I think I need to tell you something. I’ve meant to tell you this…”

You proceed to explain what you have told Elsa and Kristoff already. Your old friends, your old life. But you’re adding something new to this explanation.

“The girl I was dating… Kat… She was my best friend’s sister. He didn’t mind us dating because of how good we were together. He encouraged it in fact. One time, he asked if I loved her. I said yes.”

“I don’t understand what is wrong with loving someone…” Anna queries.

“I did something bad Anna… I did something really bad and it cost me my friends. I imagine they hate me right now. They wish I were dead.”   
Tears begin rolling down your face. Just a few, but enough to notice.

Anna rushes beside you and gives you a hug. You hug her back. She wonders whether to pursue the subject or not. She sees how it broke you.

“And now people are asking the same question they did months ago,” you sob. “And I don’t want you all to hate me.”

Anna pulls you in closer. She feels your warmth and also your sorrow. She doesn’t think anyone has seen you this way. Not even Elsa.

“(Y/N), you’ll never lose us. I promise. Elsa cares about you more then you know. She talks about you all the time. Whether you love her or not doesn’t matter right now. We all care about you.”

You compose yourself and wipe away the few tears. A moment of weakness was what you saw. But maybe it wasn’t all like that. Maybe it was a stepping stone to getting stronger. A way to show that you aren’t the monster you always think you are. The one you are afraid of turning into.

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Days have passed since that night. The stress you felt, the on edge feeling has long since disappeared. You and Anna are closer than ever. With your extra happiness you have swept Elsa off her feet with some impressive nights. 

But this is the last day of Battle of the Bands. This is where it is decided. Just as Hans wished for, it is you and him in the finales. You’d have it no other way. You and Kristoff have agreed to play your favourite song. You made it just right for the two of you. 

The school has no classes running today. It is all focused on the finales. Hans is up first. You take your seat in the audience with your peers and prepare to watch what Hans has in store.   
He is late to the stage. You look around and see him talking with the judges. They nod and he runs up to the stage.

“Okay ladies and gentleman! This is the finales of Battle of the Bands!”  
The crowd roars.  
“First up, we have Mr. Hans Westergaard and his band: The Deceit!”

“What a perfect name,” you mutter.

“Go ahead boys; give it your A-game!” The announcer finishes.

Hans looks at his band members and they nod. They begin their song. As soon as they start your jaw drops. That’s your song! The song you planned to play for the finale. You shoot a look at Kristoff and he is just as surprised. His jaw is basically to the floor.

They do an amazing job at the song too. They made it better than the original and it blows everyone away. The crowd howls when they end. You, Anna, Elsa and Kristoff make your way to the side of the stage.

“That’s quite the song choice Hans!” You point out as he passes you.  
“You should learn to be a little more secretive (Y/N),” he smirks.   
You turn to Kristoff and see his hands are clenched in a tight fist.   
“Ignore him Kristoff,” You advise. “Now girls, you get back stage passes. You’re our lucky charms. We can do this.”

You kiss Elsa before running onto the stage. You and Kristoff set up your equipment. He sets his mic up and makes sure it’s quieter than yours.   
“Kristoff,” you say. He looks up at you. “Let’s seize the day!”  
He smiles. He knows what you mean.

“Go ahead Ice Harvesters!” The announcer says.

An acoustic guitar begins playing.  
Kristoff leans in on his mic.

Seize the day, or die regretting the time you lost  
It’s empty and cold without you here  
Too many people to ache over

Kristoff doesn’t have the best singing voice, but the way he sings works for this. You hope it doesn’t hurt your score.

You begin playing.

I see my vision burn; I feel my memory fade with time  
But I’m too young to worry  
The streets we travel on will undergo the same lost path

You continue to sing most of the song quite well. Kristoff really helps during the chorus. You reach the solo and nail it perfectly. It was a simple matter, but so elegant in how you pulled it off.

You reach close to the end.

So what if I never hold you, yeeeeeaaaaah, or kiss your lips again?   
Woooaaaaaah, so I never want to leave you and the memories of us to see  
I beg don’t leave me

You look at Elsa at the side and flick your head to come on stage. Elsa is hesitant but Anna pushes her onto it. She looks back at Anna angrily but then smiles at you.

Seize the day! Or die regretting the time you lost  
It’s empty and cold without you here  
Too many people to ache over, oh yeaah

Trials in life questions of us existing here  
Don’t wanna die alone without you here  
Please tell me what we have is real!

You end the song with a couple notes.

You hug Elsa and the crowd cheers. You look into the audience and see that Hans is smiling. You wonder why.   
The crowd is cheering like crazy. Maybe more then when Hans went up.

“I don’t know everyone. I think we need ONE. MORE. SONG!” The announcer yells.

You freeze. You and Kristoff don’t have another song planned. You are screwed. Hans’ once smiling face turns sour as he looks back at the judges.  
“I paid you, now declare me the winner!” He mumbles.

“Go ahead Ice Harvesters, one more!”

You walk towards Kristoff and start thinking of what song to do. You don’t have much time. As you and Kristoff bicker, Elsa walks up to the mic. She has an idea. A way to thank you for everything you have done for her. She’ll help you this time.

She begins singing.

It’s the same old story all over again  
You turn a lover into just another friend

You and Kristoff both turn your heads towards Elsa.   
“Is she singing Lay it on the Line?” You ask.  
Kristoff smiles and prepares the drums. You grab his mic and stand it a bit away from Elsa’s.

I want to love you! I want to make you mine!  
Won’t you lay it on the line?

The drums and guitar kick in. Elsa looks back at you and smiles.  
“I love this girl,” You mutter, not even realizing you said it.

I’m tired of playing all your foolish games  
I’m tired of all your lies making me insane  
I don’t ask for much, the truth will do just fine  
Won’t you lay it on the line?

You join her in the chorus. You play back up the entire song. When your solo comes up you lean against Elsa and she leans back. You aren’t even looking at the guitar, but you’re hitting every note. All you can look at it Elsa’s smiling face.

Elsa’s voice is truly amazing. It far surpasses your own but you are able to harmonize with her. The song ends with one final line from Elsa. It was perfect. The crowd goes insane. You swing your guitar behind your back then kiss Elsa passionately. You don’t care about all the students around you. You only see Elsa. 

She doesn’t resist. She returns the favour by taking part. You separate and look at the crowd. You raise her hand. “Ladies and gentlemen! Elsa! Anderson!”   
The crowd screams even more. 

Elsa’s smiling so wide. She feels accepted by the school for the first time. She never cared before, but everyone saw her as a loner and a freak. Now she is this amazing singer and very popular. 

Anna runs onto the stage and jumps on Kristoff, wrapping her arms and legs around him. She then proceeds to kiss him. The whole crowd is going nuts. They aren’t calming down.  
“Where did you even learn that song?” You ask with a huge smile.  
“I learned it just in case something happened. Looks like I plan well, don’t I?” She smirks.

“Oh, I love you!” you say.  
She looks wide eyed at you but has a smile.  
“What did you say?”  
You back off for a second. “Oh nothing. Really. You probably just heard the crowd say it. Whatever you heard.”

You smile and rub the back of your head. She smiles and kisses you again, just like before.

“Well I don’t think the crowd can get any louder. The winners are The Ice Harvesters!”  
Hans storms up to the stage and grabs the mic.  
“What? We haven’t played our second song yet!”  
“I’m sorry Hans, but the crowd has spoken,” the announcer states

Hans is furious. He paid to win and he still lost. All the planning for the perfect humiliation ruined. He turns his rage towards you. He pulls out a knife and rushes at you.  
Kristoff sees this. He puts Anna down and sprints to help.  
You are too distracted by Elsa to see it coming. But she catches it out of the corner of her eye.

She pulls you out of the way and Hans slips a little before regaining his balance.  
“You took the girls from me. You humiliated me. And you even date Elsa!”  
“I never would have gone out with you Hans!” Elsa yells.

The crowd doesn’t notice the knife in Hans’ hand, so nobody pays much attention to it.

“What are you talking about Elsa?” Anna asks.  
“Hans wouldn’t stop asking me out all last year. I wouldn’t accept and he got angry. I tried to tell you, but whenever the subject of Hans came up you wouldn’t listen.”

Anna processes this.   
“Leave Hans! Accept the terms of our agreement and stand down,” You yell.   
“No!” he howls. 

He rushes at you with the knife. He tries to stab you but you easily stop his hands without touching the blade. In one quick motion the blade is out of his hands and on the ground. You kick it away. 

The announcer noticed Hans trying to stab you and called the principle and the police. The principle came down and took him away. You had a feeling that Hans was going to hold that grudge, but you could worry about that later.

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The group goes to Anna and Elsa’s house to celebrate. Anna grabs some alcohol and other mixtures.   
“We’re celebrating like this?” You ask.  
“Why not? You won Battle of the Bands and Hans got expelled for trying to kill you. Today is one worth celebrating.   
“Damn right!” Kristoff agrees, grabbing some cups.

You notice Gerda and Kai have a worried look on their face. You excuse yourself from the group and talk to them.  
“Listen, I don’t plan on drinking. You guys can head out if you want. Have a short day.”  
Gerda and Kai look at each other then nod.

“We’ll stay for another hour then leave. We expect everyone to be okay in the morning.”  
“On my life,” you agree.

You join your friends and notice Elsa has a drink in her hand. You raise your brow at her and she shrugs with a smile.  
“I have to agree with Anna. This day is worth celebrating.”

She wouldn’t say it, but she is also celebrating the fact that you told her you love her. You may deny it, but she knows and couldn’t be happier. She takes her drink in one clean gulp then fills it up. Your eyes widen at this, but you mostly laugh.

Everyone seems to be having a good time. You notice Gerda and Kai leaving and you are surprised an hour has gone by already. You doubt your friends even notice. Everyone –besides you– is getting quite drunk. It is funny for you though. 

Anna is even more giggly and talkative. You didn’t even think that was possible. Kristoff is doing a bunch of weird stunts that get a laugh from everyone. Elsa is the same as Anna. She is super giggly and talkative. 

Within a few hours you see everyone pass out. Then wake up again. You know it is time for everyone to sleep. You get Kristoff on your shoulder and bring him to Anna’s room. You take Anna to Elsa’s room. You start to get Elsa up there but she is being difficult.

She is continuously kissing you. You can’t ignore this forever and eventually start kissing her back. It gets quite hot and heavy. She takes off your shirt and her own. She starts to take off her bra but you stop her.

“Elsa, I don’t want to do this when you’re drunk.”  
“Oh come on. I consent.”  
“Elsa. No,” You adamantly state.  
She gets mad and storms into her room, cursing you. You know she doesn’t mean it. 

You begin to clean up all the bottles and garbage around. You place them all in respective places then wipe your eyes. You are tired too. You turn around to see Anna standing in front of you.

“Gah, jeez. Anna don’t do that,” You chuckle.  
She grabs you and kisses you. You flail your arms around her then push her back. Her eyes are still closed and lips still puckered.

“Anna! What are you doing? Listen, go to bed. I think you should.”  
She tries to kiss you again but you stop her. Now you don’t know where to put her. She may try and kiss Elsa! That’d just be weird. 

You finally calm her down. You put her away with Kristoff. You then noticed Olaf’s door close ever so slightly. You decide to ignore it. It could have been the wind and it’s late. You wouldn’t want to wake him up.

You lie on the couch and think of the day. You only have three words to today  
“Damn good day!”  
You rest your eyes and fall asleep.


	10. Absolute Carnage

# Chapter 10: Absolute Carnage

 

**Warning: There are some graphic, violent scenes in the chapter. You have been warned.**

You look around and see familiar hallways. You proceed to walk around. There are people chatting and walking. People reading with their headphones in. A few couples holding each other close. You remember this place. It’s your old school.

 

You walk up to your locker and put in the code. It opens to reveal your belongings: A backpack, gym clothes, textbooks and a jacket. You grab your stuff and lock the locker. You pause for a moment.

 

“How’d I get here?” you ask yourself.

The memory isn’t there. You don’t remember waking up this morning. You don’t remember your parents making breakfast. You don’t remember your dog coming to see you in the morning.

 

You hold your head for a moment then proceed to the cafeteria. It’s small, but comfortable. You see all your friends sitting together. You see Kat smiling. Her smile is still so beautiful. You smile and rush over to see them.

 

Before you get there you see another you. His clothes are tattered and his head is slouched down. He begins walk over to your friends. You know exactly who it is. You drop your backpack and sprint over to him. In one strong backhand he sends you flying against the wall. You can’t move.

 

Your vision is blurry, but you see him attack your friends. They start trying to run away but Carnage is too fast and too strong. You try with all your might to get up but you can’t. Your body is frozen. Kat sees you and kneels down beside you. She puts her hands on you and tries to wake you.

 

“(Y/N)! Why won’t you wake up? (Y/N)! (Y/N)!”

 

You vision is still blurry but you see Carnage make his way towards you and Kat. You attempt to speak but not a word is uttered. Kat is too busy with you to see him coming.

 

“(Y/N), please wake up!”

 

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Olaf is shaking your sleeping body.

 

“Guys, why isn’t (Y/N) waking up? Breakfast is soon,” he asks the others.

They are holding their heads and seem very inactive. They don’t respond.

“(Y/N)!” He says.

 

Your eyes shoot open and you zoom onto your feet. You look around to see Anna and Elsa’s living room. Olaf is at your feet. He is tugging at your jeans.

“Breakfast!” He states, pointing at the kitchen.

 

You look to the kitchen and see all your friends. You can tell they are all hung-over and you chuckle at this.

“Alright Olaf, let’s go.”

Olaf jumps up then gives you a hug. You hug him back then proceed to the kitchen.

 

“Isn’t it a marvellous day?” You say in a loud voice.

You start clapping intentionally loudly. You decide to have a little fun with your friends.

“(Y/N)...” Kristoff starts, his voice is groggy and tired. “I will punch you.”

“I’ll hold him down,” Anna adds, her voice the same.

“I’ll help,” Elsa concludes.

 

You laugh then sit down beside Elsa. Olaf takes a spot at the other end of the table.

“You okay Elsa?” you smile.

She groans.

“That’s what I was expecting.”

 

Gerda and Kai bring in the food. It smells delicious. All your friends’ moods elevate a little bit. Olaf is as jumpy and happy as ever. He grabs some of the food and starts chowing down. You grab some yourself and challenge him to see who can eat the fastest.

 

Olaf agrees and you begin eating super fast. You slow down a little bit so Olaf can win. Your friends can’t help but laugh at the contest. Olaf finishes all his food then starts cheering and running around. You melodramatically declare defeat.

 

Gerda and Kai settle Olaf down and he returns to his seat. He sits quiet for a moment then looks up at everyone.

“Why was (Y/N) kissing my sister?”

Everyone chuckles a little.

“That’s because him and Elsa are dating, Olaf,” Kai responds.

“But it wasn’t Elsa he was kissing,” his innocent voice clarifies.

 

You choke on what food you have left over. Elsa and Kristoff look at you with their brows raised. Anna looks confused and is trying to remember.

“You did what?” Elsa firmly asks.

 

“Yeah, (Y/N) was putting garbage away then Anna kissed him. He flailed his arms a lot. It was funny,” Olaf chuckles.

Anna looks at you for clarification.

“You were a little... you know. You did kiss me once and tried again quite a few times.”

Anna throws her head into her hands and wails.

 

Kristoff and Elsa seem more relaxed now. They realize that Anna was drunk and she came onto you. It’s a good thing they realized that, you did not want to get both Elsa and Kristoff mad at you. You’ve never seen Elsa angry. You don’t want to see that. But you imagine a hung-over Elsa would be even scarier.

 

“(Y/N), did I really..?” Anna implies.

“Don’t worry about it Anna. I know you weren’t thinking clearly,” you reassure.

Anna sinks into her seat and blushes. You chuckle a bit then finish your food.

You gather your plate then take Olaf’s. Gerda and Kai thank you.

 

Kristoff and Anna finish their food then rush up to their room. Elsa takes you to hers. Olaf complained about Elsa taking you away but Gerda distracted him so you could go.

 

Elsa closes the door behind you then goes on to close all the blinds in her room. She didn’t want any light. You chuckled at her a bit. She gave you a small smile in return.

“Elsa, are you actually mad at me for last night? When I wouldn’t… you know.”

 

Elsa tilts her head at you. “No, not at all. I’m actually conflicted about it.”

Now you are confused.

“What do you mean?”

 

Elsa sits on her bed then turns to you. She huffs.

“You had a chance to sleep with me, yet you turned it down.”

You laugh at her.

“What? What’s so funny?” She whines.

“Elsa you were drunk. I’m not going to take advantage of you like that. Honestly if I was drunk too, then I may have. But it has nothing to do with the way I feel or anything. I just didn’t think it was right.”

 

She smiles then lies on her bed. She pats a spot beside her, signalling you to join her. You follow her little command. You lie down beside her and she cuddles into you. You put your arm around her.

 

“It wasn’t right huh?” She asks in a sarcastic voice.

You’re not sure whether she is trying to insinuate something.

“Yeah, at least for me.”

“Aren’t you the gentleman,” she continues.

 

You smile then turn towards her.

“Damn right, I am.”

She chuckles then kisses you passionately.

 

Elsa falls back asleep after an hour or so. You assume that’s what Anna and Kristoff ended up doing. You don’t leave Elsa though. You stick with her. She is holding you with her head on your shoulder. You rest your head on hers.

 

Anna and Kristoff walk into the room.

“Do you knock? That’s a thing, you know,” you make fun.

“Yeah yeah, how is she doing?” Anna asks.

You look at her then back to Anna. “She’s doing well. She’s hung-over, and I thought you two were as well.”

 

“Well Elsa’s never drank before,” Anna mentions.

“And you have?” You asked with a raised brow. “Both of you seem to be doing quite well.”

Kristoff shrugs then puts on his classic smile. Anna just giggles.

 

“Did you need me?” You ask, preparing to get up.

“No, we just wanted to check up on you,” Kristoff states.

 

Elsa starts stirring and wakes up. She notices Anna and Kristoff but is much too comfortable with you to react. She looks up at you and smiles. She is still thinking about what you said yesterday. This new discovery that you rejected her when she was so vulnerable has shown her something else.

 

“Elsa? Are you awake?” Anna softly asks.

“Yeah Anna, I’m awake,” Elsa responds, assuming a different position that faces Anna but is still as close to you.

“Gerda told me that Rapunzel is going to be coming here in the next day or two.”

 

Elsa seems confused by this.

“I thought she wasn’t coming for another few weeks?”

“That’s what I thought too, but I’m really excited to see her! She told me that she has a boyfriend now,” Anna expresses.

 

“Rapunzel? She’s actually named Rapunzel? Like the Rapunzel in fairy tales? Sheesh…” You mutter.

Elsa slaps your stomach and smiles. She lifts off you and on to her feet. She seems better than an hour ago. Maybe you have a healing aura.

 

“I’m going to shower,” Elsa declares.

She grabs some clothes and leaves the room. You all follow her out of the room then proceed to the living room. Kristoff and Anna sit together. They hold hands.

 

“(Y/N), would you like to live here?” Anna abruptly asks.

You are startled by this. It’s so random. So sudden.

“Um... This seems a little random Anna.”

 

“Well, Olaf loves you and that makes a mark.”

“Olaf doesn’t love me?” Kristoff remarks, obviously joking around.

“Not like he loves (Y/N). Anyway, I asked Gerda and Kai about it the other day. They agreed last night. I’m sure Elsa would love to have you stay as well.”

 

“Would Elsa even agree to the idea?” You think.

You doubt that she would say no, but this is her space. You don’t want to intrude.

“If Elsa is fine with it then I’ll stay,” you say.

 

Anna claps her hands then begins to run upstairs. She then realizes Elsa is in the shower and walks back downstairs. You and Kristoff laugh at her. She blushes.

 

“So you had fun last night?” You ask, making some conversation.

“From what I can remember, yeah! I still can’t believe Elsa drank as much as she did,” Kristoff chuckled.

“I’m actually surprised too. She has really let loose since she’s met (Y/N),” Anna adds.

“Me? Why me? Why not since this year?”

“Because, (Y/N), it is you who changed her. Even if you don’t want to admit it, you have changed my sister for the better.”

 

You sigh. You don’t like putting such a title on yourself. You know Elsa has changed since you first met her. But Elsa and Anna both say that Elsa was more open as a kid. Maybe it’s time. Maybe it’s the fact that Elsa no longer has to hide her powers from Anna, and that she is in control of them.

 

You start to imagine Elsa as a child; her beautiful face now looking younger, so energetic and playful with her powers.

 

“Hey Anna, what was Elsa like as a child? You know, before she shut you out.”

Anna thinks for a moment.

“She was a lot like she is now, actually. We used to build snowmen and make snow forts.”

Anna giggles at the old memories.

 

“We would sing a lot too! We loved the same music so we would sing in the car. She’s only gotten better.”

“That’s right!” Kristoff exclaims. “Can we take a second to say how amazing Elsa was yesterday? I mean she won us the competition.”

You smile. “That she did. She was truly amazing.”

 

“I was surprised when she did it,” Anna chimes in. “I never thought she would sing in front of the school, but you two nailed it perfectly.”

“And that lovely kiss at the end helped,” Kristoff said winking at you.

 

You blush a little. “It was a spur of the moment thing. I didn’t know what I was doing.”

Anna and Kristoff have big smiles on their faces. They don’t believe you one bit.

It was true, though. At that moment you just couldn’t keep yourself away from her.

 

Kristoff and Anna start bugging you on the topic. You can’t even defend yourself. Usually you can hold the two of them off quite well but this time you can’t. The three of you are so busy talking that you don’t notice Elsa walk down the stairs.

 

“Come on (Y/N), why won’t you admit you love Elsa? Anna and I admitted it.”

You tense up a little bit. Anna sees this and urges him to keep off the subject.

Kristoff sighs. After he stops he notices how tense you are on this subject.

 

“You know, I had a dream last night. A dream about my old friends. A dream of why they hate me.”

You let out a big sigh. Everyone waits in anticipation. Elsa stays on the stairs, eager to hear what you are going to say.

 

“Guys, I–“

“Excuse me everyone,” Gerda declares, cutting you off.

Everyone but you look at Gerda with a disappointed face.

“Did I interrupt something?”

“No,” you say. “Nothing important, go ahead.”

 

“Well, the school called. They said one of your guitars was left there. They left one door open for you to grab it.”

“How did they know to call this house?” You ask.

 

Gerda pauses for a moment. She doesn’t have that information. You all shrug and decide to go get the guitar. Elsa reveals herself and offers to drive. You all pile in her car and get going.

 

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You remained silent for the whole drive. Anna and Kristoff mostly conversed with each other while Elsa concentrated on driving. You stare out the window and think. You enter your own little world of thought where you can’t hear the outside world at all.

 

You were going to tell them everything. Now you don’t know whether you should. You still have doubts about whether or not to tell them. You haven’t even told yourself the full story. It’s eating away at you, at your core. You hate lying to them, but you have no other choice. Not now.

 

Elsa pulls into the parking lot. There are no other cars here.

“That’s odd,” Elsa mumbles.

She doesn’t say it loud enough for everyone to hear. But you heard her.

 

You all walk to the front entrance but it is locked. They didn’t tell Gerda which one they left open. Or maybe they did and Gerda forgot to tell you all. You walk around to the back. There are two doors there. You go to open one but it is locked.

 

“Guys, how about you stay here while I check the one down there? That way we’re not all walking around,” you inform.

They all nod their heads as you run off to the door.

 

Once you reach it you notice something: the handle has a slight spark emitting from it. It is ever so slight, but you notice it.

“Up here!” you hear a voice yell.

You look up only to have your head forced to the ground by a punch. You land flat on your stomach.

 

You try to recover but the assailant keeps you down with their feet. You use your strength and push him off with one strong lift. He easily lands back on his feet then withdraws his hands. You are confused but then it hits you. Literally.

 

A barrage of lightning comes from behind. It likely originated from that handle. It sends you flying away from the school and into the field. You struggle to get up from the jolt that hit you. You try and find your friends.

 

They are being attacked by fire and earth. Elsa is doing her best against the two. Kristoff is giving the support he can while keeping Anna safe.

“The Fire Prince... Is alive?” You huff.

You pick yourself back up. You twitch every a couple times from the lighting. You are determined to get back to your friends, but someone is blocking you.

 

You see your opponent. He is a man with a rather weak build. He is skinny and doesn’t look physically strong, though that punch he delivered proves otherwise. His hair is a whitish blue.

 

“So, you’re the one we should be so scared of? You don’t look so scary to me.”

You chuckle. “Neither do you.”

His mouth twitches into a smile for a split second.

“Well,” he says opening his palms and allowing electricity to flow through them, “Shall we get to the dance?”

You smile and get into your own stance. “I lead.”

 

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Elsa is being overwhelmed by both Gaia and Pyro. She is doing much better than she did before however, which means she may have practiced a bit. She is summoning a massive amount of ice spikes and walls. Pyro is surprised at the advancement she made.

 

Kristoff is trying to get Anna away from here but Gaia keeps changing the earth to keep them close.

“Anna, I need you to keep yourself safe. I have to help Elsa!”

“What about (Y/N)?” She frantically asks.

 

Kristoff sees the fear in her eyes. He grabs her and kisses her.

“He’ll be alright. He never loses.”

 

Kristoff joins the fray against Gaia and Pyro. Pyro is attempting to overwhelm Elsa with lava but Elsa is keeping her ice layered just in case. She is also using ice blasts to freeze and destroy Gaia’s thorned vines.

 

She lets out a shot that knocks Gaia onto her back. Kristoff runs over and keeps Gaia down. He dodges a few vines then punches her in hopes of knocking her out. Gaia smiles at the punch then spits in his face. She creates a solid fist of stone and punches Kristoff off her. She then throws some leaves at him, which are much deadlier than their appearance would suggest. One skims his cheek, which causes it to bleed.

 

“Razor sharp leaves? Man, it’s always something,” He sarcastically remarks.

 

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Tempest continues to shoot lighting at you. You have no choice but to back up towards the forest. Thankfully you want to. The lighting won’t electrify the branches. It will set them on fire, however. You grab a branch then block the lighting with it.

 

It catches on fire, as you thought. You throw the burning branch at Tempest. He dodges it but you are faster then he thought. You grab both of his hands so he can’t conjure electricity. You knee him thrice than deliver a solid head butt to his face. He reacts to it but you still have his hands.

 

He sees this then shoots lighting out from his body. It creates a circle of lighting that you are caught in. You scream but try not to lose it. You release one hand off him to get some distance. He tries to move back. You pull him in then lift your leg up to his face. You kick him repeatedly then push yourself away.

 

You exit the circle of electricity. There is still lighting emanating from your body. You feel weakened, yet you know you didn’t do too much to him. He stops and wipes his face. He smiles at you.

 

“You’ll need to think of something better than that!” He taunts you.

 

“To be honest, I’m surprised he’s alive. Normal people would die with that much electricity pumped in them,” Tempest whispers.

 

You are breathing heavy. The effects of the lighting haven’t worn off yet. You are trying to think of a way to win but his powers seem too strong. There is no weak point you can see. His use of the electricity is astounding.

 

“Rubber could work... But I don’t have anything like that. Water might work... But the sprinklers may not be the same after before... Damnit,” you mumble.

 

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Elsa and Pyro are going toe-to-toe. Elsa is refusing to lose again. She hurls a huge ball of ice at him which he melts away. But she summoned three ice spikes to follow it, which handily hit him. They almost penetrate his skin.

 

He growls at her success. He shoots a huge tornado of fire at her. She responds by sending ice in close proximity to the fire. It melts and the water douses the fire. Elsa smiles at her plan.

 

Kristoff is outrunning a huge barrage of vines and razor leaves. He is thankful for all the fitness courses he has taken lately. He dodges out of the way as the vines pass him. He goes to rush Gaia but she erects a wall in front of him. Her original attack starts making its way towards Kristoff. 

 

He looks around but can’t find a way out. Elsa sees this and freezes the plants. Pyro takes this opportunity to hit her with fire. She screams and falls to the floor.

 

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You can do nothing but dodge. When you start to get close Tempest surrounds himself in electricity. You still don’t have a plan. He finally gets fed up with you running and creates a large wall to block you off. He then hits you with a beam of lighting. Using it, he lifts you up and throws you against the school. You crash though the same wall Elsa built. You hit the carving of you two. As you hit it, you hear Elsa scream.

 

You roll on the floor as you hit it. The impact was lessened that way. You get up and try to think. You see the area where the school keeps their gym equipment. Tempest sends a blast at you and you duck into there.

 

You notice that your shirt has been torn to shreds by the fight. You rip it off in case they try to grab it. You try to think as you look around. You notice a big ball. But there is something special about it. It’s made completely of rubber! You have a chance. You grab the ball then run out. He shoots at you but you block with the ball. Nothing happens.

 

You throw the ball at him which disorients him. The ball bounces back towards you. You do a flip as you grab it and stand on his head. You jump a little then let your knees slam on his shoulders. You don’t allow him to react as you smack him with the ball, and then a kick.

 

He falls to the floor. You take the ball and shove it in his face. You grab him then use all your strength to toss him out of the school. You proceed to grab the ball and throw it at him. It hits him, sending him a little further. Your plan works as he smashes into a tree.

 

“Who doesn’t have a plan now... Asshole,” You chuckle.

 

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Pyro is beating on Elsa. She is trying to defend but he is using fists instead of powers. Elsa can’t use hers because of his proximity to her. It instantly melts all ice she summons. He punches her in the stomach then hammer fists her back into the ground. While she is trying to get up he kicks her in the face. She falls on her back.

 

“Elsa!” Anna howls as she attempts to help her sister. Pyro grabs the back of her hair then knees her in the stomach. As she leans over and grabs her stomach he puts both his hands there. He creates a fire pulse which blast Anna to the ground.

 

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You run out from the school to witness Anna get blasted by the fire. Kristoff his being strangled in the air by vines. He is struggling, but it is in vain. Elsa tries to fight back but Pyro hits her with a blast. Her scream rocks you to the core.

 

“Elsa!” You roar as you begin to sprint over to her. Before you can a lightning blast stops you. You are getting angry. Elsa is in trouble and this idiot wants to keep fighting.

 

“Did you think... I would lose... to you..?” He looks up at you; his eyes are gleaming with electricity. “AGAIN!”

 

He raises his hands and a huge storm cloud appears in the air. He collects all the lightning from it then morphs it into a ball in his hands. He smiles he shoots it not at you, but at Elsa. He lifts her in the air as she shrieks in pain.

 

Your heart is pounding hard. You want to rip this guy apart. He is hurting Elsa. Anna is hurt as well. Kristoff is being strangled. All your friends are about to die and you can’t do a thing about it. Your blood begins to boil. You want these people dead. You want them to suffer.

 

Pyro and Gaia stand with Tempest. He releases Elsa and she falls to the ground. Kristoff is released as well. He is still conscious, however. He sees you watch Elsa fall to the ground. He can feel your emotions from there. He can’t do anything else, so he watches. He wants to help, but he has nothing left.

 

“(Y/N)... I’m so... sorry... I couldn’t defend...  either of them...” Kristoff struggles to say. “Now... I have to... watch you... die...”

 

There is nothing else in your mind. Nothing but death. Nothing but killing.

 

Nothing but...

 

Carnage!

 

You don’t care about control. You don’t care about anyone being safe anymore.

“I’m gonna...” You mumble.

 

Your muscles begin to bulk up and become even more defined. Your teeth are clenching so hard they could shatter. Your nails begin to sharpen a little bit.

 

“Look guys, he’s going crazy,” Pyro laughs.

 

“FUCKING KILL YOU ALL!” You scream in a demented voice.

 

Your eyes have a murderous intent in them. You start smiling. You bend down a little bit and release your hands in a claw shape fashion.

 

“Get ready boys! It’s time for some... CARNAGE!”

 

Carnage rushes like an animal towards them. He gets to a close proximity then jumps at them. Pyro shoots a condensed ball at Carnage. The smoke clears to show Carnage still going. He punches Pyro in the jaw, dislocating it.

 

He then uses the momentum to kick Gaia in the stomach. He grabs her throat and slams her into the ground. Tempest shoots lighting at him. Carnage doesn’t even feel it. He turns towards him and tilts his head with a murderous smile.

 

“Like a bug!” He whispers. He charges at Tempest giving him a good tackle to the ground. A vine grabs Carnage’s leg and tosses him up into the air. Gaia then throws stone blocks and solid earth at Carnage.

 

Carnage gains his bearings in the air then zooms towards the objects. He claws at one stone and cuts it in half. He uses his legs to knock two others away then punches through the final one. He laughs maniacally.

 

Gaia erects a wall to protect her but Carnage smashes right through that. He spins and claws her face. One of his fingers penetrates her right eye. She screams in pain. Carnage pulls her in and grabs both ends of her mouth and starts pulling them apart. Anyone can start to hear the cracking.

 

Pyro shoots a massive fire ball at Carnage. It doesn’t even make Carnage flinch. However he does spare Gaia. He releases her and she falls to the floor, her jaw intact.

 

Pyro seems to have fixed his jaw and is ready to fight.

“NO!” Tempest screams. “This is my fight! I will kill Overlord!”

Carnage turns around and rushes Tempest. He doesn’t even have time to react when Carnage grabs his neck. He digs his nails into Tempest’s neck.

 

Tempest tries to free himself with electricity but Carnage isn’t bothered at all by it. He laughs his usual insane laugh. Carnage readies his hand and shoves it right through Tempest’s stomach.

 

“TEMPEST!” Pyro howls.

 

Carnage lifts his arm for Tempest to slide down. He is at Carnage’s shoulder. He turns around to face Pyro. His face as crazed as ever. Carnage turns his head to Tempest’s body and takes a huge bite out of it. He chews it for a moment before spitting it out.

 

“Let’s see who tastes the best,” Carnage laughs.

He lowers his arm to allow Tempest to slowly slide off of it. He is for sure dead.

 

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“(Y/N)... What is this..? This isn’t... Isn’t you...”

Kristoff tries to move himself but to no avail. He can just watch this twisted form of you massacre everything.

“Who... are... you?”

Kristoff finally passes out.

 

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Gaia is able to lift herself back up. She feels her jaw and realizes she barely escaped death.

“Gaia... It’s him. I remember those eyes. Those god-awful eyes! Make them stop!” Pyro wails.

“We can beat him,” Gaia slowly states.

 

Carnage laughs at the statement.

 

Both Pyro and Gaia create giant monsters out of their element. Marshmallow and his new buddy rush as Carnage.

 

Carnage continues to laugh as the two creatures attempt to squish him with their fists. Carnage stops both fists easily and holds them back. He uses his hands to flip himself on Marshmallow’s arm. He proceeds to run up in and stop at the shoulder.

 

He dives his hands into the cracks of Marshmallow’s shoulder. He then starts to rip his arm off. Carnage’s muscles tense up. You can see it takes effort to do this, but its working. Carnage chuckles, he knows that he’s got the arm. He yells as he completes the motion and rips Marshmallow’s arm off. Marshmallow howls as his arm falls off. Lava is flowing out of it. Carnage then grabs the arm and turns his attention to Gaia’s creation. He uses the arm to hit it and disorient it.

 

With the disorientation, Carnage jumps and shoves the end of the arm he ripped off right onto the monster’s head. It screams in pain as the lava consumes it. It falls over dead. Carnage looks at the injured Marshmallow. He cracks a smile then runs right towards it. He jumps into its stomach before clawing away at it. He rips open a huge hole in Marshmallow’s stomach. He then rips out its magma heart before crushing it. Marshmallow is dead.

 

Gaia and Pyro are completely shocked at what just happened. They were brutally killed. It was an impact on them. The creations weren’t even true people, but their cries of pain were still genuine. Carnage simply laughed at it.

 

Carnage turns towards them. The murderous intent in his eyes hasn’t faded one bit. He begins slowly walking towards them. Pyro tries to fight back but he isn’t doing anything to Carnage. Carnage grabs Pyro and holds him the air.

 

Pyro struggles but can’t do a thing. Carnage slams him on the ground then places his foot on his head.

“Please (Y/N)! Show mercy! You have beaten us!” Gaia begs.

Carnage’s gaze turns towards Gaia. “What’s. Mercy.”

 

Carnage pushes his foot down on Pyro’s head, effectively crushing it and killing him. It is simply a pile of mush where his head used to be. Gaia is completely shocked at the development. She never imagined Carnage to be like this. She never planned on the destructive power he held.

 

Carnage bends down a little then grazes his finger through the mush. He puts the finger in his mouth. He spits out a piece of bone.

“Better than the first. Shall we see how you measure up?” He cuckles.

He begins to walks towards her. Before he can reach her Carnage drops to his knees. He is panting heavily with sweat dripping off of him. Gaia keeps her distance.

 

“That’s only happened once before,” you say. “And every time he comes out... I remember. Oh God, do I remember.”

Gaia still has no words. She is in complete shock.

“I never wanted that to happen. You pushed me and pushed me... You left me no choice! You could have walked away!” you yell.

 

Tears begin streaming down your face.

“I’m so sorry for both of them... I know the fear he can instill.”

 

Gaia flicks her hand and the bodies of her comrades sink into the earth. She then fixes all the destruction that the fight caused.

 

“You said you know how this happened to me... How did it happen?”

 

Gaia accepts defeat. She has no will to fight anymore but she can sense your fear, sorrow and confusion.

“From what we can remember...” She stops due to a lump in her throat. “We came from a laboratory. Someone wanted us all this way. There were so many of us... But you...”

 

“But I don’t have your powers! What was I doing there?” You ask.

Gaia can’t answer.

“The people who did this... They want Elsa. She is special, Overlord.”

“Overlord?” You question, with a weak voice.

 

“That was your codename.”

 

You try to take in the information. All the element users and yourself were made this way in a lab. For what purpose? Who did it? Why is Elsa so special? Why are you part of all this? This news didn’t help. It just brought up more questions.

 

Gaia takes out a knife and starts walking over to Elsa. You see her and attempt to stop her.

“What are you doing?” You ask, getting in the way.

“We all have to die now. Elsa, you, and I. This must end.”

 

You stand your ground. She sees you won’t budge. She extends the knife then stabs herself.

“No!” You yell.

She falls to the ground. You pull the knife out then put pressure on the wound.

“Don’t die like this! Help me stop these guys!”

 

She simply shakes her head. A surprise hits you. A blast of water hits you away from Gaia then surrounds her in a ball. It takes all the air away. You run up to the ball and slam on it. It isn’t budging.

 

“Gaia, you can break free! You can live and help me stop these guys! Don’t give up!” You tell her.

Gaia doesn’t move. She simply watches you with the one eye she has. Blood begins taking over the bubble.

 

“No! Whoever is doing that please stop!”

 

There is no response. Gaia drowns in front of your eyes and there is nothing you can do about it. Her body becomes limp. She is gone. The water splashes on the ground and Gaia’s body with it. Her body then forms back into the earth. The place where she belongs.

 

You take a moment of silence for everyone who died here.

 

“FUCK!” You howl, punching the ground. “FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!”

 

You stop beating the ground and tears form in your eyes. You yell at the top of your lungs then slam your head onto the ground. Tears dribble down your face. Small bits of lightning randomly appear around you. Small bits of earth start rising. You try and calm yourself down. The elements do the same. You roll over and look up at the sky. You only used violence when necessary. But now you just murdered these people. You killed them in cold blood. They tried to kill your friends – the people you cared about the most.

 

But they were people. People who had a hard childhood. People who were used by someone else. They had something for them, and you cut them down. You’ll never forget these people.

 

After lying in your own filth for half an hour you pick yourself up. You rush over to Elsa. She is alive. She has some cuts and bruises. Her face isn’t as bad as you thought it was going to be. You pick her up in your arms then walk over to Anna. You put Elsa down then throw Anna on your back, like a piggy back. You pick Elsa up again.

 

You walk them to her car and lay them in the back seat. You hurry back and get Kristoff to the passenger seat. He takes a little longer to get there. You take the driver’s seat and make your way back to Anna and Elsa’s place. Your home.

 

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You make it back to find Gerda and Olaf watching TV. Gerda sees your beaten and bloody chest and sends Olaf straight to his room. She and Kai help you get everyone in their own room. Kristoff is placed in the spare room which Anna and Elsa never mentioned before.

 

You take Elsa to her room and lay her on the bed. You shake your head in failure then walk away. Gerda and Kai are waiting for you downstairs. You know they want an explanation. You tell them everything, aside from Carnage. They seemed very concerned yet somewhat relieved to hear the three are dead.

 

The news of the water user is disturbing to all of you. You still aren’t clear whether they tried to help or hinder you. Gerda and Kai thank you for saving the girls. You brush it off. You don’t feel like a hero tonight.

 

They offer you another room but you decide to take the couch. Before you lay your head down you take a shower. All the blood and dirt washes off you to leave bruises and cut marks. They are a grueling reminder.

 

You take one last look at everyone before you go to sleep. You give Kristoff a pat on the shoulder for trying to fight them. It took guts. You gave Anna a kiss on the forehead for being strong. You reach Elsa’s room last. You want to enter but something keeps you out.

 

“Elsa...” You start. “I’m so sorry that I couldn’t keep you all safe. I let you and Anna and Kristoff get hurt. I wasn’t good enough. I wasn’t strong enough to keep you all safe.”

 

You begin tearing up.

 

“I resorted to something I hated to beat them. Elsa, I can’t forgive myself for this. They are all dead. I killed them. With these hands and... I shouldn’t have to do that. You put up a hell of a fight, though. You saved me, you know. You saved me from something I thought would consume me. I thought I was going to lose myself in the bloodshed, but you. You made me come back. You were the thing that helped me regain control. Elsa...”

 

You put your hand against the door and lean on it.

 

“Elsa, I’m so happy I ran into you that day. I’m so happy I did all those stupid things. Because it brought me to Kristoff and Anna. And you...”

 

Tears roll down your face.

 

“I won’t let this happen again. I swear on my life. I swear on everything I am. Elsa... Elsa I love you. I truly love you. And I hate that I couldn’t keep you safe. I hate that you had to suffer because I wasn’t good enough.”

 

Your speech has ended. You said it. You accepted it. You love Elsa Anderson.

 

“I love you too,” A soft voice responds.

You are shocked for a moment. The door opens and Elsa pulls you in.

“I love you so much (Y/N),” Elsa happily accepts with tears in her eyes as well.

 

Your hands are around her waist and hers around your neck.

“You were awake that whole time?”

She simply responds with a smile.

“You let me say all those things,” you playfully whine.

 

“And I would do it again,” she says as her lips connect with yours.

 

You kiss her back. She is more passionate than you have ever seen her be. You aren’t sure why, considering she was beat up today. She pushes you on your back then takes off her shirt then rubs up against you. You remember this type of scene from when she was drunk.

 

You push her away for a moment. “Elsa, are you sure about this?”

She smiles. “I’ve never been more sure.”

You accept that. She allows you to remove your pants as she removes hers.

 

You move more to the middle of the bed. You’re both in your underwear now. She removes her bra. You feel her back with nothing in the way. It’s soft. You move your hands all over her slender body. She does the same to yours. You aren’t worried about this anymore. You aren’t afraid to love again.

 

You end this brutal day, with a passionate night.


	11. What Lies Ahead

**Chapter 11: What lies ahead**

 

Kristoff emerges from his sleep. He quickly sits up and observes his surroundings. They aren’t what he last remembers. He does remember being strangled by vines. He remembers Anna being knocked to the ground. He remembers Elsa being electrocuted. He remembers you slaughtering everything in sight.

 

“That wasn’t the (Y/N) I knew,” Kristoff says. “Whatever that was… I need to know what happened.”

He gets out the bed and onto his feet. He still feels drained from the battle but he is able to walk around alright. He doesn’t recognize the room he is in. But he remembers the smell. He knows he’s at Anna’s house.

 

He opens the door and recognizes the hall way. It’s farther down then he usually goes. That’s why he didn’t know the room. He walks down the hall to Anna’s room. She is sleeping soundly in her bed. Kristoff smiles then allow Anna to rest. He knows what she just went through.

 

He didn’t want to enter Elsa’s room. It wasn’t his place to. He placed his head against the door and heard breathing. That was enough for him. It was unknown to him that you were in Elsa’s room as well. He has no idea where you could be.

 

He traversed down the stairs and into the living room. He saw Olaf watching Frosty the Snowman and eating cereal. Olaf notices Kristoff then runs over to give him a hug. Kristoff smiles and accepts the hug.

 

“What’re you watching, Olaf?” He asks.

“Frosty the Snowman! It’s so cool! I wanna be a snowman!”

“When winter comes along we’ll cover you in snow and you can be one,” Kristoff assures.

Olaf cheers then goes back to his show.

 

Kristoff entered the kitchen to find Gerda and Kai in the midst of a serious discussion. They break it once they notice Kristoff.

“Kristoff, thank goodness you’re okay,” Gerda says, giving him a hug.

“You all had us so worried,” Kai adds.

 

Olaf runs into the kitchen to put his bowl away.

“How did I get here?”

“(Y/N) brought you all back here,” Kai informs.

“Is that what he was doing when I saw him last night? He was all red and looked so cool! Like a super hero! He was all big and like, hhhrrrmmm,” Olaf expresses as he tries to flex his arms.

 

The three laugh at Olaf’s description.

“You’re going to Freddie’s house today, remember? You should go get dressed.”

Olaf nods then runs up to his room.

 

“Where is he?” Kristoff asks.

“We’re not sure. He said he was going to sleep on the couch. But after his shower he disappeared,” Gerda explains.

“I hope he didn’t go anywhere. He was in no state to be active,” Kai continues.

“Why, what was he like?” Kristoff inquires.

 

“He was… fatigued. But he seemed mentally drained. He didn’t say it, but Gerda and I could tell that something hit him. Other than that, his body was badly beaten. I was amazed he could walk around, let alone get you all back here,” Kai responds.

 

Kristoff has a pretty good idea why you were drained. He wants answers about what happened to you.

 

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Elsa wakes up before you do. Both of your naked bodies are covered by her blankets. She snuggles up against you. You. The man she loves. She was so happy when you admitted it. It was also fortuitous that she woke up at that time, and that she didn’t open the door before you began.

 

She always wanted something like this. Right after you said it the first time she just waited for you to admit it. She put her fears aside to help you on Friday. She sung in front of the whole school for you. After that moment, she realized she loved you.

 

All those things she once believed about true love not being necessary and that she wouldn’t find it; you wiped all those thoughts away. You made her believe in true love. Your actions, your words and everything you do. It’s not that you care about her. It’s that you care about everything. You don’t focus on impressing her. But you defend her no matter what.

 

That leads her to think of yesterday. While she was being electrocuted she saw you staring at her. She felt horrible that she couldn’t defend herself. That she got overwhelmed. She shared your feeling of failure. You don’t even have powers, yet you’re the one who has to keep everyone safe. Elsa tries. She truly does.

 

She imagined your terror at seeing her like that. She once turned to see you during the fight. You were trapped in a ball of lightning yet you kept of fighting. She wished she had your spirit – your willpower to keep going, even when everything is against you.

 

“I will make the same vow, (Y/N). I swear that something like that will never happen again. I will never make you fight my battles again.” She caresses your face “Because I love you.”

She kisses you on the lips then returns to her normal position. She doesn’t want to leave this. She wishes it could be like this forever. Elsa falls back asleep.

 

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Anna awakens from her sleep. She is sore, but alive. She stands up much easier then Kristoff did. She looks around and concludes that her location didn’t make sense. She remembered being at school – at the field.

 

“How did I get here?”

Anna rubs her stomach. The impact has left her queasy even now. She then remembers Elsa being hurt. Kristoff being attacked and you being beaten

“Where is everyone?”

 

She walks out of her room. Olaf just misses her and runs downstairs. She hears him talking to Kristoff. Her heart is put to rest a little bit knowing he is safe. But what of Elsa and you?

 

Anna walks up to her sisters room and lightly knocks on the door.

“Elsa?”

No answer. Anna knocks one more time then enters the room.

 

She sees Elsa’s clothes on the ground, but also someone else’s. She is confused. She approaches the bed. She can’t believe what she finds: You and Elsa lying naked together. Blankets covering you though, so Anna isn’t totally traumatised.

 

She stands there is awe. She doesn’t know whether to be happy or mad. The both of you are sound asleep, so she doesn’t want to make any noise. Anna does notice something however. Your body –of what she can see– thoroughly scared and bruised.

 

Anna could only imagine what you could have gone through against them and how you got everyone back safe and alive. Anna quietly leaves the room, still processing what she saw. She wondered whether to tell Kristoff. Or anyone for that matter.

 

Anna makes her way downstairs and finds Kristoff.

“Kristoff!” She happily screams.

Anna runs down the stairs and jumps into Kristoff’s arms. He lifts her in the air and spins around.

 

“Anna! I’m so happy you’re okay. I was so worried. I saw you get hit and–“

Anna cuts him off with a kiss. He is surprised at first but gets into the groove of it. She pulls away from him.

“I’m okay Kristoff. Has anyone checked on (Y/N) and Elsa?”

 

“Elsa is in her room, but (Y/N)… We don’t know where he is,” Kristoff sighs.

“But he’s–“ Anna catches herself. “Gotta be around here somewhere.”

“It’s what we’re hoping.” Kai concludes.

 

“Does anyone know what happened? I mean, last I remember–“

Kai cuts her off. He says everything you told him. Kristoff sees through some of it. Even Anna finds some parts odd. The story is solid. The only flaw is what Kristoff saw before he lost consciousness.

 

Nothing that Kristoff saw coincided with what you told Kai. He needed to know, but first he had to find you.

“Maybe Elsa would know where (Y/N) is,” Kristoff says, making his way to Elsa’s room.

Anna quickly runs in front of Kristoff, putting her hands on his chest.

 

“No, no, no, no,” she franticly spews. “We should leave Elsa alone. Yes. She needs her sleep. She probably got hurt the most out of all of us. We need to give her time.”

Kai stands beside Kristoff. “I’m sorry Anna, but I agree with Kristoff. We need to find (Y/N) right away. There may be more users out there and with him injured I doubt he could stand a chance. Elsa may not know, but we must find your friend.”

 

Anna knows she isn’t winning this. Kai can be stubborn, and she does see their point. If you weren’t in there than Anna wouldn’t mind so much. Kristoff and Kai passed by Anna and reaches Elsa’s room. They knocked on the door and heard some giggling.

 

“Elsa? Are you awake?” Kai asks.

“Yes, one moment,” Elsa responds.

Elsa opens her room. She is dressed the same as yesterday. Anna looks in. She doesn’t see your clothes anywhere. She doesn’t see you anywhere.

 

“Hi. Is everyone alright?” Elsa asks.

“You seem to be doing well,” Kristoff notices.

“The ice helps a little.”

Elsa leaves her room and leaves the door open.

 

“We can’t find (Y/N). Do you have any idea where he is?” Kai questions.

“No... He isn’t here?” Elsa queries with concern.

“I know I saw (Y/N) here. Yet Elsa sounds genuinely concerned. Was I seeing things? No. No, I know what I saw,” Anna thinks.

 

Everyone hears the door open slowly. It then closes ever so gently. Everyone proceeds down the stairs to see who is entering the house. They see you stumble onto the couch. You lay there for a moment then let out a huge sigh.

 

“I hope everyone is alright,” you say aloud.

Everyone heads downstairs and meets you on the couch. You burst up to meet them. You rush to Elsa then kiss her.

“Elsa, thank god. I was so scared,” You say.

 

Elsa smiles. You turn to everyone else.

“How are you guys doing?”

“We’re good!” Anna responds. “How are you? Are you still hurt?”

You shrug. “I can say I’ve never felt pain like that before. But I’m managing.”

 

“So, how’d you beat them?” Kristoff asks.

Everyone knows what you told Gerda, but they are curious to hear your voice tell the story.

You crack a smirk, than point to the couch. Everyone sat down.

 

You told your story. The same one you told Gerda. Basically you used their powers against them. You surpassed them all in hand to hand combat. So after tiring them out you fought them all at once. They couldn’t beat you. You know that’s a lie – a complete and utter lie, but what are you going to say? “Yeah, I have two other people in my body and my more violent side took over and completely massacred all of them.” Something tells you that wouldn’t work out too well.

 

Nobody could fight your story. Nobody but Kristoff, however he decided to talk to you about it by yourselves.

“Anyway, I’d rather not think of it. But I do need new clothes.”

“Oh yes,” Anna remembers, “I think you should bring your things here and live with us. Kai, Elsa, do you have any problem with that? I already know Gerda is fine with the idea.”

 

Kai nods. Elsa looks at you for a moment. She smiles.

“I would love for you to stay here. I think you’ve done more than enough to earn it.”

You smile. “Well if that’s the case then I need to go to Oaken’s. All my stuff is there. Also...”

You pull out a fried phone, evidently ruined from the fight.

“I don’t think I need this anymore. Sorry Anna.”

 

“Don’t worry one bit. We’ll get you a new one,” Anna reassures.

You try to decline but she wasn’t having any of it. Elsa offers to drive everyone to Oaken’s. However Anna ends up driving her car due to the blood in Elsa’s. You arrive at Oaken’s place and gather your things. You thank Oaken for everything he has done for you and offer your service whenever he needs it, free of charge. You soon regret it as he requests you before you leave.

 

You change your clothes then get ready. Elsa gives you her phone to text Anna or Kristoff when you need a ride. You take it then receive a kiss from Elsa. The three leave. Oaken turns to you.

“That is one pretty girl (Y/N), you are extremely lucky to have her.”

You smile at his comment, watching your friends drive away.

“You have no idea Oaken.”

 

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In the center of Arendelle is a tall building. It’s the tallest building in the world. It is the W.A. inc. building. The Westergaards own this building, and it’s the key to their success and fame. Hans is ranting to his eldest brother.

 

His eldest brother has similar features as Hans. Their hair colour is the same; however the brother is much more slick. He is in a suit, which is a tiny bit loose on his body due to his build.

“Are you even listening to me, Alec?”

 

Alec looks away from his tablet to his brother.

“Hans, I would, but you are just sad you couldn’t live up to me. I even gave you a way out with Elsa, but you couldn’t even do that.”

“See, you haven’t been listening to me! I’ve been talking about (Y/N)!”

 

Alec pauses for a moment.

“Did you say (Y/N)?”

“Yes!” Hans barks. “That son of a bitch!”

“Describe him to me,” Alec asks as he watches his tablet.

 

Hans proceeds to describe you in perfect detail. Alec chuckles when Hans finishes. Alec clicks a few buttons on his tablet to turn on the full wall TV. A few more buttons later and the tablet’s screen is projected on the TV. Alec resumes his video.

 

“Is this the one you were talking about?”

The video shows you fighting a man controlling electricity. It then shows your transformation to Carnage and the killing that followed.

“Yes. That’s him but... That doesn’t seem anything like him. Whoever that is seems too...”

“Brutal?” Alec finishes Hans’ statement.

 

Hans nods. Alec chuckles then tosses the tablet on the table. He motions Hans to follow him.

“I think it’s time you met some people and learned some things, Hans. They may make you rethink your little friend there.”

 

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Kristoff, Anna and Elsa are driving around. They’re trying to kill the time until you are done working. Anna and Elsa got some chocolate earlier, and then Kristoff went to the local horse stables and played with his favourite horse, Sven.

 

The time seemed to go on forever. The only thing on Kristoff’s mind is what happened yesterday. She can’t let go of it. Not without an answer. You have never shown that type of killer instinct.

 

Elsa asks to go to her favourite store since they are having a sale. She also wants to get you a new phone. Kristoff asks Anna to stay behind to talk. Elsa doesn’t mind too much.

 

“What’s up Kristoff? Why do you seem a little off?” Anna’s voice became more concerned as she talked.

“I need to talk to you about something. It’s been bugging me all day but I don’t want to let Elsa know.

Anna’s face turns to genuine concern. She awaits Kristoff’s explanation.

 

Kristoff tells her everything that he saw before he lost consciousness. How he thinks you’re hiding something. How he knows you told a lie about the fight. Anna takes in what he says. She isn’t sure what to believe.

 

“Kristoff... I don’t know... I want to know but he had to have hid it for a reason.”

“Yeah but... Whatever killed those people… That thing is in him. We need to know.”

Anna thinks back to the time you talked to her. How you said you were scared about your friends hating you. How your old girlfriend hated you for a reason you didn’t explain. Anna doesn’t have all the pieces of the puzzle.

 

“Kristoff... I think we need to wait. Trust me, I want to find this out too but... I think this may be serious for him. We need to wait and see.”

Elsa comes back to the car. Anna begins driving again. Anna and Kristoff nod at each other to talk about it later.

 

A few minutes into the drive Elsa pipes up.

“Something amazing happened yesterday,” Elsa magically says.

“We didn’t die?” Kristoff jokes. Anna hits him.

“(Y/N) told me he loved me. For real this time.”

 

Anna pulls the car over then shrieks. She gets out and runs to the back seat to give Elsa a hug.

“We’ve been waiting for so long!” Anna yells as she squeezes Elsa.

Kristoff chuckles at the fact that you finally did it. Anna is still withholding the information she got his morning.

 

“And you said you loved him, right?” Anna asks.

Elsa blushes a little. “Of course.”

Anna shrieks some more.

“You’re more excited than Elsa!” Kristoff jokes

“Actually, no. It was surprisingly hard to keep calm when he told me. I was very much like Anna on the inside,” Elsa admits.

 

The girls share their hug for a bit, but then Anna takes back the driver seat. Elsa keeps a big smile on her face. It feels like that news will never get dull. That phrase will never cease to give her joy. She can’t say why, but it is simply that way. She can’t change it.

 

Anna’s phone starts going off. Anna assumes it’s you, but then finds out it is their house.

“Elsa, can you get this for me? I’m driving,” Anna requests, handing her ringing phone to Elsa.

“Hello?”

 

Elsa has a short conversation. She doesn’t say much. Just simply, “Mhm,” and “Alright, we’re on our way”.

“What’s going on?” Anna asks.

“Rapunzel and her boyfriend arrived at our house.”

“Already?”

“Evidently. They are sitting on our couch.” 

 

Anna begins her course home.

“We’ll pick (Y/N) up when he calls,” Anna plans.

Everyone agrees.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Anna, Elsa and Kristoff arrive at their house. They make their way in to see Rapunzel and a boy.

“Rapunzel!” Anna and Elsa say in unison.

They rush over to their cousin and initiate a group hug. The boy backs off and approaches Kristoff.

 

“Hey, I’m Eugene. You?”

“Kristoff.” The two shake hands. “I’m Anna’s boyfriend. I’m guessing you’re Rapunzel’s.

“Good man. You picked me out of all the other candidates,” Eugene jokes.

They both laugh.

 

“Rapunzel, I have to introduce you to my boyfriend!” She waves her hand at Kristoff; he moves in beside her “This is Kristoff.”

Kristoff nods his head at her. Rapunzel waves for Eugene. He makes his way beside Rapunzel.

 

“Anna, Elsa. This is Eugene. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” Rapunzel brags.

“Elsa knows a little about that, huh Elsa?” Anna nudges Elsa.

“What do you mean?” Rapunzel asks.

“Elsa has her own sweet heart. He’s working right now. He’ll be around soon enough,” Kristoff explains.

 

Rapunzel adopts a grin and turns to Elsa, “To think that a boy could grab your attention Elsa. He must be something.”

Elsa smiles, “He truly is. I really care about him.”

“You truly love him,” Anna adds.

 

Elsa blushes while the others laugh. Anna feels her phone vibrate.

“(Y/N) is waiting at the school for us. Elsa, do you want to pick him up?” Anna asks.

“How about me and Eugene pick him up? It’ll give you girls time to talk,” Kristoff suggests.

 

Nobody objects. Kristoff and Eugene hop in Anna’s car and make their way to the school.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Okee dokee (Y/N), we’re done for the day. You can go. I’m sad to see you leave, but it has been fun having you here. Come by any time for the sales!” Oaken says.

You chuckle, “Of course Oaken. No better place in all of Arendelle.”

 

You leave the store. You check Elsa’s phone, it has a lock on it.

“Oh great. She forgot to unlock it,” you huff “Well, it’s a pass code. I should be able to get this.”

You attempt some codes. “Olaf. Anna. (Y/N).” None of those work. You aren’t surprised.

You continue to walk while you try codes. It eventually locks itself for 15 minutes.

 

You let out an exaggerated sigh.

“Might as well find some place to hang out.”

 

You find yourself drawn back to the school. You know something horrible happened there, but there is some odd feeling to return. You reach the school, but the phone unlocks. You try another code. It doesn’t work. Another 15 minute wait. You throw it back into your pocket. You walk to the back field. You start remembering the fight. The visions of your friends being hurt takes over. You close your eyes tightly.

 

“It’s not real (Y/N). Your mind is bringing you back to it,” Shadow chimes in.

You don’t respond. You lie on the ground and attempt to enter Limbo. It works. You see Shadow standing a few feet in front of you.

“You came here on your own? How’d you do that?”

You shrug. “Honestly, I have no idea.”

 

“Well, you should leave,” He coldly advises.

You notice the hostility. “What’s your problem?”

“You lost that fight.”

“What? How?”

 

“You used Carnage!” He yells.

You’ve never seen Shadow angry before. This is new for you.

“I had no choice Shadow! Everyone was dying!”

“I was holding off that bastard while you fought! I had a plan to beat the three of them but you gave into your rage!”

 

“They hurt Elsa!”

“And he would have killed her if I didn’t put you back in control! Do you ever think?” he argues.

“I had no time! They were dying! They were going to kill Elsa and I wasn’t letting that happen again!”

“The past doesn’t matter!”

“Maybe not to you, you heartless fuck!” You shout, “But it matters to me and nobody was dying while I was around!”

 

Shadow observes you for a moment.

“I didn’t help anyone last time and I wasn’t sitting by this time!” you yell.

“But you did sit by! You gave up and submitted to him!” Shadow countered.

“I know! I screwed up and people were killed! You think I don’t know that? It’s haunting me!”

“You’re not even making sense! You’re saying different things!” Shadow points out.

You can’t take it anymore. You rush at Shadow.

 

He prepares himself. You throw a bunch which he catches. He pushes up on your elbow and you are tossed behind Shadow. You don’t accept that. You are able to kick his head. He stumbles forward.

 

“You want a fight (Y/N)? Then let’s go!”

You both throw punches and kicks at each other. You both handily dodge or block each other’s attacks. You’re completely even. You mess up for a second. Shadow hits you right in the jaw. You take a stand then send a punch at his jaw. You both fly back.

 

As soon as you hit the ground you bolt back at Shadow. He notices this and gets ready.

“Don’t blame yourself for everything!” He yells.

“I killed all of them! Gaia! Tempest! Pyro!” You throw a punch each time you say a name, “People are safer without me!”

“No they wouldn’t! As much as I don’t like it, you saved Elsa using Carnage! You kept them alive!”

 

Shadow can’t keep up with the attacks you are throwing. You hit him in the stomach then do a back flip to kick him in the face. He stumbles back. You go to continue but Shadow surprises you with a haymaker. You fly across the floor.

 

“It was Carnage who did all that! Not you! You would have found a way to beat them without killing them! You act on emotion where I act on sense! You should have waited for me, but instead you got mad. That’s human! People get mad. You can’t put everything on you! So calm the fuck down and think straight!”

 

You are breathing heavily but your breath settles down. Your senses come back. Shadow wipes him mouth then assumes his regular posture.

“Are you calm now?” Shadow asks in confirmation.

You stand up straight and crack a smile, “Yeah... Thanks Shadow.”

 

“You’re an idiot sometimes.”

“It’s just... I’m sorry. Okay? I should have waited for you, you’re right… and I shouldn’t blame myself for it all… It was Carnage. He used my anger to take control.”

“Don’t worry; I know you couldn’t have waited. I just needed you to get a little angry so you could completely calm down.”

 

You shake your head with a smile, “You think of everything don’t you?”

“Not everything,” he says in a serious tone.

 

You wake up in the field. You check the phone and see that 2 minutes has passed. You get up and walk over to the wall where Elsa made a carving of you both. Amazingly it was back to normal, you could even see you and Elsa in the bricks. Gaia really did make everything perfect again.

 

“Seems she did it again,” a familiar voice states, “I never thought she would make another.”

You turn around to see the source of the voice. You remember the face you see. It’s the student who talked about the last wall. You never got his name.

 

“Hey (Y/N),” he greets.

“Hi, guy... I actually never got your name.”

“Oh yeah... I’m Hunter,” he reveals.

“Hunter... Alright. Wait, how do you know my name?”

“You’re quite well known after Battle of the Bands”

 

You chuckle, “Yeah that makes sense.”

“Had quite the number of girls hitting on you that first day. Of course they all know you’re Elsa’s now. Good job with that.”

“What? The girls or Elsa?” You joke.

“Both.”

 

The two of you laugh. You both stare at her creation.

“It’s so detailed and beautiful. How does she make it?”

“No idea; she must be a natural,” you lie.

“Hey, is that the two of you!” He observes.

 

You’re surprised he noticed that. It’s well hidden. You may not have noticed if you weren’t there when she made it. He must be a keen observer. Or she saw her make it.

“Oh wow, yeah. It is,” you feign surprise.

“You must really matter for her to put the two of you there.”

 

You let out a small chuckle.

“What? It’s true.”

“I guess. So what’re you doing out here Hunter?”

 

He lets in a deep breath, “I like to take a stroll every once in awhile. I just happen to walk by the school with you here. Which leads me to send your question right back at you. What’re you doing here?”

 

You pull out a phone and show that it’s locked.

“Ah. Wait, you don’t know your own password? Come on man, it’s a simple 1234 code.”

“Yeah, ha-ha,” you sarcastically laugh “It’s not my phone and I didn’t know it had a password.”

“Genius!”

“You know what..?” You laugh. He laughs with you.

 

The lock disables.

“Alright, I get another shot. Any ideas?”

“Why ask me? I don’t know Elsa.”

“I don’t know. I have no idea what it could be. It’s one word and I can’t get it.”

“How many letters is it?”

 

You shrug. He chuckles.

“Have you tried a word that has relevance to you?”

You look at him, confused.

“Me? Why would it be related to me?”

“Well, in the three years I’ve seen Elsa in this school you are the first person I – or anyone for that matter – have seen her actually enjoy being with. I doubt she would have sung like that for anyone else.”

 

He has a point. You always find it weird when people talk about the effect you’ve had on Elsa. You don’t find yourself that special. You don’t think you’ve completely changed her. But you can’t refuse that she is different. For people, like Anna, to say she’s been more open now than all the years before. Well, that only new thing that came into her life is you. Or Kristoff, but nobody would suspect the cause to be Kristoff.

 

“I already tried my name... What it I try...”

You enter true love into the phone. It unlocks.

“That’s very unlike you Elsa, though it is smart.”

“You got it?” Hunter asks.

 

You nod. You send a text to Anna. She responds a couple minutes later saying Kristoff and a friend are coming to pick you up. Who this friend is, you have no idea.

“Well, I’ll be out of here soon. It was nice meeting you Hunter.”

You shake his hand then depart to the parking lot.

 

Hunter watches you walk away.

“It was good to finally talk to you.”

He takes a pause for a moment.

“Little brother...”


	12. Rain Arrives

#  **Chapter 12: Rain arrives**

 

Anna’s car pulls into the parking lot. You approach it then open the passenger seat. Someone else is sitting there. He is a young man, likely around your age. He gives you a big smile.

“Hello, I already took shotgun. You have to sit at the back.”

You shrug. You don’t really mind sitting in the back. You take your seat. Kristoff begins the journey home.

 

The man moves his head over the seat to face you. “Hi, I’m Eugene.”

He moves a hand in range for you to shake. You shake it.

“(Y/N).”

“This is Rapunzel’s boyfriend. You remember Anna mentioning her?”

“Oh yeah,” you recollect. “So how is it dating someone named after a fairy tale character?”

 

Eugene laughs. “I made that joke a couple times too. She’s actually a good sport about it. I wouldn’t bring it up though. It’s an old joke.”

You nod your head.

“So you must be Elsa’s boyfriend,” Eugene observes.

“Yeah, I could be called that,” you chuckle.

 

“’Could?’ You made out on the stage!” Kristoff laughs.

Eugene’s intrigue takes over his face. He looks at you.

“It was Battle of the Bands and she won it for us. I kind of got caught up in the moment.”

“As in, you totally took the stage. You’ll both probably be in the school paper,” Kristoff predicts.

“Not you and I?

“No. That kiss made me completely irrelevant,”

 

Eugene chuckles. “The power of love.”

Kristoff laughs. “(Y/N) is the definition of that.”

You shake your head then look of in the distance. You think back to Hunter. You smile at the thought. You like him, you seem to get along well.

 

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You arrive at the Anderson household. You swear you can hear the laughter from the girls. Kristoff and Eugene get caught up in conversation so you go in alone. You see the three girls sitting around the living room with some wine.

 

“Well aren’t you all sophisticated young women,” you sarcastically state.

“(Y/N)!” Anna and Elsa say in unison.

Elsa gets up to give you a hug and kiss. She then remembers that Anna and Rapunzel are right behind her.  She giggles while close to you then slowly turns around to face them. They both have massive smiles.

 

“Rapunzel, this is my boyfriend, (Y/N),” Elsa introduced you.

You smile at her. She smiles back at you then walks towards you two. She gives you a hug. You look at Elsa who gives you a nod. You hug Rapunzel back.

 

“It’s nice to meet the man who could thaw my cousin’s heart,” Rapunzel jokes, not knowing the pun she is making. “I never thought she would find love,” she whispered.

You blush. “Love? Well I wouldn’t–“

“I already told her,” Elsa informs.

 

You got nothing to say. You smile and give an innocent shrug. Kristoff and Eugene enter the house.

“What took _you_ so long?” Rapunzel seductively asks Eugene.

“Well, we had to hold off all the girls who came after us.”

Kristoff laughs. “They were just coming in waves.”

 

Anna gives Kristoff a silly look. Kristoff shrugs and continues to laugh. You all take a seat. Everyone is with their partners.

“So (Y/N), what do you do around here?” Rapunzel asks, taking a sip from her wine.

“Well, I used to work at a local corner store. I actually just stopped working today once Anna and Elsa offered a place for me here.”

 

“So where did you live before? Are you from Arendelle?”

You go silent for a moment. Your friends all feel the uncomfortable aura you are giving off. Elsa is about to change the subject.

“I don’t usually talk about my past. It doesn’t really matter right? What matters is who you are and what you do know,” you respond.

“I can respect that. There are things best left buried.”

 

You smile at Eugene. Elsa smiles at you, but you don’t notice. As much as she wants to learn more about you she would never force you to tell her. However there is one shred of anger in her mind that she doesn’t even realize. She hates the fact you won’t tell her anything when she has told you her biggest secret.

 

She doesn’t even make this thought known in her mind, but it’s there. Floating around, waiting for the perfect moment to push its way to the surface. It’s a dormant storm. A very icy one.

 

The hours go by as you all converse. It goes quite well, but you notice the girls are a little tipsy. Anna and Elsa are getting into the giggly phase that you remember from before. You quickly take the wine bottle and place it back in the cupboard. The girls whine about it for a second but it seems they forgot all about it when you get back.

 

Kristoff and Eugene are having a ball as they watch the girls. It can be fun to see your girlfriends get all silly while you remain perfectly fine. Hell, that’s what happened last time and you had a hoot.

 

You excuse yourself to the washroom and proceed there. You open the door and close it, however it remains the tiniest bit open. You do your business and flush the toilet. You turn on the tap to wash your hands. Before you can start Rapunzel barges in and closes the door.

 

“Gah, jeez,” you say startled.

“Oh,” she says, flustered. “The door was open so I assumed nobody was in here.”

You can tell she is a bit tipsy. She has that look and movement to indicate it.

“So,” she smirks. “How is Elsa?”

 

You are confused. She is obviously more than a tad tipsy.

“Not sure what you mean,” you say trying to slide your way to the door.

She gets in the way of the door. “I think you know what I mean.”

“Did you drink that whole bottle of wine?”

“No. Well, I didn’t on my own. We have our second one now.”

 

“Okay,” you say as you make your way out of the bathroom.

You politely move Rapunzel out of the way and proceed to your friends. You see the second wine bottle out.

“Okay ladies, I think that’s enough,” you say in a happy tone.

Anna and Rapunzel whine but their boyfriends calm them down quickly.

 

You put the quarter empty bottle in its place, then the empty one where other empty bottles are. You shake your head. “Man, I never would have thought they would drink a lot. Over a couple days too. Weird,” you think.

 

 

 

You return to your friends. Anna and Rapunzel are arguing over some game they used to play. It’s a friendly argument, so you’re not worried. Huh, worry. You never were one to be the “adult” when your friends drank. You were with them when they did. You wonder why that has changed.

 

You sit and listen to them ramble. All the guys laugh. Elsa nudges you for attention. You turn to her with a smile.

“What’s up?”

“Do you mind if I drag you away for a minute?” Elsa asks.

“Well… I am enjoying this conversation…” Elsa gives you a look. “But I guess I could spare a moment.”

 

Elsa grabs your hand and leads you to the back. You don’t notice, but Elsa and Anna shared a conniving look as she left.

 

You reach their backyard. You’ve never actually been out here. It’s quite beautiful as the moon is shining bright. The reflection of that coming off the small pond makes it all the better. Fireflies are soaring through the air, giving it a very unique aura to the whole place.

 

“So what’d you–“

“I wanted some privacy,” she interrupts. “I have something for you.”

She pulls out a small box and hands it to you. You open it up. It’s empty.

“Best gift ever! I always wanted a small box!” You joke.

Elsa giggles. “No, but I thought having the box will give a certain feeling to what I’m really going to give you.

 

She starts melding something in her hands. Ice forms and she plays with it. She puts her hands around your neck and an ice chain appears. It goes down your neck until it comes together. She then makes a small snowflake made of ice hang in the center of your chest.

 

You are stunned. You grab the snowflake and lift it for you to see. The craftsmanship is outstanding. It is just like the walls she creates. You look at her and she has a shy smile on her face.

 

“I wanted to give you this. I’ve never done this before and… Well I wanted to show you that I really appreciate you being with me… And I felt like I need to give you something.”

You chuckle. “Being with you is all I need.”

She blushes. “Well, if that’s the case I could take it back.”

You grab the snowflake. “No, no, I love it.”

 

Elsa smiles. “And I love you.”

 

She pulls you in for a kiss. She spins her hand to make a slight – yet romantic – snow fall over the two of you while you kiss. It’s perfect. All your plans don’t compare to this. It isn’t fair though. She has magic and she’s Elsa. Everything she plans is perfect.

 

You hear something. You can’t believe you heard it considering Elsa is taking all your attention. You look around then see the water is disturbed. You get a feeling that something is here. You break off from Elsa. She seems disappointed.

 

“I’ll be back inside in a minute, Elsa. I don’t want to keep you from your cousin.”

Elsa wants to fight back but she doesn’t. She sees a look in your eye. You have something to do. She wants to be there but she knows you wouldn’t let her.

 

She walks back inside. Her walk is sexy; she has to be teasing to you. “She has to be doing that on purpose,” you think.

You shake your head then walk over to the water. Ripples are present, showing it was disturbed.

 

Before you can react a water hand grabs you and pulls you in. You can’t breathe for a moment but a second later you feel land under your feet. There is oxygen. You open your eyes. You’re underneath the pond. A man is standing opposite to you.

 

He doesn’t look like he wants to fight. His face is light and quite welcoming. His hair is very blue. He smiles at you.

“I always wanted to meet you again, (Y/N).”

“So you are the one who killed Gaia.”

He sighs. You can see he regrets it.

 

“I liked Gaia. I really did. But her plan wasn’t right. She seemed to be rushing the fight. I didn’t want to kill her but… I honestly didn’t think she would die from that. I actually thought it would heal her. You know, her being earth and all,” he rambles.

 

You smile. “You don’t seem too bad. Better than they were, anyway.”

His face disapproves. “They weren’t bad people. They just experienced bad things.”

“You did too, didn’t you?”

He shrugs in defeat. “I suppose.”

 

“So what’s your name? Please say it’s Poseidon,” you beg.

He laughs. “You’re close. People call me Rain.”

“What’s with the names relating to the element? I mean, Elsa doesn’t mean ice. At least to my knowledge.”

He gives another shrug. “Maybe because she had parents. They could name her anything they like. They rest of us didn’t.”

 

You think on his words.

“I assume you remember me from some project or another? The reason you’re all the way you are,” he nods. “But I had parents when I grew up.”

Another shrug. “You were always different from us.”

“How do you remember so much?” You question.

 

“Honestly, I just remember you, Elsa and Gaia. I’m not too sure about anything else. Sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. I’m just tired of fumbling around in the dark.”

Rain puts his hands in his pockets. “Gaia felt the same way. Though she had the pressure of…” he thinks for a moment. “Tempest and Pyro, I believe their names were.”

 

You nod. For a moment you look around. You notice the beauty of where you are. This pond isn’t dirty. It’s clear and beautiful. The moon light is beaming clearly onto you. The ground you stand on is clean, in a sense. It’s healthy. This seems like such a perfect little space. Like Rain’s own Limbo.

 

“Gaia tried to recruit me to fight you. She said that people could tell us of our past. We just needed Elsa to be gone. Gaia was so determined to do it. She wanted to know so badly. But she forgot how powerful you were. Even I remember. You told me about it once, when we were kids.”

 

You tilt your head, you want him to explain.

“You could describe it better now, but you talked about the two others. One was scary and one was a bully.”

“Ha, which one am I?” Shadow chuckles.

“I hated fighting. That’s why I didn’t join Gaia.”

 

You listen to what he has to say. You don’t know whether this helps or not. You still have no idea who did this or why. You don’t even care about yourself, its Elsa. She lost her sister for years because of whoever did this. It may not matter much anymore, but you still want to find them. You’ll have to find a way. For Elsa.

 

“So you would say you’re in pretty good control of your powers otherwise? I mean this is amazing,” you say as you look around.

“I suppose.”

“So why did you bring me here? Why did you want to talk to me?”

 

He lets out a huff. “I don’t really know. I just felt this need to talk to you, and to express my apologies.”

“For what?”

“I saw the way you were after you killed everyone. After I…” He pauses for a moment. “I can tell it wasn’t easy for you to deal with. Especially when you have no control over your own bloodlust.”

 

You chuckle. “Yeah… But I have to be strong for Elsa.”

“Why? She can take care of herself,” he counters.

“I know but…”

“You love her.”

 

You nod. “And I know she looks at me for support at times. That the way I act truly affects her.”

You hold the snowflake dangling on your chest.

“Well, if you ever need help I’ll be here.”

You tilt your head. “You’re going to live under the pond?”

“What? Oh, no,” he chuckles. “I mean I’ll stay in town. I’ve been alone for long time and maybe being around people will help me. Being around you,” he whispers the last part.

 

You give him a smile then walk up to him. You extend your hand, insinuating a handshake.

Rain smiles then shakes your hand. You can feel that his hands are a little damp. You can’t blame him. He uses water to bring you both back to the surface. The process gives you butterflies. He gives you one last nod then disappears into some mist he no doubt created.

 

“Rain… Why can’t I remember?” You ask, not expecting a response.

You hold the snowflake one more time then head back inside. You can hear Anna’s voice way before you even get to the door.

 

You enter to see them all in the same spot. Elsa saved you a seat beside her which you took right away. You lean into her ear.

“I love you too, Elsa,” you whisper.

She blushes and everyone can see it. They also notice your new necklace. Anna smiles at Elsa.

 

Anna knows that Elsa has finally found the perfect man for her. She never formally told you, but you had her blessing a long time ago and she has no doubt that her parents would say the same.

 

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The Next Day

 

Everyone is awake and getting ready. Everyone except for you. Kristoff stayed over last night. He has a spare pair of clothes. Eugene and Rapunzel were planning on staying for the remainder of their trip here.  They took your room, which you didn’t mind. You decided to sleep on the couch that night.

 

Everyone knew there was school today and everyone got up for it. They all awoke at relatively the same time and chatted in the hall way. They made their way downstairs and notice you on the couch. You only in your boxers and you lay half off the couch. The blanket isn’t even covering you at this point. Your head is uncomfortably cramped on the floor while your legs dangle in the air.

 

The group takes in what they see then start laughing their face off. Elsa quickly creates a little figure of this in her hand, just like the ones of her parents and siblings. She would keep this as a joke.

 

You wake up from the laughter. You have no idea that you are in this position, so when you try and move your whole body flops onto the floor. The laughing only grows stronger. You pick yourself up and stare at them. You let a goofy grin take over then rub the back of your head.

 

Sadness hits the group of people as they see your body. The damage to your body hasn’t healed yet. Eugene and Rapunzel have completely stunned faces. Anna and Elsa notice this and nudge them. They try to ignore it but the scars on your body are quite large. The bruises aren’t hidden either.

 

“You do know we have school today, right (Y/N)?”

Your eyes widen at the revelation. “Crap!”

You bolt upstairs and into the shower. Kristoff laughs, but stops when he notices he’s the only one.

 

He quickly realizes the reason.

“What… What happened to him?”

Anna and Elsa shared a look. They used their secret sister powers to talk without words. They debated whether to tell them or not. If they did, they would have to reveal Elsa’s powers.

 

“Rapunzel, I have to tell you something,” Elsa gloomily states.

“But later,” Anna interjects.

Rapunzel and Eugene are confused, but decide to roll with it.

 

“So what’re they going to do all day? We have school.”

Anna and Elsa giggle.

“We get the week off to spend with Rapunzel,” Anna states. “You guys are on your own.”

“What? Oh come on, that’s not fair!” Kristoff complains.

 

Anna walks up to him and pats his nose. “Too bad.”

Anna has fun with that, teasing Kristoff as she does.

“Well, I could come to school with you, if that’s alright with everyone,” Eugene offers.

Nobody argues. Everyone just hopes the school has no issues with it.

 

You come sliding down the railing and land perfectly. You give a little pose as you land.

“Meh, B+,” Elsa sarcastically states.

“What? That was perfect!”

The girls laugh. It’s always at your expense.

 

They inform you of the plan.

“But Elsa,” you say walking up to her. “Whose gonna keep me safe?”

She giggles then pushes you away. “I’m sure you can handle it.”

 

Kristoff waves to you, indicating they are heading out. You follow them.

Anna, Elsa and Rapunzel sit on the couch.

“Okay Rapunzel, I’m going to tell you now. Just… keep an open mind,” Elsa warns.

 

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Hans and Alec leave an elevator. Hans seems absolutely stunned while Alec has a smirk.

“I can’t believe it…” Hans gawks.

“It is quite something. Those two have made significant advances. We would have all the answers we need by now if the elementals had succeeded.”

“So how are you going to get what you need?”

 

Alec smiles. “We’ll let them handle that. In the meantime I think you could have some fun with your newfound information on Overlord.”

“(Y/N)? Yes. I have an idea for it. Give me the file, I’ll go right now!”

Alec turns to Hans.

“If you want to play this game then there are rules. You can do whatever it is you’re planning but only after I say so. We must let all the pieces fall into place.”

 

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You, Eugene and Kristoff arrive at school. As soon as you walk in a barrage of girls start crowding you.

“Wow, I can’t believe how much we’re revered here,” Kristoff laughs.

“Well, try to hold your own. I can’t save you from EVERYTHING and Anna would kill us both if the girls got their hands on you.”

 

Eugene’s jaw has dropped. You never explained Battle of the Bands to him so this random horde of women was a complete surprise to you. The teachers attempt to reestablish order and some chuckle when they find out the reason. One teacher scolds you for it, but the other teachers defend you.

 

“Okay, you guys have to tell me what’s going on around here!” Eugene asks as if it’s a matter of national security.

You and Kristoff laugh. You start walking through the halls, explaining the whole event.

“Wow, you two must be really good.”

You chuckle. “It would seem so, but Elsa was the one who won it for us.”

 

The three of you continue to talk but are cut off by the music teacher.

“Excuse me gentlemen, but could I use you for the day?”

You look at Kristoff then back at the teacher. “We have class, Mr..?”

“Mr. Foster, and I can take care of that. I always use the winners of Battle of the Bands to help teach classes. Do you have your singer Elsa with you?”

 

“No, she’s absent for the week,” you inform.

“Oh, what a shame. You will do. You had quite the voice.”

You, Kristoff and Eugene travel to the music room in all its glory. It shouldn’t be called the music “room”, it should be the music “arena”.

 

You and Kristoff set up your own spots. Kristoff taught about drum techniques and rhythms. You taught some guitar chords and scales.

 

“It’s really simple. We’ll just switch between these few chords. You all ready?”

The student nod then prepare their guitars. They all used acoustic while you used the electric. It helped distinguish your sound from that of the students.

 

They played well. Some were a little slow but you didn’t mind. You repeat this set a few times before stopping it.

“Okay, can I get a volunteer?” You ask.

Many of the students put up their hand. You chose a boy from the front. His hand was up first.

 

He pulls his chair beside you.

“So we’re going to do a back and forth exercise. While everyone is playing the chords, we are going to solo back and forth.”

He nods in understanding.

 

You signal the class to start playing. You begin with a simple solo. Nothing too complex. However he bursts out with a very impressive solo. You are shocked. He gives you a cocky smile. You smile back, accepting his challenge.

 

Your turn comes around and you take advantage of it. You slide down the neck of the guitar. You get to a sweet spot where you start playing different scales. Every note flowed perfectly with one another.

 

The student’s jaw drops, but he doesn’t let it show. You end your little solo, allowing him to counter. He starts playing a cool little solo. You both know you won, but it was still fun. You go back and forth a few times before you both end it on the same note. You both chuckle.

 

You shake his hand. “Nice work man. You surprised me.”

“You didn’t surprise me at all. I knew you were amazing from the start.”

You smile and shrug. “Everyone was a beginner at some point.”

 

After teaching some guitar you are tasked with singing. This is harder for you to teach because you never knew how you did it. You just kind of did. It was mostly girls in that section. There were a few guys. They all act so flirty around you.

 

“So… To sing you have to… Listen, I honestly don’t know the intricacies of singing. I’d have to ask one of my friends.”

“Like Elsa?” One girl mentions.

All the girls giggle, the boys roll their eyes. You blush a little.

“Yes, like Elsa,” you smirk.

 

“Since you can’t teach us about singing, how about you answer our question,” one girl asks.

All the others back her. You sigh, you can’t beat them.

“Fine, but I have a limit to what I’ll answer,” you inform.

 

The guys are still paying attention. Seems like they want to know a bit too, even though they act like they don’t care.

“So, how’d you meet?”

“She ran into me on the first day. Kind of cliché, but whatever.”

 

The girls ready more questions. You try and prepare.

 

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“Wow… Elsa I would have never guessed. Are you okay? Do you still feel any pain?” Rapunzel frantically asks.

“I’m fine Rapunzel,” Elsa chuckles. “It’s (Y/N) we’re most worried about.”

“I can’t believe that’s what those scars are. There were so many of them.”

“I know,” Elsa gloomily states.

 

Anna has a serious look on her face. She is staring at the ground and thinking. She is thinking whether to reveal the secret she and Kristoff kept. Maybe Elsa would know about it. But what if she didn’t? What if she took it badly?

 

Anna didn’t want to risk the relationship that she admires, but at the same time doesn’t want to keep secrets that could possibly help you. She is conflicted. She has no idea what to do. She feels the need to ask you about it right away.

 

“So he’s saved all your lives. Yours twice, Anna,” Rapunzel says.

Anna snaps back into reality then smiles.

“Yes, yes he did.”

Rapunzel and Elsa look at Anna. Anna just keeps her smile, hoping they’ll look away.

 

Anna wants to get off this topic. The more it’s discussed the more she wants to speak to you.

She thinks of something, her face gets a sly grin. She turns to Elsa.

“So Elsa, what did you do that day? When (Y/N) brought us home.”

 

Elsa blushes ever so slightly. “I slept, why do you ask? And what’s with that smile?”

“You sure there were no late night visits?”

Elsa begins blushing extremely. Her pale face is completely red. Rapunzel gets curious.

“What’re you girls talking about?”

 

“Nothing at all. Right Anna?”

“Well I seem to remember waking up that day and checking on my sister,” Anna starts.

Elsa continues to blush.

“And finding her in bed… But someone else was in that bed.”

 

Rapunzel’s jaw drops then turns to Elsa. Her face can’t get any more red. She is totally speechless.

“Don’t worry Elsa, I’m only teasing.”

“I hate you,” Elsa smiles.

 

“Can I ask about it?” Anna requests.

“No.”

“How about one question each. One for me and one for Anna,” Rapunzel compromises.

Elsa huffs. “Fine. One each.”

 

Rapunzel and Anna start whispering. Elsa doesn’t get a good feeling from this.

“Ok, first question. Why did you sleep with him?”  Rapunzel asks.

Elsa pauses for a moment then smiles. “He admitted he loved me.”

Anna and Rapunzel start shrieking with enjoyment. They hug Elsa and she hugs back. Anna already knew but now she knows the reason behind it. She couldn’t be happier for her sister.

 

But that thought crept back into her mind. If they love each other then it’s possible you could have told her the true events of that night. If you hadn’t, then would she understand? From what Anna remembers Kristoff saying, you were brutal. Uncaring. Does Elsa know this side of you?

 

But she thought even further back. You said you didn’t want anyone hating you. This could be the reason. Anna doesn’t hate you. Kristoff doesn’t hate you. The only thing they are is curious. But Elsa has no idea, from what she has shown. That she is keeping it a secret for you. It was killing Anna.

 

“Okay, okay. Now can we get this over with?” Elsa prays.

Anna grins, “Well… How well do you know him?”

Elsa is taken back by this question, “What do you mean?”

“You both love each other right? So you must share a lot between one another, right?”

 

“Am I being too straightforward? I want to dance around the bush but it’s only a few leaves. There isn’t much to play with,” Anna thinks.

 

“I would like to believe we share quite a bit with each other. But we have respect for the other’s privacy. I wouldn’t pressure him into answering anything I didn’t absolutely need to know.”

 

Rapunzel is confused. She can tell that Anna is trying to go somewhere with this, but she doesn’t know where. She is afraid this might lead to something bad. She takes it on herself to change the subject.

 

“Well, since we know Elsa’s secrets with her boyfriend… How about you, Anna?”

 

Anna begins blushing extremely. Anna and Elsa’s roles reverse. Elsa bears a smirk.

“Yes Anna. How about a question each for you!”

 

“Good, whatever that was is now averted,” Rapunzel thinks.

 

“No, that’s not necessary.” Anna takes in a breath. “I have indeed slept with Kristoff.”

“When?” Elsa asks.

 

“He seems like a nice guy, where’d you meet him?” Rapunzel asks.

“(Y/N) introduced me to him. I was dating Hans at the time, but Kristoff was there for me when we broke up.”

“Not (Y/N)?”

“Well, he and Elsa were starting their little thing, so I don’t blame him.”

 

“Our little thing?” Elsa smiles.

“Yep. You’re little thing that is so beautiful and fun to watch,” Anna responds with happiness.

“So we’re a form of entertainment for you?” Elsa jokes.

“Kind of. You know how many times I walked in on you guys having moments, including the one we just talked about. By the way, you should really get around to locking your door,” Anna giggles.

 

Elsa brushes her off. She sends her to get some chocolate from the kitchen.

“So Rapunzel, how’d you meet your boyfriend? He seems quite nice.”

“He actually broke into my house by accident. He was trying to run away from some guys and thought my house was his. I hit him with a frying pan because I thought he was an intruder.”

Elsa bursts out laughing, she imagines that exact scene and starts laughing harder.

 

Anna runs back in with the chocolate.

“What? What’d I miss?”

Rapunzel re-tells the story. Anna joins her sister in laughing.

“We got to know each other and one thing led to another.”

 

“Yeah, that’s how it always goes,” Anna says, still laughing.

“By the way, I have to congratulate you two.”

Anna and Elsa become confused.

“Both your boyfriends are so muscular. I mean –aside from the scars, which are admittedly are kind of attractive – (Y/N) is quite the defined guy. He could be on magazines.”

 

Anna agrees and Elsa laughs. She gets everyone to imagine you posing in silly poses. They all laugh with her.

“I could imagine what (Y/N) would say if he were here,” Elsa says. “Probably something like…”

 

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“Who talks about this kind of stuff?” You question the girls as their questions keep coming.

They may even surpass Kristoff’s family. Probably not. Kristoff walks over to you then drags you off. All the girls sigh.

 

“I heard some of their questions. I feel bad for you.”

“I know! Why would I tell them that stuff?”

“You haven’t even told me stuff!” Kristoff adds.

 

You look at him and sigh. “That is an innuendo for me to tell you stuff, isn’t it?”

“Maybe a little,” Kristoff says, using his fingers to make a point.

“Well, where is the fun if I’m only putting out?”

“That’s what she said,” Kristoff jokes.

 

You shake your head but can’t hide a chuckle.

“She can do this thing with ice, you know. I don’t know how she did it but… DAMN,” You mention.

Kristoff laughs. “Anna doesn’t do anything like that.”

“Wait you’ve…?” You begin to ask.

He shakes his head. “Evidently you have to. I honestly didn’t think you two had. So what does Elsa do with ice?”

 

You think for a moment trying to explain. You even ask Shadow for help but he blocked that whole scene out.

“I can’t even explain man. It was just… Yeah. It was just. I have no other words for it.”

“Does it have anything to do with your snazzy new necklace?”

You look down at it. “Nah, that’s just a present she made for me.”

“It’s very nice,” Kristoff compliments.

 

As you and Kristoff walk through the hall you notice something.

“Hey, where did Eugene go?” You ask.

Kristoff is about to answer, but he doesn’t have one.

“I have no idea.”

You both start surveying the area but don’t see Eugene.

 

“Eugene!” You yell.

Students look at you but none of them are Eugene.

“Oh crap… The girls are going to kill us,” Kristoff complains.

“Not if we find him! Look, how about we split up and look for him. If one of us finds him, then we’ll get the office to call the other down.”

 

Kristoff nods then bolts off down a hall way. You go down the other. You search all over the place but you can’t find him. It’s not like he would’ve left. But he may have been taken. You shake your head to ignore those thoughts. “He is fine,” you think.

 

“He has to be fine,” you say to yourself.

 


	13. Water Creates Ice

#  **Chapter 13: Water creates Ice**

You swear you have ran around this school three times. You surprisingly haven’t seen Kristoff running around either. Maybe that’s just a coincidence. You don’t know where to look? Where could he have run off too? He doesn’t know the area. He wouldn’t know where to go.

 

You turn into the athletic hallway. All the jocks and such are usually gathered here. You find someone holding Eugene against the wall. Eugene looks untouched, but you fear that will soon change. You recognize the one holding him against the wall. It’s one of Hans’ friends.

 

“Parker, let him go!” You yell.

You move in close proximity to the two.

“Oh, hey (Y/N). Nice of you to show up.  This man is extremely unfriendly,” Eugene says.

“Shut up!” Parker snarls, pushing harder on Eugene.

 

“What’s the problem here, Parker?”

“This little shit got on my nerves!”

“That’s stupid,” you mutter.

“You’re stupid!” Parker barks.

 

You pinch your nose to his idiocy. You know Parker isn’t bright, even though you’ve only talked with him a few times. He never could write properly either. It’s a simple concept that you sat down and explained to him but he just made jokes and tried to hit on Elsa.

 

“Listen, Parker, we really don’t have time for this. How about you let Eugene go and we all walk away? Seems nice, right?”

Parker looks at you with anger then back at Eugene. He snarls then lets Eugene go. He walks away, ranting to himself.

 

Eugene rubs his neck. “Thanks (Y/N), that guy really meant business.”

“What’d you do to him?”

“Actually, it’s what I did to his brother,” Eugene clarifies.

You wait for him to continue, but he doesn’t. He simply brushes himself off.

 

“Are you going to tell me?” You ask.

“What? Oh, yeah sure.” He clears his throat. “Shortly before I met Rapunzel I had this group of friends. They were into some bad stuff: stealing, drugs. Things like that. They used to call me Flynn. I almost forgot that wasn’t my real name. Anyway, I didn’t agree with them at one point. I gave them up, but they found out. They chased me for a while but I hid in this house. Or so I thought. That’s how I met Rapunzel, actually.”

 

“And one of the guys you gave up was Parker’s brother?”

Eugene nods his head. “So that was my story. Mind if I ask you something now?”

The two of you begin walking to the office. “Yeah, go ahead.”

“How did you get all those scars?”

 

You pause for a moment. You aren’t sure whether to tell him. You don’t mind telling him about you, but it reveals Elsa’s secret.

“I got in a big fight. This is what I get. Don’t feel like much of a winner,” you say giving a weak smile.

 

“That’s vague,” he notices.

You sigh. “I’ll tell you the whole story later. I need to ask someone for permission.”

“Why?”

“It has someone else’s secret tied into it.”

 

Eugene thinks of pressing forward but ignores it. He respects that you are protecting someone’s secret.

“But you will tell me if they agree?”

You nod in agreement.

“I like you,” he chuckles.

 

You both make it to the office and call Kristoff down. It doesn’t take long for him to arrive.

“Eugene!  You gave us a scare!” Kristoff chuckles.

“I’m glad you guys care so much,” Eugene responds.

“Well, to be honest we were just terrified of what the girls would do to us if you went missing,” you admit.

Eugene laughs. “Yeah, that’s a pretty scary thought.”

 

You all laugh. The bell rings, signifying lunch time. You were surprised that it was time to eat already. The day really went by quickly. You start to wonder what the girls may be doing. Talking, most likely. Anna would talk about some new dresses she got and her love of chocolate. You she would do it because you were the victim of that vary conversation.

 

You can’t say how Elsa would be. You’ve never seen her with Rapunzel, so you can’t determine what she’ll act like. Probably more open than she used to be. At least you hope she is.

 

You all enter the cafeteria. You take time to look around. Take in what is happening. The place is broken up into cliques. There are the expected ones: Nerd and jock. There are some hipsters in the corner. You can hear them talking about some coffee shop.

 

“That doesn’t help the stereotype, guys,” you whisper.

 

You always loved watching other people. It helped remind you of innocence. Yours is long gone after everything you’ve experienced. But all these kids are still innocent, in a way. Sex, drugs and crime can ruin that. But they still have a general innocence. It’s doubtful that all of these kids will end someone’s life. That is an innocence they won’t lose.

 

While looking around you notice someone. His blue hair gives him away. It’s Rain!

“I have to go talk to someone, I’ll be back in a second,” you tell your friends.

They nod.

 

You jog over to where Rain is. He is sitting alone – which is surprising given the amount of people here. He is twirling his thumbs. Not giving a care to the world around him.

“Is he expecting me or something?” You think.

 

“Rain!” You call out, still walking towards him.

He snaps out of his stare and turns to see you. He lets out a small smile.

“What’re you doing here? Don’t tell me you go to school here,” you ask.

“No, I was actually hoping to find Elsa here. Do you know where she is?”

 

You let out a small smile. “She’s at home. She and Anna get the week off.”

He looks back at his thumbs, obviously in thought.

“You okay, Rain?”

He looks at you then lets out a goofy smile. It looks relative to the one you usually do.

“I’m fine, I just want to formally meet her.”

 

You find it almost funny that he is so shy. So normal. The only other elemental users you’ve seen have been ones trying to kill you. Rain seems average. Elsa is this way too. Just normal people with completely abnormal abilities. Then again, you haven’t been the most average guy lately.

 

“What could be the harm in it..?” You think.

“Hey, how about you come over? You can meet Elsa and maybe start training with her.”

Rain looks up at you. You have such happiness in your eyes. Just with your eyes, he can see you are truly happy. That you mean what you say.

Rain nods his head. “Alright, I’ll come with you.”

 

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Kristoff and Eugene are surprised when you said you’ll walk home. They don’t argue with you, just remain confused. You meet up with Rain shortly after they leave you. The wait seemed to take forever, as more girls started gawking over you.

 

“Man… I never should have done Battle of the Bands…”

 

Rain finally comes out of the school and you begin walking together. While walking, you pass by the field you used to hang out in. You promise yourself to make some time and relax there. The two of you talk about all kinds of things. You try to keep off the topic of the past. It always seemed to make everything go silent.

 

You learn a little about what Rain has gone through over the years. As a child his “parents” never acknowledged him much. They knew about his powers and they hated him for it. They actually hated him for another reason as well, but he never elaborated on that. At school he had friends. He never told them about his powers but he told them about his parents.

 

He told you that, “They likely made me the way I am. Passive, I mean.”

He learned to hate violence, so he never tried to hurt anyone with his powers. He actually creates beautiful shows with them. He always enjoyed the water, which caused you to chuckle.

His powers made him able to breathe in water. It was his place of freedom and peace.

 

He told you that he ran away from his parents at 15. He took to the streets of Corona and tried to find things to do. However his age made it hard for him to find a job. Thankfully for him, his powers kept him alive. He didn’t need food – water could keep him alive no matter what. Since he could control the water, it was no trouble. He could purify any water source.

 

He kept himself alive through that. It’s possible he would have died if not for that ability. You felt bad for him. It’s almost how you felt when Elsa told you her story. However Rain’s “parents” simply hated him for it. You also felt a connection to him. You suffered a similar fate when you left your home. You didn’t have anything either. However, you had Oaken. Rain had nobody.

 

While you two were walking something hits you. Your arm. The pain is excruciating. You grab your left arm in pain then drop to one knee. You grunt in pain. Your face is a dead giveaway you are feeling something.

 

Rain rushes to your side, “(Y/N)! What’s happening?”

“It’s Carnage! He’s—” You’re cut off from another shot of pain.

You tighten your grip on your arm. Rain moves his hands to try to help you but he doesn’t know what to do.

 

You can’t do anything from where you are. You have a hunch. Maybe you can stop this in Limbo.

“Rain, listen. I’m…”

You feel as if you’re drugged. You drop from your knee to your face. You’re totally out.

“(Y/N)! Come on, wake up! (Y/N)!”

 

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You’re standing in the all too familiar Limbo. You begin looking around. It’s still black and grey. “Still creeps me out a bit,” you say.

You begin walking, hoping you’ll find Shadow. You start to hear a small chuckle. You can only assume who that is.

 

It starts getting louder and louder. It becomes deafening. You put your hands over your ears. You try your best to block it out but it’s like your hands are speakers for the laughing. It’s still loud.

 

It suddenly stops. You release your ears, and then look forward. There you stand. However it doesn’t seem to be Shadow nor Carnage. It’s you. Exactly as you are now. But there is a slight difference. He is standing differently. He wears a cocky smile and his eyes are sharp.

 

“You aren’t Shadow or Carnage.”

He shrugs in a cocky manner. “No. That I’m not.”

“So I have a forth?”

“No. Not at all. I’m more of a 2.5”

 

You give him an intrigued look. “What does that mean?”

“Oh come on. You feel it too, right? That feeling if you let loose a little.”

“Sorry, I already have a little devil on my shoulder. Thanks for the offer, though.”

“I’m not offering anything. I’m you. I’m what you want to be.”

You laugh. “Oh really?”

 

You have a weird feeling while this guy is present. It’s like part of you is gone. Like the ying and yang are staring at each other right now. But there is no way this guy can be you. It has to be Carnage. He’s the only one who makes your arm feel the way it does. The only one who can give you a feeling. Yet you don’t feel the bloodlust from this guy. You feel a calming. A sense of control, yet not. It’s weird for you. You can’t put your finger on it.

 

“What are you?” You ask.

He chuckles a little. “Nobody special. To be completely honest I’m surprised I am here.”

His voice is still filled with superiority mixed with some humour.

“Then where’s Carnage. Or did you make my arm like that?”

“Hm? Oh no, that was us.”

 

“Us?”

He gives one more smirk then fades into darkness. You hear the terrifying roar.

“I swear, he could be mistaken for a dinosaur or something,” you joke.

 

Carnage appears from the darkness and lands on one knee. He looks up at you, fire in his eyes.

He doesn’t attack you though. You have no idea why.

“Carnage?”

He snarls.

“Well, you’re friendly.”

 

There is a silence. You have no idea why he doesn’t attack. He has a perfect opportunity. Your legs are buckling. Your body is shaking with fear. You try to remain composed. You don’t want to show an obvious fear. Though he seems like he can smell it. He’s very relative to an animal. A wolf or something.

 

You decide to break the silence. This may be a chance to learn about him.

“Carnage?”

He grunts.

“Why are you in my mind? How do you control my emotions as you do?”

“It’s… your… nature,” He mutters.

His voiced is very broken and crackled.

 

“My nature? No. My nature is who I am.”

“You… are… an illusion… Elsa… is an… illusion.”

Your mind turns to the offensive. “What does Elsa have to do with this?”

“She… will bring… them… back. Then… I will… feast…”

 

Carnage fades back into the mist of Limbo.

“Carnage!” You rush to where he was standing but it was empty. “Damn it!”

You stare into Limbo, trying to figure out what Carnage’s words meant.

“Who will Elsa bring? More elemental users?”

That’s your only answer. Carnage must want to eliminate all the elemental users. But why? And if that was the case then why hasn’t he killed Rain?

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You awaken to a somewhat familiar area. There is water floating above and around you. You lift yourself up to find Rain in the water. He appears to be meditating or something. You touch the water around you and he wakes up.

 

“Oh, thank the waters. I was worried you would never wake up,”

“Well, I’m quite awake. How long was I out for?”

Rain checks his watch. “An hour or so. Nothing too bad.”

Rain waves his hands and you both sprout to the surface.

 

“Did the others see you?”

“No. I brought us here without their knowledge.”

You accept that for a moment. You both sneak around to the front door.

“Wait, how did you get me here? No offense, but I am quite heavy and you’re a lot smaller then I.”

 

He gave a shy smile. “I used your blood.”

“Wait what?”

“Well, I used the water in your body to somewhat lift you. It simply looked like I was carrying you.”

“That’s quite the ability. It also could have ended badly.”

Rain’s face glooms over. “I wouldn’t have done anything to hurt you.”

 

You put your hand on his shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry about it.”

He nods. “Thanks. Anyway, let’s meet Elsa.”

 

You open the door to see everyone in the living room. Elsa sees you first and runs up to hug you. You embrace her. She opens her eyes and sees Rain. She releases you from the hug.

“Who’s this, (Y/N)?”

“Could you come outside for a second? I think he should be introduced to you.”

 

She is a little skeptical but you seem calm about him. She accepts that and goes outside with you. Rain leads you around to the pond. You place yourself between the two of them, just in case.

“So who are you?”

Rain readies himself. “My name is Rain. I already know you, Elsa. I’ve been wanting to meet your for some time.”

 

Elsa looks to you for comfort. You give her a soothing look. You trust Rain. Besides you doubt he could harm Elsa much. She could freeze all his water.

 

“I am like you; I have been given powers.”

Rain lifts some water from the pond. It follows a path that makes its way around all three of you. Elsa is shocked, but remains calm under your influence.

 

“So what do you want from me?” Elsa asks.

“Well, this may seem a little forward but I want to help you with your powers.”

Elsa is silent at the request. You decide to jump in.

“Elsa,” you say putting your hand on her shoulder. “Rain knows how to use his powers extraordinarily well.”

 

Neither you nor Elsa notice that Rain slightly blushes at this comment.

“It may be helpful for you. I know you can control your powers, but having the ability to manipulate them like him may be good for you.”

Elsa stares at you. She is taking your words seriously.

“I’m not saying you have too. I’m just saying that it sounds like a good idea to me.”

 

Elsa’s eyes go to the ground. She is thinking hard on this. You continue to watch her until the decision is made. Rain goes back and forth between the two of you. He is anxious for her response.

 

She lets out a sigh.

“Okay. I’ll learn from you. But on one condition.”

“Anything,” Rain accepts.

“I want to learn how to fight with my powers.”

 

Both you and Rain are shocked at her request. You knew Elsa never wanted to hurt anyone with her powers, yet she wants to practice them now.

“I’m keeping my vow to you, (Y/N). I will be capable. I’ll save you next time,” Elsa thinks.

 

Rain nods. “Very well. I can teach you how to fight. But I request that (Y/N),” he looks over at you, “Joins us. He will no doubt be invaluable to training.”

“Alright, but if you hit me in the butt again I’m done!” You joke.

“Oh, you asked me too. Besides,” she walks up beside you and strokes your chest with her index finger. “I wouldn’t want your butt to be injured. That would just be horrible.”

 

You grin and pull her closer to you, wrapping your arm around her waist. “We wouldn’t want that now, would we?”

Your eyes glimpse at Rain. You let go of Elsa and spin her to face Rain. She understands now.

“You guys can start tomorrow. I’ll join in after I get back from school.”

“But, Rapunzel is here,” Elsa remembers.

 

“I promise I won’t take all your time. We’ll take breaks and such. Train at your leisure.”

Elsa nods. She grabs you and pulls you inside. Rain jumps into the water. That seems to be his spot now. 

 

You and Elsa enter the living room where everyone else is. They greet you and you all sit down for some conversation. You remain mostly silent, other than the few questions directed at you. You start thinking about your time in Limbo. You are still utterly confused by it.

 

You hate not knowing this. Normally it would bother you anyway, but the fact that Elsa was mentioned made it even more urgent. You have this feeling, this need to keep her safe. Of course you do. You love her.

 

“(Y/N). Yoo hoo,” Anna says, waving her hand over your face.

You snap back to reality.

“Love her,” you accidently say.

Your thoughts went out your mouth and it just made you a target.

 

Elsa blushed a bit and everyone laughed.

“Oh you do? Well that’s always good to know,” Anna laughed.

You smile. “Yeah, yeah. I was in thought, you know.”

 

“You’re always in thought,” Elsa points out.

You give her a weak smile then a quick kiss. You get up and head to the kitchen. Gerda and Kai are making dinner as you walk in. They notice you then drop what they’re doing.

“(Y/N), you are living here now, right?” Gerda asks.

 

You nod. “Yes. Well, as long as everyone is good with it.”

“Of course. Everyone is. But I have something to offer you,” Gerda says.

You grab a chair and sit down.

“Sure, what is it?”

 

“Well, to our knowledge you have no parents.” They give a slight bow in sorrow of your loss. “But we could be your guardians. It is inevitable that you will need a guardian sometime soon, and we’re happy to be them. You can continue to live here, of course. We spend most of our time here anyway.”

 

You are surprised but happy. You get up and offer a handshake to Gerda. She gives you a hug instead.

“We’re happy to have you in the family,” Gerda states.

Kai is smiling. “We’ll take you tomorrow to start the process. You’ll get the day off school.”

 

You shake your head in acknowledgement. Gerda releases you.

“Go back with your friends, they’ll be happy to hear the news.”

 

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Everyone congratulated you when you tell them. There is a feeling of completion when you have a type of safety net to fall back on, and now you have it. Everyone continued to talk about silly things. Eugene has quite a number of tales about his time in Corona. You found some of the downright weird and others completely hilarious.

 

Everyone had a good sleep that night. Everyone but you. You couldn’t stay asleep that night. You tossed and turned. You eventually got up for a drink. You grab a cold drink of water. You take a few sips then wait for a minute. You stare at the ground, giving the illusion that you are thinking.

 

You actually enjoy the water. It is just the perfect temperature to quench a thirst. You finish the drink, dry it then put it away. You are about to go back to bed but somebody stops you.

 

“What’re you doing awake?”

“I could ask you the same thing, Elsa,” you redirect.

She smiles and walks up to you. You let out a smile but she sees right through it. You looked tired.

 

“What’s wrong?”

“Can’t sleep.”

“Why? Are you having nightmares?”

“No. I don’t think my eyes have been closed long enough to have a dream.”

 

Elsa snuggles under your arm.

“The couch isn’t the comfiest, I know.”

“It’s not the couch. It’s just me…”

“Uh huh,” she smiles. “Mr. Tough guy right here won’t be pushed around by a couch.”

 

You shake your head then look at Elsa. She has such a beautiful smile. You feel the need to touch her face. You raise your hand to stroke her cheek. Elsa simply smiles.

“I’ll only ever be pushed around by you. Probably Anna too.”

Elsa laughs. “Yeah, we can be pretty scary.”

“Why didn’t you use that against Gaia and Pyro?” You bug.

“Because I keep that power for the strongest person I know.”

 

She squeezes you.

“Oh… me?”

She nods.

“Well I wouldn’t say that.”

 

“My own superhero,” she teases.

Elsa kisses you and you kiss back. It becomes more passionate as time goes on. You thank that nobody is disturbing. Especially Anna. She always seems to have a romance detector with her.

“She never found out Elsa and I slept together. So that’s one secret I still have,” you think.

 

Elsa breaks off from your lips, but you start kissing her neck. She can’t hold in a moan of pleasure.

“How about you not sleep on the couch tonight?”

“What,” you kiss her neck. “Did you,” another kiss. “Have in,” yet another. “Mind?”

 

She grabs your hands and led you to her room. You both proceed as softly as you can, but you can’t stay away from each other. You get into her room with only one incident. She let out another moan at her door.

 

You picked her up and she wrapped her legs around your stomach. You continue to kiss her until you lay her on the bed. Elsa waves her hand and freezes the door, just in case. You chuckle a little bit but focus on what you’re doing.

 

She removes you shirt to expose your body. She strokes your upper body, feeling your muscles but also your scars. She grabs your back and pulls you closer to her. There is no space between you two. You continue to embrace each other.

 

You slide her shirt right off and she giggles.

“I love you, (Y/N).”

“I love you too, Elsa.”

 

“Elsa?”

“Yes?”

“Can you do that thing you did with the ice last time.”

“Maybe. Will you be better than last time?”

“Wait, what?”

“There is always room for improvement,” she giggles.

“How you tease me so.”

 

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You slept quite well after that. Elsa woke you up when she did. You both got clothes on than kissed each other.

“You did that thing with the ice,” you smile.

“You did better than last time.”

“Always with the teasing.”

 

You hop out her window and onto the grass. The impact of the two story fall doesn’t bother you all that much. You don’t argue it. You open the door to see Kristoff standing there with his arms crossed and a grin on his face.

 

“You totally just got caught.”

“Caught doing what? I was just walking around.”

Kristoff’s face shows he doesn’t buy it. You shrug then lay on the couch.

 

“Hey (Y/N), I need to talk to you about something.”

“Shoot.”

“Bang,” he responds, firing a finger gun.

“Clever,” you snicker.

 

“Listen, we’ve been friends for quite some time.”

“A couple weeks, but I get your point.”

“You trust me right?”

This conversation reminds you of one you had not too long ago, but you can’t remember it.

 

“Yes,” you stretch the word as you sit up.

“(Y/N), I saw something while you fought the three people with powers.”

You gut tightens, you know what he’s getting at.

“(Y/N), what happened to you? For the little I saw… The way you killed that guy…”

 

Anna begins coming down the stairs and hears what the two of you are talking about.

“Kristoff, what are you doing?” She frantically asks herself.

 

“Kristoff… There are things best left alone.”

“This isn’t one of them man. I get that it may be uncomfortable, and I know I didn’t see the entire thing, but still. (Y/N), I’m your best friend. I’m not forcing you to tell me, but please know that I’m just concerned.”

 

“Kristoff…” Anna whispers, “That’s the way to do it.”

 

You sigh.

“I get the concern and I know that you deserve an answer but… I’m just not ready. I’m sorry.”

Kristoff lets out his own sigh, then smiles. “What kind of friend would I be if I was cruel?”

“But Kristoff, you are cruel,” you joke.

 

Anna walks down the stairs. “That he is. My cruel teddy bear.”

You both turn your attention towards Anna. She is glowing today. It’s odd. Anna gives Kristoff a kiss on the cheek then turns to you.

 

“So what were you two talking about?”

“Well, our good friend (Y/N) just came in through the door and I was questioning him. He’s a tough nut to crack.”

 

Anna’s face lights up and a large grin is smeared across her face. She remembers the last time you came in through the front door in the morning.  It’s the same thing you did when she caught you and Elsa together. However you still don’t know that.

 

You see the grin but have no idea why it’s there.

“I was just walking. Man, I for what I do I should get a break.”

“But how would you keep your skills sharp?” Kristoff smiled.

 

Your face droops and you look at Kristoff in a type of “really?” look.

Both he and Anna smile. You both hear the shower start running. You assume it’s Elsa.

“Wait, Kristoff what’re you even doing here? Didn’t you go home?”

 

Kristoff and Anna start to blush. You pick up on this.

“Guuuuys?”

They look at each other then at you.

 

You are about to press on but Gerda interrupts you.

“(Y/N), are you going to shower before we go?”

“Oh yes, I’ll go do that right now.”

 

You rush upstairs and into the bathroom. You completely forget Elsa is in the shower. Somehow you block out the noise of the water. You strip down then go to open the shower curtain. You notice that the shower is already on.

 

“Oh yeah, Elsa is in the shower. Well, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if I joined,” you think.

 

You open the shower curtain.

It wasn’t Elsa.

Rapunzel looks at you for a moment. You look at her. You both are in total shock at what is happening.

You quickly close the shower curtain.

“Oh my god, Rapunzel I am so sorry! I thought you were Elsa. I swear I didn’t mean to,” you spew.

“Oh… um… It’s okay. I didn’t even hear you enter. Let’s just…”

“Not talk about it?”

“Yes,” she agrees.

 

You put your clothes back on and leave the bathroom. Elsa comes out of her room at the same time.

“Elsa, is there another shower?”

“Yes, of course. I was about to take one.”

“Oh, alright. I’ll wait.”

 

She chuckles. “So cute.”

She drags you towards the other bathroom.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Elsa and Rain begin their training as you leave. He starts out with basic control. Elsa has to keep ice flowing around her for as long as she could until it felt natural. While doing that he asked her to simply create some. Hit a few targets. Simple stuff.

 

You, on the other hand, are stuck in this horrible place. It smells horrible. Not horrible as in a dump. But it smells so proper. So fake. It makes you cringe. Everyone is walking around in suits and such. They look proper. They feel important. You were forced into a suit as well. They didn’t have time to buy a new suit for you, so you are in one of Kai’s old ones. It doesn’t fit all that perfectly.

 

However there is a sort of happiness to this situation. You’ll technically have a family again. Even though that never really mattered, it was a mental thing. Something to fall back on. You would find a sort of peace and happiness.

 

They call you, Gerda and Kai into the room. You all take a seat and the women starts typing on her computer. Gerda had already called so they know what they are doing. This was a simple formality.

 

“Excuse me, (Y/N)?”

“Yes?”

“I’ll need your last name. We need to have full records on you. Also we need your parents’ signature, if possible.”

 

Your stomach fills with butterflies.

“My last name?” You ask. “Is that necessary?”

“Yes, it is.”

You sigh. “(Y/N) (L/N)”

 

The women types the name into the computer. The results send a quick shock to her face, but she regains control.

“Could I speak to the two of you? Alone.”

 

You sigh then leave the room. You know exactly what she’s talking about. You leave the room and sit outside for a few minutes. You are called back in.

 

“As a result of your parents not being able to sign, I need your signature. After that it will take some time, but Gerda and Kai will be your legal guardians.”

You nod in understanding.

 

You look at Gerda and Kai. They have an uneasy look on their face.

“Great… They know.”

“Of course they know, simply searching up your name brings up the articles,” Shadow remarked.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

3 days later.

 

Gerda and Kai had a talk with you about what they had heard. You explained to the best of your ability, and they had to accept that. You haven’t told the full story in a long time, but you told them.

 

You also told them the truth behind what happened during the fight. They were quite understanding. They understood why you kept it a secret from everyone and asked if anyone else knew. You told them Kristoff had a slight hint of it.

 

The week went smoothly afterwards. Gerda and Kai allowed you to stay home as well, but you refused. You kept Kristoff company at school. Eugene came with you every day. You were asked to play some songs at a school assembly. Eugene helped you guys by playing the triangle. It added depth to the performance.

 

You brought home notes and homework for Anna and Elsa every day, but they were busy most of the time. Anna and Rapunzel spent almost every minute of the day together. They kept getting chocolate all the time. You made a slight remark that they may gain a few pounds by it and they both smacked you. Kristoff called it a “rookie mistake”.

 

Elsa took the training with Rain quite seriously. She learned concepts pretty quickly and was able to conjure massive amounts of ice for battle or beauty. You were stunned at her progress. But today was a final training exercise.

 

“Alright you two, this is going to be a friendly sparring match,” Rain commentates. “Elsa, you have to hit (Y/N) with everything you got. (Y/N), you have to land three taps on Elsa.”

 

You both nod.  You smile competitively at each other.

“Try not to hurt each other too much,” Rain slightly whines.

“Well, that depends on him now, doesn’t it?”

“Oh me, huh? Well you have a prettier face than I do. So I’ll leave it that way.”

 

“You both have pretty faces, now let’s get this going,” Rain begins.

“Three. Two,” you tighten your muscles, readying yourself to sprint. “One. Go!”

Rain splashes water into the air to signal the start.

 

Kristoff, Anna, Eugene and Rapunzel watch this fight. You told Eugene everything about Elsa and your fight, which he congratulated you on. They stand there, anxious. They know you won’t hurt each other, but they are worried.

 

Elsa – without even moving her hands – summons an ice spike right beneath you. You jump backwards to dodge it. She spins around and causes the whole backyard to be covered in snow and ice.

 

“Clever girl. She’s made the playing field her own,” you think.

Thankfully you are still able to sprint through the snow effectively but now you can’t see the ice spikes forming in the ground.

 

She gives you some chance by lifting the spikes slightly above the snow so you have some warning. You rush at her as the spikes continue to raises. Once you get to her you try and tap her, but it is just a wall.

 

You look around to see Elsa in a completely different spot.

“A mirror?”

She shrugs with a smile. “Something like that.”

 

She summons dozens of ice spikes in the air then rains them down upon you. You try to run out of the target zone but she covered a huge area. Spikes start raining down around you. You barely make it out. Your clothes are somewhat ripped now from the occasional spike almost getting you.

 

Elsa smiles with pride. You are happy to see her so in control of her powers. She is using them better than most of the other elemental users. As powerful as they all are, you thought Tempest had the best control over his powers. Gaia may have been the leader, but the way Tempest used his powers was phenomenal. Elsa is catching up to him.

 

You gain your bearings after escaping that death trap. Elsa gives no quarry however and shoots and ice blast at you. You cross your arms In front of you. Before it hits you it forms a wall and begins to push you. She summons a wall behind you as well.

 

“She’s going to squish me!” You concur.

You push off the wall and try to bounce back and forth but the ice is too slippery.

She’s blocked off all other exits. She may have you.

 

You smile then enter a ready stance. You ready your dominant hand for a haymaker. You feel it’s ready and punch one of the walls, effectively shattering it. You jump out of that death trap. Elsa didn’t notice this. You used the distraction to rush her and get one tap.

 

You tap her back and she turns around.

She smiles. “Round one complete. You still have two more.”

“I know,” you say.

 

You take a position away from her and ready up. She melts the snow around her for the new round. You begin to sprint right at her. She erects a wall directly beneath you. You preform 3 handspring backflips to avoid it. You land on your feet only to see an ice spike barely pass your face.

 

Elsa looks worried but you smile.

“You almost had me there.”

She puts her hand on her chest in a relieved way. She gets back into the fight.

 

You sprint at her once more, dodging everything she throws at you. You are about to get a second tap but she summons a small blizzard that launches you away. You land flat on your stomach, the wind knocked out of you.

 

You cough a few times but recover quickly. You stand to see Elsa condensing an ice blast in her hands. She absorbs the blizzard around her to add to it. You sprint at her once more but she doesn’t see you. You attempt to jump over her but she notices. She panics and hits you point blank in the chest with the full force of her ice beam.

 

For the first time you feel the pain Elsa’s ice can do. You feel your whole body go cold. It goes through all of you but focuses on one point of your body. The blast continues to hit until it forces you away from Elsa.

 

You are sent spiraling through the air and into the pond.

“(Y/N)!” Everyone yells.

Rain uses his powers to lift you out of the water.

 

He puts you on your feet but you fall to your knees. There is an ongoing pain in your chest. You look but nothing is there. No puncture wounds or anything. You cough. Your breath is misty and cold. Everyone sees your hair start to turn white.

 

Anna looks at her own white streak of hair, which she hasn’t died brown since being told the reason for it. Elsa immediately knows what that means. She begins crying and running towards you.

 

You clench the area over your heart. It’s where all the pain is coming from.

 


	14. The Past is Catching Up

**Chapter 14: The past is catching up**

 

You continue to hold your heart in pain. Your heavy breathing is letting out a cold mist.

Elsa runs beside you, still crying.

“(Y/N), are you okay?”

 

You look at her. She is worried you’ll think badly of her – hate her for hurting you.

“Did you… just do a Kamehameha out of ice?”

“What?” She asks, confused.

“You totally did. Man, that was pretty–“ The pain interrupts you for a moment. “Awesome…”

 

She is utterly confused. Maybe you don’t know what has just happened.

“(Y/N), this same thing happened years ago with Anna. Remember I told you. But she was hit with much less then you and at a longer range.”

“And..?” You ask.

“I know you may be resistant to my ice somehow, but that was too much for anyone to take. Your hair is going white, you’re breathing out frost. I froze you.”

 

Elsa breaks out into a loud sob. Everyone gets close to you both but keeps some distance.

“Hey Kristoff. My girlfriend totally just did a–“

Kristoff shakes his head slowly. He basically just told you to shut up. Everyone believes you are taking this way too lightly.

 

You understand their stare. Understand that to Elsa, this is serious. One of the worst things she’s ever done and she is dying on the inside because of it. The air becomes heavy. You can’t tell whether it’s due to your condition or the tension everyone is forcing.

 

You look over at Elsa. You put your arms around her then bring her in close for a hug. She accepts it but continues to bawl. You stroke her hair.

“Shhh, Elsa it’s going to be okay.”

“No,” she sobs. “No it won’t be. I’m a monster!”

 

A blizzard starts surrounding the two of you. Everyone else backs up.

“Elsa! Elsa listen to me!”

You put both your hands around her face is a soft manner. She looks at you with tears.

“Elsa you’re not a monster. Please don’t think that way.”

 

You kiss her. She is in shock.

“I love you. Trust me. I’ll be fine.”

She stares at you for a moment.

 

“His determination is still there. His will. He is so certain that nothing will happen. How can he be so calm?” she thinks.

 

“(Y/N)…” She whispers.

“If you say anything bad, I swear I will kiss you again and make you start over.”

Elsa smiles and blushes.

“Monster.”

You kiss her and she kisses back.

 

“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

She giggles. “Maybe.”

The pain in your chest starts to fade. The white on your hair melts off you.

 

“(Y/N), your–“

“I told you before. The cold never bothered me much.”

She smiles and snuggles underneath your arm.

 

You actually had no idea what happened. You truly thought she froze your heart, but it melted away. Whether that was you or something she did, you’ll never know.

 

You both stand up and face everyone.

“Well, I think she won,” you smile.

Everyone’s worried look slowly fades away. You seem perfectly fine. Even Rain had no idea how your heart wasn’t frozen.

 

“You trained her well, Rain,” you compliment.

He blushes. “Thank you. Now, I must take my leave for a time.”

“Wait, why?” You ask.

 

Rain walks up to you and leans into your ear.

“Thank you for showing me friendship. Thank you for everything.”

He winks at you then begins to walk away.

 

You are baffled at what just happened. Words couldn’t describe anything for you. You wanted to call Rain back. Offer him something for what he has done for Elsa. But he simply walks away and you let him.

 

“So… Anyone want to get chocolate?” Anna asks, lightening the mood.

Everyone one agrees and begins to walk to Elsa’s car. You stop for a moment. You feel a slight pain in your chest. It’s the same as earlier.

 

“I can’t let Elsa know… I’ll figure this out,” you think.

“ _We’ll_ figure this out,” Shadow corrects.

You snicker. Elsa looks over at you. You look back, keeping a smile on your face.

 

She pulls herself closer to you. Comfortable and calm – at least for the most part. Elsa isn’t certain whether you are truly fine or not. But you are doing well, and there is no obvious sign of freezing anymore. She would never have forgiven herself if she killed you.

 

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Everyone enjoys themselves at the chocolate store. You bought Elsa the best chocolate in the store with your own money. Anna and Rapunzel were jealous. Kristoff and Eugene were clueless to the reason their girlfriends were upset. You and Elsa laughed at this.

 

Kristoff informed you that he needed to go home. You offered to come with him and meet up with Elsa and Anna later since they had to take Rapunzel and Eugene to the airport for their flight home.

 

You and Kristoff walk on the sidewalk, kicking rocks and making jokes.

“Jesus Kristoff, where’d you hear that one?” You laugh.

“Eugene told it to me. He has quite the bank of jokes.”

 

You shake your head and keep walking.

“(Y/N), are you really feeling okay?”

“What do you mean?”

 

“Elsa hit you with quite the blast. It didn’t look comfortable for you. Plus, with that whole freezing thing…”

You sigh. “Kristoff I…”

He stops and stares at you. “What?”

 

“I think I’m still frozen. I can feel a pain in the exact same spot. It’s weaker, but it’s there.”

His eyes widen. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Did you see Elsa’s reaction? She would have locked herself away if I said anything.”  


Kristoff’s face glooms over. He has no idea what to say. But then he comes up with an idea.

“Pabbie! Pabbie might know what to do!”

“How? He’s a fortune teller.”

“He’s more than a fortune teller. You should know that,” Kristoff smirks.

 

You accept it.

“Wanna race there?”

“You’re on!”

 

You both get in a running position then start sprinting to Kristoff’s house. You win, but he was always close behind you. You enter the house and the usual wave of questions come swarming at you.

 

Kristoff leads you to Pabbie. He remains in the room this time.

“Kristoff, (Y/N). How can I help you two?”

“Feel (Y/N), Pabbie. He needs it.”

 

You back up for a second. “Whoa, whoa. Can we phrase that differently?”

Kristoff smirks and shakes his head. Pabbie remains quite calm. You sit down so Pabbie can place his hand on your head. He searches your mind then lets go.

 

“Your heart…” He begins.

“I know. How can I fix it?”

Pabbie sighs. “I truly don’t know. A frozen heart… It’s a difficult matter.”

 

Both yours and Kristoff’s faces drop. Even Pabbie doesn’t know. You try to think. You have no idea what to do. To thaw a frozen heart is not like a math equation or a science experiment. This is your own heart. What should you do? Drink some hot water? Actually…

 

“So he’s dead…” Kristoff sighs.

“No… Maybe not. He may yet survive. May I talk to your friend in private?”

Kristoff accepts his request and leaves the room.

 

“From what I saw you dismissed much of the ice already.”

“Yes,” you answer. “I have no idea how. It just happened.”

“You and Elsa had a moment?” He reminds you.

You think back and remember that.

 

“Yes, and..?”

“Maybe you just need another moment like that. It may be true love.”

“True love?” You raise your brow.

“Yes, it is.”

 

You think for a minute then proceed to leave.

“I would prepare yourself, (Y/N). I sense danger incoming.”

You look at him as if he’s speaking nonsense, then leave the room.

 

Kristoff is eating some cookies.

“Didn’t we just have chocolate?”

“We ran. Don’t judge.”

You both laugh.

 

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Elsa, Anna, Rapunzel and Eugene are driving to the airport. They are chatting up a storm as they enjoy the ride. Elsa keeps most her attention on the road and you.

 

“So Elsa, you really got a handle of your powers. What kind of training did you do with… Rain? I believe his name was,” Anna asked.

Elsa snapped back into reality. “Oh nothing special. He showed me how properly control my powers. Methods to calm down.”

 

“That can’t be it. I mean, you beat (Y/N). That takes some special training,” Eugene says.

Elsa stays silent for a moment.

“Rain said I was naturally in-tune with my powers, so it was easy for me to learn. But I promised him not to talk about the training,”

 

“So did you enjoy yourselves while you were here?” Elsa asks, obviously directing the question to Rapunzel and Eugene.

They look at each other and nod.

“We had a great time. It was nice to meet (Y/N) and Kristoff. They’re cool guys,” Eugene says.

 

Rapunzel nods in agreement. “You picked up some good guys. They’re perfect for each of you.”

Elsa smirks at the comment. Anna giggles.

“I bet they work hard to. Please you, I mean. You guys are like royalty,” Eugene jokes.

“(Y/N) once called me a queen,” Elsa laughs.

 

“Guess that makes me a princess,” Anna giggles.

“Queen Elsa and Princess Anna. Perfect!” Rapunzel laughs.

 

The car continues to be filled with joy. The separation of the cousins wasn’t sad or gloomy. It was quite happy. They reached the airport. Anna and Elsa stayed with Rapunzel and Eugene until they got onto the flight. They shared hugs and chocolate. Eugene made a joke about it but quickly shut his mouth. The girls might hit him.

 

Anna and Elsa get back into the car. Before Elsa can start the car she starts crying.

“Elsa, what’s wrong?” Anna exclaims.

“What if I killed (Y/N)?”

Anna isn’t shocked. She knew Elsa was going to crack sooner or later.

 

“Elsa, (Y/N) is fine. You saw him.”

“But what I did to him…”

“He’s taken way worse to protect all of us. Besides, did you see the happiness in his eyes?”

Elsa is confused and looks at Anna. “What do you mean?”

 

Anna smiled. “When he looked at you, he looked so proud. He always wanted you to be free from restraint. Free from the fear you placed around yourself. When you used your powers so effectively and so smoothly, I could just tell that he was happy. You may have caused him pain, but it made him and you stronger! Elsa, he loves you. He truly does, no matter what. He’s told me before.”

 

Elsa smiles, tears still rolling down her face. She hugs her sister.

“Thank you, Anna.”

“Any time,” Anna smiles.

 

Elsa regains her composure and starts the car. She drives out of the airport and makes her way home.

“Hey Anna, could you grab my phone and text (Y/N) what he’s up to?”

“Of course,” Anna says as she grabs Elsa’s phone.

 

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“How are you so good at this game?” Kristoff complains in defeat.

“It’s a fighting game, Kristoff… Have you not seen me fight?” You joke.

He looks at you for a second then tilts his head in defeat. “Yeah, but… True.”

 

He turns the gaming system off.

“I hate to say it, but you have to skedaddle. I have homework to do.”

“Didn’t you finish it with me?”

“Dude, it was thirty one questions. I only got to fifteen.”

 

You shrug then get up to leave. You hear a sound but ignore it.

“That was your phone, (Y/N),” Kristoff reminds you.

“Oh crap, that’s right. I’m really not used to these.”

 

Kristoff chuckles and walks you to the door. He waves goodbye then closes it.

You check your phone.

“(Y/N), what’re you up to?”

It was from Elsa.

“Just hanging out. Probably going to hang out at the field. Why?”

You put the phone in your pocket and make your way to the field. Half way there you get a text back.

“Ok, mind if I join you?”

“Of course not,” You respond.

 

“We haven’t been here in… well a long time. Plus when we were here together she just hid. Silly Elsa,” you joke.

 

You make it to the field and lie down. You stare up at the clouds. It’s peaceful. There aren’t enough clouds to block out the sun, but enough for you to stare at. You can hear birds chirping and squirrels running through some trees.

 

You feel at peace. But something is bugging you. You get the feeling someone is close. Someone is near.

“Please don’t be an elemental user,” you hope.

You roll a little onto your shoulders then push yourself onto your feet. Slick and easy.

 

You survey the area and see a man standing behind you. You start to walk towards him but you see his face. You stop dead in your tracks. Your eyes wide.

“Da- Dan?” You stutter, “But you…”

 

“I died? No. I survived, barely. No thanks to you.”

You observe him. He has a knife in his hand.

You shake your head. “Dan, no. I can guess what you’re going to do with that. Just don’t.”

“Why? This is what we all want.”

 

“How would you know what everyone wants?” You ask.

“This is what my sister would want.”

“Dan… Kat wouldn’t want this.”

 

“Know what she did want? She wanted your help! But what did you do?”

“Shut up!” You yell.

Dan smiles. “Remembering it all?”

You stare Dan down. “I think about what happened every day. There is not an hour that goes by where I don’t think of what I could have done.”

 

Dan’s will hasn’t altered. You can tell he still wants you dead. You prepare yourself that you may need to act.

“Dan you know you can’t take me, even with a knife.”

“I owe it to my sister. My parents. I owe it to everyone to end your life.”

 

Dan readies himself. You sigh then get into a lousy stance. He rushes at you. You move to the side and trip him.

“Dan, you’re not in you right mind.”

“And you were?”

 

You look at the ground, remembering. Dan gets back up and attacks you. You catch his stab then swing him away. He rolls on the ground.

“How did you even find me?” You ask.

 

He mischievously grins.

“I grabbed the paper on another emotionless day. Imagine my surprise when I see you on stage playing guitar and singing. It said you were here, in Arendelle. I came to your school but you weren’t there. Now how perfect was it that you came to me. In this field.”

 

He stands up and plays with the knife.

“To see you have new friends… Having fun... And this Elsa? Are you going to use her like Kat? Just let her die when you are bored?”

“No! I love Elsa!”

“And you didn’t love Kat?” He angrily yells.

 

“I did, Dan. I did love Kat.”

“Yet here we are. But where is she? Gone. That’s where.”

 

Dan rushes back at you. He goes to jab you but you execute a set of moves to disarm him and push him back. He regains his bearings then grabs the knife. He continues rushing at you no matter how many times you stop him.

 

“Dan, this won’t end well! You think I wanted that to happen? You think I wanted people to die? No!”

“Then why’d you do it, (Y/N)?” Dan spews.

“Dan… I didn’t do anything. Listen… think back to the good times! Remember when we all went to the haunted house?”

 

Dan pauses for a moment, thinking.

“Remember we all went in and I pretended to be captured. I covered myself in red paint and fell from a vantage point,” you chuckle.

“Kat ran up to you, almost in tears… Kat…”

 

You see that it didn’t work at all. It just came back to Kat.

“No matter what we may have done in the past… You have sins to be punished for.”

He rushes at you with the knife again. There is anger surging in his eyes. He isn’t the man you once knew.

 

“We all trusted you! We all cared about you, and what did you do?” Dan accuses.

“Well, what did you do? You all blamed me for something I didn’t do!” You retort.

“And that justifies your actions?”

“Nothing can justify my actions. Nothing can change what has happened! It’s in the past, it’s irreversible! We have to get past it!”

 

Dan stops for a second. You can see more rage build up in his eyes.

“Nobody has gotten past it. Our town still remembers the events of that day. My parents have become bleak shadows of what they used to be! They don’t work. They don’t eat. I have to make the money to feed them! You have no idea what you did to everyone!”

 

You close your eyes and try to divert your mind from picturing his parents.

“It’s not just my family though, it’s all our friends families. You destroyed everything in our town! You stripped it of life and left! Now you are here, having fun and making friends while we all suffer because of you! Now do you see why you must die?”

 

“Dan… I’m sorry.”

He attempts to slice you but you grab his hand. You move his wrist towards him. His knife punctures his heart. He wobbles backwards.

 

“Wasn’t enough to kill Kat, huh?  You had to kill me too?”

“You were already dead Dan. You’re not who you were anymore,” you sadly accept.

He coughs up blood and smiles. “Neither are you. Murderer.”

 

His body goes limp and falls to the ground. He’s gone. You stare at his corpse for a moment before creating a burial for him. You find a spot in the ground, away from where you usually sit. You feel the ground. There. You deliver a solid punch to the ground. The earth shakes. You stand up, hoping that worked. You kick some of the soil around where you hit and it moved rather easily.

 

You made a grave site for him, large and deep enough for his body. You place him in there.

“Rest in peace, old friend. May you be remembered as the man I knew… And not the one I forced you to be.”

You push the soil over his body. It doesn’t look proper compared to the rest of the field. It sticks out like a sore thumb.

 

As you pay your respects a single tear falls. Your best friend for years is dead once more. You had to watch him die twice. You can’t take it. You move to your usual spot. Elsa shows up not long after.

 

“Hey (Y/N),” you smile at her. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, Elsa. I’m fine. Just got stuff on my mind.”

She gives you a sarcastic look.

 

“What?”

“You know I am here for you. I’m here when you need to talk.”

“I know.”

“No you don’t,” she says. “You try to take it all in. Try to keep it all to yourself. I love you. I want to help you carry your burdens.”

 

You smile at her. She smiles back. You both lay down on the grass and snuggle.

“I know you do, Elsa. I know you do.”

“And,” she stretches the word.

You think for a moment. “I love you too?”

“I don’t know, do you?” She sarcastically states.

 

“Well, I could show you if you need a reminder,” you play along.

“I do. I really do,” she smiles.

You kiss her. She embraces you.

 

As much as she is enjoying the moment she isn’t. She wanted you to open up a little, but you didn’t. You remained ever elusive.

 

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Neither of you return for some time. You stay in the same position for hours until both your phones go off. Anna is urging you both you come home. Gerda and Kai are making a fuss. You both groan and get up. Elsa asks if you can drive for her. You accept.

 

It takes you little time to get back. Elsa falls asleep on the way. It makes sense – she slept while the two of you cuddled. You dosed off for a little bit too. You pull into the drive way and park the car. You grab Elsa and carry her inside.

 

Anna sees this and smiles. You smile back. You bring Elsa to her room and lay her there. You tuck her in and kiss her goodnight. You make your way downstairs and sit with Anna. She is watching her “show”.

 

You are trying to make sense of what you’re watching, but got nothing.

“Can we watch cartoons or something?

“No,” she bluntly states.

“Some action movie? A comedy?”

“No.”

 

She is shooting down everything you ask for.

“So which one are you?” Anna asks.

“Which one am I what,” you somehow say.

“Well, in a relationship there is always one person who thinks they don’t deserve the other. Is that you or Elsa?”

 

“Me, no doubt.”

Anna giggles. “Elsa said that too.”

“That was totally a trick question,” you point out.

 

You both watch Anna’s show. It doesn’t appeal to you but you stick with it. You eventually grab some food and head to bed.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You slowly arise from your sleep. You hear Anna and Olaf arguing over the TV. They’re being so loud that you can hear them from your room, which is the farthest down the hall. You imagine Elsa is awake, as her room is closer to the living room then yours. You stretch before lifting yourself up.

 

You plant your feet on the ground, then tumble a little bit. You drop to one knee and grab your heart. It’s still in pain. You thought the night you spent with Elsa was the same thing as before. You assumed your heart would be better.

 

“Damn… This is more intense than before. Not as bad as the initial one, but still. I hope my hair isn’t changing.”

You find the mirror in you room and look at it. No white hair.

“That’s good. But it won’t stay that way forever.”

 

You take a shower and head downstairs. Anna, Elsa and Olaf are sitting on the couch. Olaf is sitting on his own while Anna and Elsa sit together. You notice Anna has ice bindings around her hands. You laugh at this. Everyone looks at you.

 

You wave. “Hey, Anna.”

She gives you an evil glare which only makes you laugh more. Elsa joins you in laughing when she notices what you’re doing. Olaf remains oblivious to it.

 

“(Y/N)!” he cheers as he runs up the stairs to hug you.

“Good to see you Olaf! You’ve been gone for some time.”

“Yeah! With a friend!” He bounces.

“That’s awesome!”

 

Olaf bounces some more then runs into his room.

“What a ball of energy,” you smile.

You sit down with Anna and Elsa.

“So… What happened?”

 

Anna and Elsa looked at each other.

“Elsa is evil.”

“Anna is evil.”

 

You sigh. “Ok, so we got the two evil sisters. Now why does one have ice handcuffs?”

“Elsa put them on me,” Anna states.

Elsa grins a little.

 

You look down at your own ice accessory. You forgot it was there. It is obviously strong, as you just showered with it on and it didn’t melt from the heat.

 

“Elsa. Why did you put handcuffs on Anna?”

“She thinks Tracey is the nice one.”

You are lost. “Who’s Tracey?”

 

Anna and Elsa start talking at the same time. From what you piece together, they are arguing over their “show”. Anna thinks Tracey is the nice one while Elsa thinks she is deceitful.

 

You shake your head and smile.

“You’re both little girls sometimes.”

They both look at you and back at each other. Elsa nods and melts the handcuffs. They both jump on you.

 

“Hey, hey, hey!” You cry out.

They both lock you down and start hitting you with pillows. You’re all laughing. Anna hits you right in the face with the pillow. She laughs so much she falls over.

 

Elsa fully mounts you and smiles.

“Did that evil sister hurt you,” she says in a melodramatic way.

“Yes, she did. You must be the good sister.”

“Oh am I,” she smiles.

 

She starts kissing you passionately. Anna lifts herself back up, sees what Elsa is doing, then brakes down into giggling. Elsa remembers that Anna is right there and releases you. Elsa is blushing uncontrollably.

 

“I wasn’t in view for three seconds, guys,” Anna grins.

“Well…” You are about to make an argument about her and Hans, but figure that is a bad idea.

 

Olaf comes back downstairs, interrupting.

“Can you all come to the park with me?”

You all look at each other.

 

“Sure, why not,” you confirm.

Olaf jumps around then goes to the kitchen. You feel your phone ringing. You pick it up.

 

“Hello?”

“(Y/N)? It’s Kristoff.”

“Oh hey Kristoff, what’s up?”

“I need your help. I’m doing some community service and our guitarist is sick. Can you fill in for him?”

 

You look over at Anna and Elsa. They are staring back at you.

“Yeah, no problem Kristoff. Text me where it is and I’ll be right there.”

“Thanks!”

 

You hang up.

“Kristoff needs me for some band thing. I’m sorry girls, I have to go.”

“We understand. Say hi to Kristoff for me,” Anna requests.

 

You kiss Elsa before making your way there.

 

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Kristoff is practicing some drumming. You can hear him from a decent distance away.

“Sheesh, how loud is my guitar going to be?” You mumble.

 

Kristoff sees you and waves for you. You jog up to him.

“Heh, you’re going to love my news.”

You give him a sarcastic look. “Try me.”

“The singer is gone too. Looks like the Ice Harvesters are going to play.”

 

“That name is still horrible.”

“I know, but you never changed it.”

You shrug in acceptance. He gives you your guitar which he brought for you.

 

“What’re we going to play?” You ask.

“Well, we never got to play your song. So how about that?”

You smile. “Awesome!”

 

It takes you some time to set up but eventually you get the concert rolling. The sound of your music brings people in from all over Arendelle. You play way more songs than you both meant to. You kept getting requests and playing those songs. The concert lasted almost the entire day.

 

You had to end it. Kristoff could barely move his arms and your fingers and voice were on the verge of collapse. You both pack your stuff up. Kristoff pays a guy to bring the musical equipment back to his house.

 

You pull out your phone and see a text from Elsa.

“You and Kristoff need to come to dinner today. Wash up and dress well. We have some… Unexpected visitors. Please hurry.”

 

You show the text to Kristoff. You both nod and rush to his house to change. You buy a suit on the way, which looks nice on you.

 

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You both pull into the drive way. There is an extra car in the parking lot.

“The visitors, I guess.” You think.

You both get out of the car. You both look really good in the suits. Kristoff cleaned up his hair. You did too.

 

You both enter the house. There are six people standing in front of you. They seem to have been awaiting you. Gerda and Kai are on either side of the four. Elsa and Anna – who are dressed superbly – are on either side of the next two.

 

You study the two in the middle. A man and a women. You have seen their faces before, but you can’t put your finger on who they are.

 

“(Y/N)!” Shadow practically yells.

“What?” You say in your mind.

“Carnage is going completely ape shit. I need your help. Give me some of your mind.”

“What?”

“Just focus on me a little. It’ll help, trust me.”

 

You don’t exactly know what he’s talking about but you begin to think of Shadow. You begin to think of him getting stronger. You try to keep this up. Your arm begins hurting. It’s the familiar pain of Carnage. It made sense it was there if Shadow said he was acting up. You try to ignore the pain completely. You can’t let it show.

 

“(Y/N), Kristoff. I would like to introduce you…” Anna starts.

“To our parents,” Elsa finishes.

 


	15. Duty and Pleasure

**Chapter 15: Duty and Pleasure**

 

Your eyes widen at the news. You were told that their parents were dead. You can tell by the look on everyone’s face that it was a surprise to them too. Anna and Elsa’s parents scan you both.

 

“What are your names?” The father asks.

“My name is (Y/N), sir,” you adamantly state.

“Kristoff is mine,” Kristoff follows.

 

They keep their eyes on the two of you, their faces ever stern. You feel as if they are just staring at you. As if they are a black hole and you’re being devoured by it. You don’t know why, but you are completely uneasy. The fact that Carnage is acting up doesn’t help.

 

“My name is Adgar,” the father says.

“My name is Idun,” the mother says.

 

Neither you nor Kristoff have any idea what to do. You look at Elsa. She seems to be worried. She is staring at you, pleading for your aid. She seems to be as lost as you are. No doubt Anna giving the same face to Kristoff.

 

“Well, I think we should eat. Gerda, Kai. Lead our guests to the kitchen,” Adgar commands.

Gerda and Kai walk up to you and show you to the kitchen, even though you both know where it is.

 

“Be careful you two. They were quite displeased with the news that their daughters have boyfriends. Be on your best behavior,” Gerda warns.

You both nod. Kristoff gulps in fear. You chuckle and nudge him. He looks to you and you give him a comforting stare.

 

“We’ll be fine, Kristoff. I promise,” you reassure.

He looks at you then smiles. It reminds you of the smile Elsa gives you. A look of trust.

“Yeah… I know. This is just such a surprise and,” he stretches his collar. “I hate suits.”

You smile a little bit. You could’ve guessed that.

 

You and Kristoff are placed at the opposite end of the table to the family. Anna and Elsa are still worried. You give them your signature smile. They both take a breath to try to calm down. Adgar and Idun’s faces remain ever regel. You see where Elsa got it from.

 

Gerda and Kai set the table and lay out the food for everyone. They gather the plates – fill them – then hand them out to everyone. Elsa and Anna continue to look less than pleased. You know this is a huge surprise, but you would have thought they would be happier to know their parents are alive.

 

The meal starts and Kristoff begins digging in. You give him a nudge. He looks up and sees small bowls of water being given. He apologizes and cleans his hands. You clean yours as well. This is the first time you felt on-edge at this house. Plus you have the pain from Carnage to deal with and the freezing heart. Things are just stacking up on you.

 

No matter what, you keep yourself tidy and presentable. You have to make a good impression. You both have to.

 

“So (Y/N),” Idun begins. “How did you meet my daughters?”

“Class, ma’am. We met during school.”

Idun nods.

“Is this some kind of interview? Wait, of course it is,” you think.

 

“So which daughter are you seeing, Kristoff?” Adgar asks, taking a bite of his meal.

“A… Anna, sir,” Kristoff stutters.

Anna’s face cringes a little bit. She knows Kristoff isn’t good with all the formalities but here he is, being forced into it with no warning at all. She felt so bad about it.

 

“I assume that means you are seeing Elsa?” Adgar concurs, looking at you.

“That I am, sir.”

Elsa looks at you and smiles. You wink at her. Adgar clears his throat. You return your attention to him.

 

“Elsa told me you play an instrument. What do you play?” Idun asks, her voice slightly softer.

“I play guitar and I can sing a little,” you respond.

“I play the drums for him,” Kristoff interrupts.

 

Adgar stares Kristoff down. Kristoff sinks into his chair and continues eating.

“Only a little? The girls say you are quite good,” Idun continues.

“Well, I’m nothing compared to them,” you compliment.

 

You look over at Elsa. She is staring at her food, taking bites every so often. She sees you looking at her. You are about to talk to her but you are interrupted.

“You two seem nervous. Is something bothering you?” Adgar asks.

 

You look at Kristoff. He is obviously hoping you’ll answer.

“No. Nothing is bothering us. We just didn’t expect this. We were told you were both… well-“

“Dead?” Adgar finishes.

You nod.

 

“Well, I assure you we aren’t. It was just an unfortunate incident at work that left us in a coma.”

You nod in understanding.

“That seems like a reason that needs more explanation…” You think.

 

The rest of the night went horribly. Kristoff kept tripping over his words, mumbling, and was overall nervous. Everyone could see it. You tried to make up for it, but it was hard. You had no idea what to talk to them about. They were so proper and proud. Should you talk about sports? Fishing? You had nothing to go on and you didn’t want to make a mistake by bringing up the wrong topic.

 

At one point your arm and heart became too much and you cringed in pain. Adgar and Idun picked up on it instantly and questioned you on it. You swore it was just an upset stomach. The main concern was for Anna and Elsa. They were so quiet the entire time. They only spoke when their parents asked them a question. You and Kristoff attempted to talk to them but the parents kept cutting you off.

 

But dinner had ended. You and Kristoff offer to help with the dishes but Idun doesn’t allow it.

“Well, I would appreciate if you two went home now,” Adgar advised.

“Well, sir, I live here. So I’m technically home.”

 

His face turns sour. “When did this transpire?”

“We adopted him, sir. Since everyone enjoyed his company we let him stay here,” Kai answered for you.

“So you were this close to Elsa this entire time? Just a few doors away. The urge must have been substantial.”

 

Elsa blushes and sinks into her seat. Anna tries to get Elsa’s eyes but they won’t move away from the food. You try to come up with an answer.

“I suppose so, sir. But I assure you I kept to my own room.”

 

He observes you for a moment. “Well, I’m sorry but I must ask you to leave for a short while. Let us have a family talk. Since you adopted him I’m sure he could stay with you two tonight?”

 

Gerda and Kai nod, but you can tell they are less than pleased. You nudge Kristoff to grab his attention and you both leave the house. You give Elsa one quick glance before you leave the room. It’s a glance of happiness and hope. You told her to stay strong and keep calm with your eyes. She smiled back at you. You both get in Kristoff’s car and drive away.

 

The Andersons stayed at the table. Adgar patted his mouth with a napkin.

“Interesting choice of partners, ladies.”

The sisters stay quiet. Their hands are shaking with anxiety. They are worried that their parents will just lock them up and never let them see the men they love.

 

Adgar turns to Anna.

“Kristoff is acceptable for you. You can keep seeing him.”

“Th- thank you,” Anna said quietly.

 

“Well, that was a nice dinner. We shall be in our rooms. Gerda, Kai. Please clean this up.”

The parents begin to leave but Elsa stops them.

“What about (Y/N)?”

Adgar and Idun share a look then turn to Elsa.

 Adgar sighs. “We don’t think he is good enough for you. We forbid you to see him. We want his things gone within two days.”

 

Elsa’s heart dropped right there. She couldn’t believe what she just heard. Her eyes slowly lower to the floor. They then fill with tears. Anna is confused as well. Even Gerda and Kai are shocked.

 

“Wait, what?” Anna snarls. “I’m sorry, but (Y/N) had much better mannerisms than Kristoff. Not that I want you to change your mind about him, but why does Kristoff get to stay but (Y/N) has to go? He’s one of the nicest guys in the world! Even Rapunzel liked him!”

 

“We don’t trust that boy. There is something about his eyes. He isn’t to be trusted,” Idun explains.

 

“No…” Elsa whispers, everyone turns towards her. “No! I will see him if I want to! I love hi-“

Adgar slaps Elsa hard, cut her cheek slightly which drew blood. The room goes dead silent. Everyone is completely awe-struck. Everyone except Adgar and Idun.

 

Elsa looks up at her father with such sadness and horror in her eyes. She runs to her room, crying. Anna is about to follow her but is stopped by her parents.

“We forbid you from seeing him as well. That boy will be forgotten by this family.”

Anna gives a menacing look then goes to follow her sister.

 

Elsa’s door is slightly open. Her crying fills the entire hallway. Anna quietly walks up to Elsa’s door and peeks in. Elsa is staring at the ice sculpture she made of you. It wasn’t the one Anna remembered, the one where you were half on the couch. It was one of you standing with your guitar and having a blast. Anna feels Elsa’s pain and understands that she needs some time. Anna closes the door and walks to her room. She dials Kristoff’s number on the way.

 

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Kristoff drives you both away from the Anderson residence. He is freaking out. You are trying to keep him calm.

“You did fine Kristoff. You have a charm to you.”

“I thought they were dead. I was shaking so much,” he rambles.

 

You try to put your arm on Kristoff’s shoulder but it’s numb. At least one pain is gone.

“Kristoff, pull over to this field. It is a nice place to relax… I think we both need a minute.”

Kristoff nods and pulls over. You both exit the car.

 

Kristoff takes his blazer off and tosses it onto his seat. He walks down to meet you and starts holding his head.

“Dude, we’re so screwed. They hated us!”

“Kristoff. Calm. Down. Everything will be fine.”

 

Kristoff’s phone went off. He grabs it and answers. He talks for a moment then gives our location. He hangs up.

“That was Anna. She needs to see us. See! We messed up!”

“Kristoff!” You yell. “Just be calm. We’ll see what Anna has to say.”

 

It feels like an eternity went by. Just sitting there waiting. This field is usually calming and makes the time fly. But right now, it’s an obstacle.

 

Anna’s car pulls up and she gets out. She runs down to see you two.

“So, what’s the verdict?” You ask.

She shakes her head. “Kristoff, you’re fine. My parents are fine with our relationship.”

 

“Oh thank god. Wait, what did they say about (Y/N)?” Kristoff inquires.

Anna huffs. “They don’t want us to have anything to do with you, (Y/N).”

The news shocks both of you.

 

“WHAT? What did I do?” You scream.

“I have no idea. Even I was shocked that Kristoff was picked over you. No offense sweetie.”

“None taken,” Kristoff mutters. “Man, I can only imagine what Elsa is feeling.”

“Bad. Very bad. Her room was turning to ice when I left.”

 

The word ice is so convenient. As soon as Anna says it you feel a heavy pain from your heart. You grasp it then fall to one knee. Kristoff rushes to your side and lifts you up.

“You alright?”

“Yeah… It’s getting more intense.”

 

Anna is confused until she looks at your hair. Some white streaks appear in it. Her eyes widen.

“I thought she didn’t freeze you!” Anna states.

“I thought that too… I was wrong,” you inform her.

 

Anna doesn’t know what to think anymore. Too much has happened in one night. It’s not right. It’s not fair. You did nothing wrong and here you are being restricted from Elsa and dying from something you can’t fight. Anna assumes that must bother you. She’s seen you fight so hard and take so much pain, but you can’t do anything to a frozen heart.

 

“Listen, I’ll gather your things and bring them tomorrow. You sleep at Kristoff’s place. I’ll tell Gerda and Kai so they don’t worry,” Anna plans.

Kristoff nods at the idea. He puts you on his shoulder and walks to the car.

“I can walk, Kristoff…”

“Shut up and go with it,” he chuckles.

 

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“When can I kill (Y/N)?” Hans impatiently asks. “I want to fight that creature inside him.”

Alec lets out a sigh. “You wouldn’t even touch him at the state you’re in right now.”

Alec gets some news on his tablet.

“However… That has just changed.”

 

Hans looks over at his brother with an intrigued face.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean we just got the blood sample we needed. Hans, you’re going to have the power to kill him.”

Hans smirks. “And Elsa? What of the Ice Queen?”

 

Alec shrugs. “Do with her what you will. But the process will take a few days.”

“I can wait.”

Alec clicks some buttons on his tablet. “Head down to the lab. They’ll start the process.”

 

Hans nods and marches out the door. Alec huffs and tosses his tablet onto the nearby table. He slides his hands across his face then strolls over to the window. He admires the view of the nearby mountain.

 

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The next day

 

You got a text from Elsa to meet her before you get to class. You are eager to see her. You barely slept last night. All you could think about was Elsa and her parents. You couldn’t think of anything you did to make them hate you. You tried to be on your very best behavior but it wasn’t enough for them.

 

You find her outside, near one of the doors. She sees you and embraces you. You kiss her back.

She pulls away for a moment then connects her forehead with yours.

“I’m so sorry for last night. They just came home and asked what we were doing. When Anna told them that we had boyfriends they… You lost your home (Y/N).” She says, letting some tears drop.

 

“I’ve lost my home before Elsa. I’m not losing it again.”

You stroke her check and notice the cut.

“What happened?”

“My… my dad…” She couldn’t finish the sentence, but you got the meaning.

 

Your fists tightened at the thought of someone hitting her. But the fact that it was her father, someone who was supposed to protect and love her…

 

“Elsa. I’m not leaving you no matter what your parents say. As long as you are willing to still see me,” you state.

Elsa looks into your eyes, tears still there. That conviction you hold still remains.

“I’m not leaving you anytime soon, (Y/N),” Elsa declares.

 

You smile and kiss her. She proceeds to class and you fall behind on purpose. You head to the bathroom and look at yourself. There is more white hair then before. You’re truly surprised Elsa didn’t notice.

 

“I suppose she was too pre-occupied… I don’t want her to know.”

You let out a sigh.

 

You proceed to your first class but the trip was horrible. Almost every one you passed noticed the strands of white hair. You could hear the whispers. None of them were bad whispers, but it was just a reminder of your inevitable death. You finally arrive to your class where you find the teacher is in the middle of the lesson. You knock on the door and urge him to meet you. He dismisses himself for a moment and has a small audience with you.

 

“Mr. (Y/N),” he pauses for a moment, studying you. “Why is some of your hair white? Are you dying it?”

“That’s sort of what I wanted to talk about. Please don’t mention it, and if you could tell the other teachers the same thing I would appreciate it.”

 

Mr. Key nods his head in acceptance and leads you into the class. You quickly take your seat and try to pay attention. You try to avoid the stare of both Elsa and Anna. Too much is floating in your head right now. There is your heart, Elsa’s parents, Carnage and even the appearance of Dan.

 

So much has happened lately. Who knows what more could come? You always seem to attract trouble. You breathe slowly and into your hands – which are over your mouth. You don’t want anyone to notice the frost that is your breath.

 

“How long can I keep this up?” You think. “This is too rapid. I won’t be able to hide it for much longer. Who knows how much longer I have until I actually die. Maybe I should tell Elsa. I haven’t told her so much… I truly feel bad about that. She’s shared so much with me and I haven’t told her anywhere near enough.”

 

You huff.

 

“Maybe I’m just a bad boyfriend. Maybe this relationship is just passion that’ll die off in a month or so. Even Kristoff and Anna share almost no secrets between them. They have no restraint from each other where I have one with Elsa… and there’s nobody to blame but myself.”

 

You are lost in thought the entire class. The bell rings and everyone clears out. Everyone except you. You are still staring at the ground, thinking. Mr. Key shakes you to get your attention.

“Class is over. Head to your next class.”

 

You nod then make your way to science. Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff are sitting together. They are watching the door, waiting for you to arrive. Before you go to class you run to your locker and grab a backup hoodie you leave there, just in case. You slide it on you and put up the hood, so as to hide your hair.

 

You get to class right before it starts. Mr. Baxter can’t say anything against you since you’re here. You sit with your friends and slouch into your chair. They can all feel your uneasiness, even when you reassure them that there’s nothing wrong.

 

Elsa’s mood goes down with yours. She hates that you aren’t talking to her. That you aren’t sharing. She wants to know what’s wrong but you’re keeping her out. She becomes determined.

 

“I’ll find out what’s floating around in that head of yours,” Elsa thinks.

 

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The day was rather dull. You stayed silent for the most part. When school ended you went off on your own. All your friends were worried. You spent your entire day at the field in a bush. You fell asleep there and weren’t sure whether you’d wake up or not. But you desperately needed the rest.

 

Kristoff went to Anna and Elsa’s house. They all hung out in Anna’s room.

“Man… today was so weird,” Kristoff sighs.

“It was (Y/N). He was so silent. So sad. It affected us all,” Elsa stated.

 

Anna tries to piece everything together, but there are too many missing links.

“Hey Elsa, how did you thaw (Y/N)’s heart when you hit him?”

Elsa looks at Anna. “I don’t know. I never knew, it just happened. Why?”

“No reason.”

 

Kristoff stares at the ground. He can’t imagine what pain you’re going through right now. He knows you would be right here with everyone if you could. You’d make a joke. Make the mood lighter. You’d just do what you normally do to make the day great. He wondered where you were and if you were safe. He clenches his fists.

 

“Guys, do you know why he’s acting this way? Is it me? Did I do something?” Elsa asks.

“What? No way Elsa! You could never do anything bad to him! He’s just got a lot on his mind,” Kristoff responds.

“I wish he’d tell me about it…”

 

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You wake up during the night. You’re sore and uncomfortable, but also surprised you were able to sleep at all. You get yourself on your feet and look around. It’s dark and misty. You start walking to Oaken’s. You think he may lend you a place for the night.

 

While you’re walking you feel horrible. Not just from the pain, but from guilt. You know you screwed today up. You were such a downer. So quiet. No doubt you got your friends worried about you.

 

“Man… I can never get a break,” you mumble.

You continue to walk but your vision goes blurry. You try to focus, but to no avail. You grab your heart and fall to your knees. You’re in a public area, you can’t pass out now!

 

You try to raise yourself but you can’t. Your muscles are giving out. Your breath is pure frost. Your body is going cold. You see your skin start to go blue.

“Damn…”

 

You fall on the ground. Not one minute later someone walks up to your body.

“Little brother, what would you do without me?” He confidently says.

He takes a syringe and jabs it into your arm. He injects the liquid.

“You’re lucky I got this. It’ll keep you alive for a little longer.”

 

Hunter picks you up and throws you on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“You know, you can’t die now. I’m going to need you later. Your friends need you now. You’ve become quite the guy, you know? I’m actually pretty proud. I’m sure our father would be too.”

Hunter keeps talking but is cut off by a man. He is dressed in some sort of private military get up. He recognizes it.

 

“Is  Alec sending people to get me now? I mean he could write a letter,” Hunter jokes.

“We’re here for the boy. Give him to us,” the man demands.

Six other men appear all around Hunter and you. Hunter looks at your skin. It’s reverting back to its original colour. The serum is working.

 

“Alec doesn’t want to take (Y/N) in. Who else could send… Oh… I see,” Hunter mumbles.

Hunter puts you down and faces the first man.

“You have to get through me first.”

 

The man snarls and signals his men to attack. They take out batons and guns. The baton men attack all at once. Hunter dodges every swing without even moving his legs. He grabs one baton and swings it around him, making the man wielding it smack into all his buddies.

 

The guns start firing after. Hunter moves out of the crossfire, causing the bullets to fly all over the place. One man is hit by a bullet and goes down. Hunter laughs at how horrible these guys are then quickly dispatches them all one by one with strong, precise attacks. He’s not messing around. Everyone is on the ground and disarmed. They get up and attack without weapons.

 

Hunter cracks his knuckles and prepares himself. He moves his head slightly to the left to dodge a punch. He pivots his body to dodge the others. He smirks. In what seemed like a blink of an eye, all of the men were down for the count. He stretches his neck.

“You know, I thought they would have sent elementals, but whatever.”

 

Hunter looks over at you. “I’ll get you somewhere safe little brother.”

Hunter picks you up and starts running.

 

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You wake up mid-afternoon in an unfamiliar bed. You burst out of the bed and look around. It’s a dirty room with the bare essentials a bedroom would need. You walk around the room, trying to remember.

“How did I..? I thought I was dead.” You look at your arms then flex your muscles. “I actually feel really good.”

 

In general, you do. But you still feel the pain coming from your heart. It’s a lot less than it was yesterday.

“I guess my heart is still frozen. But how the hell did I get more time? My skin was turning blue…”

 

You leave the room and search for the motel’s owner to ask how much you owe. He tells you it was all paid for already. You thank him for the room then dart to school. There is no way you’ll make it for classes, but you want to see Elsa. You grab your phone – which is surprising to you that it is still there and charged – and start texting Elsa.

 

“Elsa, I’m sorry for yesterday. I was thinking way too much. Can I make it up to you tonight? How about a whole day, just you and me?”

 

You put the phone back in your pocket. As you do you feel another accessory – your wallet! It’s heavier than you remember. You take it out of your pocket and check it. It’s filled with money. It has to have more than three thousand dollars. You don’t know how it got there, but you don’t care. You’re going to use it for tonight. You have some time to prepare.

 

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Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff are trying to enjoy their lunch. They are worried about you. They haven’t heard a peep from you for almost a full twenty four hours. Even with them being concerned, they are still smiling and having a good time.

 

Elsa feels her phone go off. Her face lights up.

“It’s (Y/N)!”

Everyone gathers around and reads the text.

“Looks like you have a date tonight,” Kristoff smiles.

 

“Anna, can you make an excuse for me? Tell our parents I have a project to do at someone’s house or something. I really need this night.”

Anna smiles and hugs her sister. “Of course I will.”

 

Anna and Kristoff return to their side of the table and watch Elsa. She has a huge grin on her face as she re-reads the text over and over. Anna giggles at her sister’s excitement. Elsa doesn’t even realize what her sister is doing. She just stares at the text.

 

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Everything is in motion. You got a text back from Elsa that she will be joining you and all the preparation you have done is set. You want to make up these past few days to Elsa. You doubt she has been in the happiest mood with you acting the way you did.

 

You meet her after school. As soon as she sees you she rushes to you and passionately kisses you. She doesn’t even care about the people around. Some people sneak a peek, but Anna and Kristoff get rid of any loiterers.

 

Elsa breaks off from you.

“I’m sorry for yesterday, Elsa.”

“I guess we’ll see how sorry you are tonight,” she smiles.

You chuckle.

 

You walk over to Anna and Kristoff. You give Anna a hug and Kristoff a high five.

“Sorry about not telling you guys where I was. I fell asleep early and woke up late.”

“Not a problem man. Just good to see you as you are,” Kristoff smiles.

 

“Anyway, we have to get going. I’m on a deadline.”

You grab Elsa’s hand and lead her away. She giggles.

 

“Notice his hair is normal?” Anna mentions.

“That I did,” Kristoff confirms.

 

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You bring Elsa to a museum first. She is a little confused but you tell her to trust you. You make your way to an old part of the museum. There are a bunch of statues all around, but there is also a jungle-like area. You bring her in there.

 

A little picnic set is placed in a clearing. She smiles and looks at you.

“A picnic in the jungle?”

“Well, it’s not the only thing I have planned.”

 

She becomes intrigued by this. You both sit on the blanket and talk. She notices you are much more active and cheery than before. That affect rubs off on her, because she is the same. After some good talking you click a button hidden under the blanket. The animals around you start to move and do their things. Monkeys are jumping along the pre-determined course. Snakes are slithering around. Even a tiger prowled by.

 

“How did you pull this off?” She asks.

You laugh. “You’re going to be asking me that all night.”

 

After an hour you drag her somewhere else. Of course – being the gentleman you are – you carry her everywhere. Normally she wouldn’t let you, but she decided to go with it tonight.

You take her to the arena. It’s cold in there and the ice rink is empty.

 

“You always said we should go skating. So here we are.”

“I thought you said you couldn’t skate?”

“Meh, shouldn’t be too hard. I mean have you seen the other things I can do?”

 

She giggles and makes her way to the rink. The ice isn’t that strong so she creates an extra layer that is super slippery. You walk on it and slip on your back right away. Elsa bursts out laughing.

“Oh sure, laugh at me while I’m down,” you joke.

 

She creates ice skates for the two of you and starts skating around. She is elegant and beautiful while skating. Her every move flows together and looks amazing. You, on the other hand, are having trouble keeping balanced and going fast. You can’t seem to find the right technique for it.

 

“Are you having trouble?” She asked with a raised eyebrow and smile.

“Not a one. Getting this perfectly.”

As soon as you say it you slip and fall again. She laughs once more.

 

She skates beside you and lies down. You both lie on the ice together. She flicks her hand and makes the ice slide you slowly around the rink without you two trying. She starts creating little firework shows with ice. It’s beautiful. It’s also a good thing you paid for the security cameras to be taken down in this rink.

 

You hold her close and feel her warmth. It’s soothing. It’s familiar. It’s where you belong. You belong by her side as she belongs at yours. She looks up at you. She sees your enjoyment at the show she is making. She smiles and holds you tighter.

 

“Well, I do have more things planned you know,” you mention.

She raises her eye brow, “Oh? What is it?”

You smile, “Come on let’s go!”

You get onto your feet but slip and fall again.

“God damn it!” You mumble.

 

You leave the arena and head to the local indoor pool. Elsa is confused and is arguing that she didn’t bring a bathing suit. You assure that she doesn’t need one. You enter a private pool and her eyes widen at the sight. One of the pools if filled with melted chocolate instead of water.

 

“(Y/N)… How did you… This is…”

“Ha, I got you speechless,” you boast.

Elsa stares at this chocolate heaven. She wants to eat it all up. She almost wants to dive into the chocolate pool. The smell of the place is so amazing. She could stay here forever. She looks over at you. You’re taking your clothes off.

 

“What are you doing?”

“Taking a dive. It is melted chocolate, I made sure of it. Just don’t go under it.”

 

You strip down naked, wink at Elsa, then drop into the pool. The chocolate is a warm sensation. It’s sort of weird for you, but it’s also pretty cool.

“Come on Elsa! It’s not like anyone is here.”

 

Elsa is hesitant at first but eventually submits. She strips down and hops into the chocolate. She makes her way to you and pulls you closer to her.

“I could eat you up right now,” she teased.

“Aren’t you sweet,” you joke.

 

You embrace for a little before Elsa starts eating some chocolate. She eats quite the amount before she is full. You don’t believe she is full, but rather trying to be lady like.

“All this chocolate. What will happen to it?”

You dramatically shrug, “Well I may have got a guy to collect it and keep it for you and Anna. That’s quite the amount for you two.

 

Elsa smiles at the thought. You really did make a fantastic night. After a long shower together you make your way back to her house. But there is one more spot to drop off at. You lead her to the field.

 

You have a blanket ready for the two of you.

“Another picnic?” She asks.

You shake your head. “Nope. Something better.”

 

You lie down and snuggle for a moment. When you feel the time is right you let out a whistle. Oaken shoots some fireworks into the air. They’re all beautiful and truly make the moment. The final firework is of you and Elsa.

 

“How did you manage that?” She surprisingly asks.

“I told you once, Oaken can be a miracle worker.”

She chuckles then continues to watch the fireworks. At the end, she is asleep. You found yourself completely satisfied by the night. Everything went the way you wanted. Unfortunately you have no more money. But that doesn’t matter. The smile on Elsa’s face is priceless.

 

While she sleeps she starts snoring really lightly. You think it is absolutely adorable. But you do have to take her home. You don’t want her to get in trouble. You pick her up and carry her all the way home.

 

You reach her house. You almost enter through the front but remember her parents. You scale the house to reach the window to Elsa’s room. You open it then quietly slide your way in so you can place Elsa on her bed and tuck her in. You smile and kiss her on the forehead.

 

The door opens and someone walks in. You have a mini heart attack, but you recognize that it’s Gerda. She pieces together what’s going on. She closes the door behind her.

“Hello (Y/N), you know you shouldn’t be here and you shouldn’t be with Elsa.”

“I know…”

Gerda cracks a smile, “But I’m glad you’re here with her. Had a nice night?”

“Yes, we did. You may want to remind Elsa to wash twice. She really smells like chocolate,” you advise.

 

Gerda is confused at the statement but she nods anyway. You make your way out of the window and off the property. Gerda makes sure Elsa is tucked in properly.

“I love you… (Y/N),” Elsa mumbles in her sleep.

Gerda pauses for a moment then smiles.

 

She leaves Elsa’s room and enters Anna’s. Anna is lying on her bed, writing in a book. She quickly closes it and throws it under the bed when Gerda comes in.

“What are you doing up, missy?” Gerda jokingly asks, wagging her finger. “You know you have school tomorrow.”

 

“I know Gerda…” Anna sighs.

She gets ready for bed and slides under the covers.

“Anna… did you know about (Y/N) and Elsa’s date?”

Anna’s face bursts into concern.

“Please, please don’t tell mom and dad!” She begs.

Gerda raises an eyebrow. Anna usually spoke before she thought things through.

 

“I won’t Anna, don’t worry. I disagree with your parents but there is nothing Kai or I can do.”

Anna nods slowly then rolls onto her side. Gerda leaves the room and goes on to preform her duties.

 

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Everyone meets up at school. The vibe is instantly heightened when you came all chipper. Elsa was extremely happy as well. Anna and Kristoff shared a look when they saw how happy you two were.

 

“Hey guys, why do you both smell like chocolate?”

You and Elsa grin at each other than shrug at the question.

“Come on! Is this a new fragrance or something? It smells so good!” Anna complained.

Both you and Elsa couldn’t stop laughing.

 

You don’t know why, but you feel as if you and Elsa have never been closer. That date last night was long overdue, but it was well done. At least you hoped it was. You don’t think Elsa minds the chocolate smell either. You never understood the sisters’ fascination with chocolate.

 

Classes went great. You got involved in the lesson and actually made it fun for everyone. Everything seemed to be going great. It was now lunch time. You had to drop off your stuff before meeting everyone in the cafeteria.

 

You put your books away and head on down to the cafeteria. A chill shoots through your spine.

“Something is wrong…” You think.

 

“(Y/N) (L/N)” A voice states.

You freeze. Your whole body fills with fear. You turn around to see Hans – wearing a cocky smile – holding a folder. He begins strutting towards you. He reads out all your information – birth day, blood type, place of birth, your parents’ names.

 

“You know, you are quite the person. I never imagined the kind of past you kept secret. How about we discuss it a little, huh?”

You clench your fists and watch him.

“In May of this year the (L/N) residence was home to a grueling scene. There were eight dead people and one person found cowering in the corner. Guess which one is you?” He chuckles, “The living individual identified as (Y/N) (L/N) admitted to–“

 

“Enough!” You yell.

Hans smiles, he knows he hit a nerve. You’re losing your cool and he’s enjoying it.

“Hans, whatever you have on me doesn’t matter,” you say, angrily walking up to him.

He puts his hand on your chest to keep distance.

 

“Oh but it does. You see, I can distribute everything about you all over Arendelle. Everyone will know about your past, the people you killed. And everyone will fear you. Hate you. But… I can keep this to myself on one condition.”

 

“I’m not bargaining with you Hans,” you snarl.

“This isn’t a bargain, it’s a condition. If you break up with Elsa, then I will make sure your past is lost to the ages.”

You chuckle. “Why would I care?”

 

“Because I’ll tell Elsa first. Personally. Tell her about how you murdered your parents. Tell her about those two alters you keep locked up in your head,” he taps your head. “How do you think she’ll feel knowing you kept this from her? Huh?”

 

He has a point and you know it.

 

“And if you try to tell her your past, I’ll make sure you’re run out of town for your crimes. The choice is simple.”

 

Your fists are ready to meet his face. You want to beat him down so badly, but you can’t let your past be released. Even if you told your friends the entire city would see you as a monster. You would be hunted down.

 

You let out a huff, “Fine…”

Hans claps his hands in victory.

“Alright, that went well. So, lead Elsa to your little field after school. I’ll be within listening distance of you at all times. Once you do it, leave her.”

You nod your head in defeat.

 

Hans gives you a sarcastic wave while he walks away. Your anger is rising but you try to keep a mellow head. It’s near impossible, however. You vent your anger in one hammer fist to the wall. The wall becomes indented and the school shakes a little. You don’t even care right now.

 

As much as you don’t want to, you have to follow Hans’ orders. It will provide a better future for Elsa then what would happen if you were killed. You take in a deep breath then pull out your cell phone. You ask Elsa to meet you at the field after school. She agrees.

 

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You’ve arrived at the field before Elsa. You see Hans get into his position. You have an urge to snap his neck right now and be done with it. But murder isn’t your way. Then again, submission wasn’t your way either.

 

You think about Dan. The time he showed up. The thought that you are losing two people who were so close to you in this same field… It’s hard. And now that very past is killing your friends right now. How funny it was for Dan to show up when he did.

 

Elsa arrives, seeming quite chipper. She waves at you as she approaches. You don’t respond.

“So, what was sooo important?” She asks, getting close to you.

You move away from her. This causes her concern.

“(Y/N), what’s wrong?”

 

You take in a deep breath.

“Elsa, I don’t think we can see each other anymore.”

The wheels are set in motion. Elsa is surprised but not crying.

“Wha- what do you mean we can’t see each other anymore?” She demands.

 

“We have to break up. This isn’t working,” you coldly state.

Elsa’s heart doesn’t feel anymore. She is completely broken.

“Wha- why? We had such a good time yesterday. Why are you…”

You don’t know what to do. You’re afraid you’ll break at any moment. You can only think of one thing.

 

“I don’t love you!” You raise your voice.

This crushes both of you. Elsa is in tears and you are almost at that point. You can’t even look her in the eye. You begin to walk away. She calls for you but you don’t react. You just keep walking.

 

You feel the cold start to take over. You see ice start to form and snow start to fall. You cringe at the thought, but you don’t look back. You can hear her crying over the sound of the blizzard. It spreads across all of Arendelle.

 

You pass Hans. He is clapping.

“You took it farther than I thought you would. Good on you.”

In a second you have your hand around his throat and lift him up in the air. You stare at him menacingly.

“What would this solve now?” He taunts.

 

You throw him on the ground and walk away. Your eyes are filled with rage both towards yourself and Hans. But you know there is nothing left for you here after this. You know one thing is for certain. You have no intention of returning to Arendelle.

 


	16. Act 1 Finale: Goodbye, my Friend

#  **Chapter 16: Good bye, my friend**

 

Anna and Kristoff are worried about the storm. It shouldn’t be happening in this time of the year, so they only draw one conclusion.

 

Elsa.

 

But why would she unleash a storm on Arendelle? Was it on purpose? Anna started to fear another elemental was in play and Elsa was trying her best to fight them. Thoughts swirled through both Anna and Kristoff’s head.

 

“Kristoff I can’t take this anymore, we have to find Elsa!” Anna pleaded.

They prepare to go find her but Elsa bursts through the door before. She is crying and leaving ice everywhere she steps. She runs straight to her room and locks the door, then covers it with ice. Anna and Kristoff chase her. They try and open the door but Kristoff can’t get it to budge.

 

“Elsa! Elsa what happened? What’s wrong?” Anna cried out to her sister.

It was only met with crying. Adgar walks up to Elsa’s door and knocks on it.

“Elsa! What’s the meaning of this?”

Idun follows her husband and puts her hand on his shoulder. He looks at her. They share a look then a nod.

“We’ll be back in a day. Behave,” Idun softly announces.

 

The two leave. The house starts to get colder and colder. Ice begins forming everywhere. Gerda and Kai rush everyone out of the house for their safety, as the ice may impale someone.

“Kristoff, please take Anna until this is over. We’ll take Olaf to our house,” Kai asks.

Kristoff nods. Everyone gets in their cars and drives away.

 

“We shouldn’t have left her Kristoff. She needs us,” Anna says.

“We couldn’t do anything there. Plus we could freeze to death,” he pauses for a moment. “Man, where is (Y/N!”

 

Anna pulls out her phone and tries to call you. It goes to voicemail each time.

“He’s not picking up. You think he had something to do with this?”

“Elsa said she was meeting him at the field. I would say he’s our best chance at finding out. But first we need to get to my place and hope Elsa calms down enough to get rid of the storm.”

 

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Kristoff’s family was more then happy to let Anna to stay. Anna started to realize why Kristoff didn’t bring her around. Kristoff’s family kept asking her questions and unintentionally insulting Kristoff. His head remained in his hands the entire time. The house was quiet the whole night afterwards. Pabbie kept to his room and requested not to be disturbed. The storm stopped in the middle of the night. It was too late to go on a wild goose chase for you, so they hoped to see you at school.

 

All the ice and snow melted away, thankfully. The news was stirring about the “mysterious snow storm” that took over. Anna and Kristoff didn’t see you or Elsa at school. This concerned them even more. Two of their best friends were either gone or just held up somewhere.

 

They returned to Kristoff’s house only to be greeted by Pabbie.

“Please, follow me,” he says, waving them to follow him.

They all proceed to Pabbie’s room.

 

“You must find your friend. Without him you will lose tonight.”

“What are you taking about Pabbie?” Kristoff asks.

Pabbie sighs. “Your friend has a troubling life and it has caught up to him. Not completely, but it’s making its way. I know where he is. Where you have to go. It’s the only way to save Elsa.”

 

Anna jumps in at this point.

“Why? What’s wrong with Elsa?”

“It’s not what’s wrong with her that is concerning. It’s what _will_ happen to her that is. Get your friend then go to your school. Do not go to the school first or all is lost.”

 

Pabbie places his hands on Kristoff’s head and gives him the knowledge he needs. Kristoff nods, grabs Anna, than heads to his car.

 

“Kristoff, where are we going?”

“To (Y/N)’s old house!”

 

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Elsa can’t remain in her room any longer. She is aware that everyone has left, so she has nobody to avoid. For some reason she needs to see something one last time. Something to try and make sense of everything. She gathers her things and starts walking down the road.

 

She keeps asking herself why. She keeps blaming herself for the break up. You have no rhyme or reason for it either. She is crushed and hoping to reclaim one moment of love. She can only think of one place to visit. One thing she created.

 

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Kristoff speeds his way out of town. The drive takes little time given Kristoff’s speed. They find themselves on the edge of a small town. Anna and Kristoff never even knew it was here. From what they have seen, however, the town is dark and horrible. The people seem broken and lost, just making their way through life with no spark or drive.

 

“What is wrong with these people? They are so… lifeless,” Anna says.

Kristoff stays silent and continues towards his destination. They pull up to a house with no neighbors. The area around the house shows that there used to be houses, but must have been torn down or something.

“This is the place,” Kristoff states.

 

They both get out of the car and look at the house. It is a nice house, but messy. The garden is a mess and the walls of the house look rusted and old.

 

Kristoff and Anna feel a small shake. Anna leans on Kristoff for support. They look around and hope for the best. They enter the house. Every step they take makes the floor respond. They see chalk outlines of bodies. Seems whatever happened here didn’t get resolved. They hear a voice coming from the basement.

 

“Come on, that was nothing. Just a little blood isn’t bad. It builds character. Ha!”

Another shake.

“Shut up Shadow. Pain is all I can feel anymore. I’d rather feel pain than nothing at all.”

 They proceed to the basement and find you. The wall you are facing has several holes in it. You are shaking your head.

“Die regretting the time you’ve lost,” you smash your head against the wall again. “Too many people to ache over!”

 

“(Y/N)?” Anna stutters.

You menacingly turn to face them. Your face is somewhat bloody and you have a smile.

“A- Anna. Kristoff?” You’re breathing heavily. “What are you doing here? How’d you find me?”

 

You feel the heavy weight on your body lighten a bit. There is a feeling of comfort with your friends there.

 

Kristoff ignores what you said.

“Dude… What happened to you?”

 

You stare at yourself, then back at them.

“I fucked up Kristoff. There wasn’t anything else for me.”

“What did you do to Elsa?” Anna asks.

 

Some tears fell from you.

“I killed her. I might as well have. Just like last time… Dan was right.”

You clench your teeth and punch the wall again. Kristoff puts himself between the wall and you. You questionably stare at him. When his eyes connect with yours a chill goes down his spine. You look like you would rip his head off.

 

“You aren’t the same.”

This hits you. You grab Kristoff and put him against the wall.

“And how are you supposed to know my normal! Huh? What is my normal? What am I? Who the fuck knows! I just know that I hurt everyone aro–“

Kristoff punches you in the face, it forces you onto the ground.

 

“We know you! You’re our friend and the person that we all love, especially Elsa! So what happened?”  He shouts.

“What happened?” You chuckle. “That’s all anyone asks me anymore. What’s wrong (Y/N)? What happened? I’m sick of it! So shut the fuck up and leave or I swear I will make you!”

 

Anna and Kristoff are completely baffled at your reaction. You aren’t (Y/N) anymore. Not the one they knew. Your eyes are different. Your stance is different. They don’t know what to do except stand there and stare.

 

This anges you. You grab Kristoff and slam him against the wall. He grunts on impact. You ready your punch but a small hand holds it back. You turn to see Anna with her own punch. She connects perfectly with your cheek, which causes you to hit your head off the wall. Kristoff backs off in front of Anna.

 

“I don’t know what has gotten into you, but you can’t blame us for it!” Anna screams, “All we’ve done is try and be there for you but you pushed us away with excuses! Elsa is crushed right now and what are you doing? Sitting here in your own filth trying to feel pain! What about her pain? What about her feelings? You said you loved her, that she meant so much to you and now… Now you’re turning your back on everything you ever said! Everything that you made us believe!”

 

You wipe your mouth and stand up, absorbing what Anna is saying,

 

“She loves you! She loves you more than anything on this entire planet! You meant everything to her! So I don’t want an excuse! I don’t want you to slither out of this! You are telling me what you did to my sister!”

 

Both you and Kristoff are slightly scared of Anna right now.  She has never been this mad before. Her rant gets to you. It aids Shadow’s point he was trying to make for the past day. You calm down a bit and realize what an idiot you were.

“Hans… He knows about my past. About what I did…”

 

Kristoff and Anna share a look.

“What Is your past, (Y/N)? I think we deserve to know,” Anna demands.

You look at them both then nod. Anna discretely pulls out her phone and hits record.

 

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Elsa has arrived at the school. She is in front of the wall that she built for the two of you. She stares at you both embracing. It being captivated by her ice. She smirks at the memories.

“Elsa…” A voice says.

 

Elsa readies herself and looks over at the source. It’s Hans.

“What do you want Hans?” Elsa hisses.

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” he says, making his way towards Elsa. “Are you okay?”

 

Elsa tenses up but then relaxes. She feels weak and isn’t thinking straight.

“He left me… He doesn’t love me,” she moans.

Hans knows exactly who she is talking about. “Well that’s terrible. How could someone not love you? Especially one who has spent so much time with you?”

He is right behind Elsa. He puts his hands on her shoulders. For some reason, they remind her of how you used to do it. She accepts it. Hans smiles.

 

“I don’t know. He never told me. I thought I had found love but…” She turns to face Hans, his hands still on her shoulders. “Maybe I’m not meant for love.”

“Of course you are Elsa. You’re a smart, young, beautiful woman. You offer so much.”

Elsa looks into Hans’ eyes. Normally she would shoo him off but she can’t find the words to.

 

“Am I?” She asks.

“Of course.”

They both start leaning in to each other. Their lips are about to connect. That beautiful frost aroma is felt on Hans’ lips. He has been waiting for this for a long time.

 

Their lips are just about to touch when a voice is heard.

“Alley-oop!”

Hans received a foot to the head. He is sent onto the ground a few meters away.

 

You land in front of Elsa.

“You aren’t winning this Hans! I’m not submitting to you!”

Elsa is in shock. She can’t believe what she was about to do. She can’t believe you are here. She notices that her necklace is still on you. But you weren’t wearing it when she last saw you.

 

Anna and Kristoff make it to the field as well. They rush to Elsa’s side. Elsa walks up to you and slaps you hard.

“Ow, what’d I do?”

“What’d you do? What did you do?” She angrily repeats.

 

You back up a little from Elsa. She is keeping on you, however.

“You kept things from me! You lied to me and fooled me into loving you! You never cared about me, did you? Obviously not!”

“So, looks like our deal is nullified,” Hans says, wiping blood from his mouth. “Very well. I’ll tell them.

You face Hans and assume a fighting stance. Elsa turns to Hans as well.

 

“Elsa, how well do you know (Y/N)? I assure you it isn’t much.”

“I believe you on that,” she says, shooting you a glance.

“Elsa, don’t listen to him!” Anna begs. “Please come with us!”

 

Elsa turns to Anna. Her sister’s face is sincere. Elsa thinks about it for a second then nods at Anna. Elsa is about to run towards Anna but stopped herself.

 

“Your boyfriend is a murderer, you know. How do you think he became homeless?” Hans says.

Elsa turns to you. Her eyes show she is hurt.

“He has hid so much from you, yet you shared so much with him. Ask him, he’ll tell you,”

 

Elsa walks closer to you. “Is it true?”

You stare at her for a moment then turn your head away.

“I haven’t told you near enough.”

“You were right (Y/N)…” Elsa starts, you face her. “You obviously don’t trust me. If you don’t trust me, you don’t love me. Never speak to me again… You monster.”

 

Elsa runs away. You try to grab her but she is out of your reach. You stare at the ground for a moment then back at Hans.

“I didn’t even tell her everything yet,” he smirks.

Your fists tighten from the look of his smug face. He won’t be a pretty boy when you’re done with him.

 

Elsa runs past Anna and Kristoff. The two follow her but they are blocked off by a small cave of earth. They turn around to where you and Hans are. Elsa can’t stand any of this and closes herself off from the outside. Elsa, Anna and Kristoff are stuck.

 

“Elsa listen, he loves you!”

“No he doesn’t Anna! He doesn’t trust me! He doesn’t love me! He said so himself!”

“He loves you Elsa. You’re the fool if you believe otherwise.” Kristoff interjects.

Elsa stares at Kristoff for a moment. Anna pulls out her phone.

 

“He told us the truth. Listen to this, you’ll understand.”

 

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Earlier

 

“I’ve meant to tell all of you. I swear I did. After that fight. After you were all hurt. I… I lied about how I beat them. I lied about my past. I lied about so much and I want to apologize. I wish I could apologize to Elsa right now… But that I can’t do.”

 

You start pacing around the room. Kristoff and Anna stand at attention. They are eager to hear what you hold so close. What you think they’ll hate you for. It can’t be worse than what you have done today.

 

“I had a nice life before. I had parents. I had friends. I had a girlfriend. I always wanted a brother but my parents never indulged me on that. I had a close group of six friends. We did everything together. Eventually I started to fall for Kat, the only girl in our group. Her brother, Dan, always wanted us to be together. We were always laughing…”

 

“Like how you and Elsa were?” Anna asks.

You remain silent for a moment.

“No. Elsa and I were better.”

 

You shake your head.

“One day my buddies wanted to pull some stunt in the science lab. I didn’t agree but I decided to keep watch. Dan was with me. He kept bugging me whether I loved Kat or not. We’d been dating for quite some time and she had already admitted it to Dan. He used the exact same words you did Anna. Do you love my sister?”

 

Anna remembers when she asked you during class. It was when she admitted to loving Kristoff. All these things seem to be falling together. You take a seat against the wall, preparing yourself.

 

“I admitted it to him. I said I loved Kat. I wanted to tell her but she was finishing a test, so she wasn’t there. Anyway, what my buds were doing went horribly wrong. They knocked some chemicals into each other. It blew up the entire room. We all got away before it hit us but the school knew that we caused the explosion.

 

“They took all five of us in. Kat joined us not too long after, though she wasn’t in trouble. I was questioned first. Now, this is the part that I have no confirmation on and what makes the aftermath so horrible for me. My friends were discussing what they were going to do. One of the teachers heard them say it was all me. The teacher barged into the room and told the principle what she heard. I don’t even know who it was or if they even did say it. But the principle took her word over mine. My friends heard what happened and they were so scared.

 

“My parents were notified and they were not happy. They yelled like no tomorrow. They yelled all the way home. Things were getting tense around me. I was mad at my friends for blaming me and mad at my parents for not hearing me out. My friends gathered together and followed my parents home.

 

“I was so mad at everything at that point. There was a little voice telling me to kill. Telling me to take everyone out. My anger took control of me.” Tears begin dripping down your face. “I killed my parents with my bare hands. I ripped their throats out and gouged out their eyes. My friends came and saw what happened. I had no control… I killed all my friends as well. I killed Kat. I remember holding her in the air by the throat when she was bleeding out. By the time I realized what had happened, it was too late. I held her in my arms until she couldn’t feel anymore… I could never forgive myself for it.”

 

Kristoff and Anna are trying to remain calm, but this is quite the confession. They never expected this is the reason why you came here.

“But it wasn’t you, was it? You weren’t the one who killed them.”

 

You look up at Kristoff.

“No. No it wasn’t.”

“What do you mean?” Anna asks.

 

You huff. “Ever since I can remember I have never been alone. In my head there were… voices. People. Other people there to talk and judge me. They’ve become more active as I grew older. They were able to take control of my body and act how they wish. One is a violent beast bent on carnage. That’s the one who killed my parents. That’s the one who you saw that day, Kristoff.

 

“He yearns for the death of everything around him… The taste…” You stay silent for a moment. “He is everything I am not. Everything I hate. But he is stronger than me and the other one. He is true Carnage.”

 

Anna sits beside you. “(Y/N), I had no idea. I’m so sorry.”

You hug Anna.

 

“The other one… Is Shadow.”

You fall asleep.

“And that is me,” Shadow says.

 

He stands up and looks at Kristoff. He extends his hand. Kristoff shakes it. To Kristoff’s surprise it is different from yours. The way Shadow shook. The form. It wasn’t yours.

 

“I have watched everything unfold for years now. (Y/N) is indeed telling the truth. Believe me or not, I don’t care. But he cares. You all matter to him more than you think. It killed him to break up with Elsa. He didn’t want her to know.”

 

He turns to face both of them.

 

“I believe Carnage and I are a result of some project. A project that had relations to what made the elementals. That’s why we’ve been hunted with Elsa. I once thought it was simply nature. That we were always here, born into the body. But now I’m not so sure. (Y/N) is scared right now. He held Elsa in the highest regard but was afraid to tell her. But that was my piece. I do not belong with all of you. I am not the one you care for. But I will ask one thing. Don’t hate him. Isolation, hatred and sadness is what fuels Carnage. It will kill us if you let it.”

 

“Why did you tell us this?” Anna asks.

Shadow pauses for a moment.

“Because I won’t be around forever. I won’t always be able to motivate (Y/N) to find the truth. But all of you can. You care about him and his endeavors. You must understand that he needs to know about his past. It will eat away at his mind until death if he doesn’t figure it out. You’re his friends. He’ll need you.”

 

Shadow returns to the wall and lays down.

“Don’t take my niceness the wrong way. I just can’t have (Y/N) give into Carnage.”

 

You wake up.

 

“I don’t want to know what he said. Just listen. I never wanted to break up with Elsa. It was either break up with her, or have the town hate me and kill me. It probably wasn’t the best idea…”

 

You take a breath and wipe away the tears.

 

“I did something horrible to Elsa and I know it. She felt like a monster because of her powers. She didn’t want to hurt anyone and sacrificed so much to keep it a secret. Yet she revealed it to me. I couldn’t do the same. I know how she felt. That feeling of being a monster. But I was scared. I can’t control myself at times. I murdered my family and friends! I didn’t deserve anything!”

 

You calm down a bit.

 

“Yet here I am. Here with the perfect girl and I fucked up. I didn’t want her to hate me. I didn’t want all of you to hate me. Elsa meant so much to me and I didn’t want her to see me as a monster… She felt the same way but she still told me…

 

“But I couldn’t tell you. When everything was over at my town, nobody would talk to me. My school wouldn’t allow me back in. The people walking the streets would get as much distance as possible. I had police following me around. I felt like a convict. I was blamed for a crime I didn’t commit. I didn’t want Elsa to see me like that. For the past to repeat itself. Her powers… her powers have the potential for amazing things. I’ve seen what she can do with them.”

 

You pull out your necklace from under your shirt.

 

“She can work wonders with the powers she hated. But mine… my secret can only cause destruction. Only cause death. There is no beauty in it. No good side. It’s all carnage. That’s what I kept telling myself to justify not telling her when she told me… But that doesn’t matter anymore. I’ve lost her…”

 

Kristoff extends his hand to help you up. You look at him and he is smiling. You smile back. You grab his hand. He pulls you up.

 

“Only you can fix this (Y/N). Explain it to her, she will listen. She loves you.” Kristoff says.

 

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Elsa is tearing at what she is hearing.

 

“And I love Elsa. More than anything. I’m going to tell her this time. I swear it! I don’t want any secrets between us anymore,” your voice states.

 

Elsa holds her mouth and continues to cry. All this news. All these things you never told anyone. She understands that what you have gone through is much worse than her powers.

“Oh my god… What I just said about him…”

 

She turns to face the wall she created. She melts it but more ice appears. Elsa is confused. It’s clear on her side so the three can watch what is about to transpire. They see Hans’ hand extended to where they are.

“Does Hans have powers?” Kristoff exclaims.

 

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You see that he covered a small cave with ice. You are shocked but you finally realize where the little cave your friends ran into came from.

“Hans… What did you do?”

“I’ve become powerful! More powerful than you could ever be!”

 

He raises his hands. The elements start going crazy around him. You cover your face but leave enough so you can see. Hans stops and chuckles.

“This could have been easy (Y/N). You chose this path.  You ran into hell to help your friend, but can you get everyone out of there?”

 

“I guess we’ll find out!” You yell. You notice his reference to his lesson weeks ago. You weren’t losing this time!

 

You charge at Hans. He smirks and summons a fire wall in front of you. You stop yourself and look on either side. There is no way past. You feel the earth trembling so you look down. A fist shoots out from the ground and connects with your jaw. You flip onto your back, losing your breath.

 

You look up and see Hans’ feet. He uses vines to pick you up and restrain you by your wrists. You spit in his face.

“Mature,” he says, wiping off the spit.

You try to break free but you can’t. The vines move with you but keep the general area. You can’t create tension.

 

“Struggling is useless. But I do admire it.”

He sends his hand upwards. The vines toss you into the air. You try to regain control but Hans hits you with a fire blast. You are pushed towards the trees. You grab the closest branch and regain your bearings.

 

Hans throws some water at you. You jump off the branch and land close to Hans. You throw a punch. He dodges it, however he is in a weakened position. You knee his face then deliver a 5 shot combo.

 

He shakes his head to regain composure. You grab his head and throw it to the ground before he can recover. You drag him along to the trees. You place him in front of you. Before he can react you uppercut him into the air. You quickly climb the tree and catch him at one of the branches. You throw him up once more and jump to him. You force his head to aim towards the ground and keep your bodies close together as you grab his legs and contain his head with your own legs, initiating a type of pile driver.

 

You both plummet to the ground. His head indents the planet. You wait for a second before backing off. His body succumbs to gravity and limps on the ground. You stare at his body while breathing heavily.

 

Hans lifts himself up. The hole where his head was is wider and further dug then it should be.

“You really have to remember I control the elements,” he chuckles.

Hans fires lighting into your body. He lifts you up just as Tempest did to Elsa. Hans tilts his head then fires water at you. It amplifies the electricity. You scream in pain.

 

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Anna, Elsa and Kristoff watch helplessly.

“We have to help him!” Elsa yells. She shoots an ice spike at the wall. It bounces off. Elsa doesn’t get discouraged. She continues to shoot them until a crack is made. Kristoff then starts rushing his shoulder into the cracks area. The two rotate over and over.

 

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Hans stops his onslaught and lets you fall to the ground. You are jittering. The lightening is intense, even now.

“I have to end this quick. I won’t last in a lengthy fight,” you mumble.

Hans walks up to you and steps on your stomach. You clench your teeth, grab his leg and push him off of you.

 

He readies himself for a fight. You both throw punches but you clearly overpower him in fist fighting. You catch his fist and spin him around. His head meets your heel. He shakes his head and attacks again. He punches four times. One of those punches hits you but the rest you block. You clap his ears to disorient him then slide slightly under him and kick his jaw so he is in the air. You wait a few seconds then do a roundhouse kick that connects with his ribs. He rolls on the ground but bounces up, ready to fight.

 

 He gets mad and uses the air to slam you into some trees. You recover quickly and notice a sharp branch. You grab it. You both rush at each other. He pushes himself into the sky with air then tries to hit you from above. You show the branch and are prepared to shove it into his face. Hans sees this but can’t move.

 

Right before you hit him something hits you. You fly back but slow yourself down with the branch. You scan the area to see where the attack came from. You see two people in the distance. They have a regal posture and are floating in the air. You focus more and recognize their faces.

 

“No way…”

 

The two make their way beside Hans. He smiles at the two of them.

“I believe you are all acquainted,” he says.

 

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Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff don’t believe their eyes.

“Mom… Dad…” Elsa slowly states. “This can’t be happening.”

 

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You get yourself on your feet but are brought back down. Your heart begins to surge with pain. You grasp it and hope for it to stop. You can’t beat them with your frozen heart. To make matters worse your arm starts going off.

 

When this happens you begin to think back. Carnage once said that Elsa will lead him to someone. Last time you saw these two, Carnage went crazy. Is it possible that Adgar and Idun are who he wanted to kill? But why? You don’t recognize… But Pabbie once said your memories were blocked by both of them. Does that mean… No, it couldn’t.

 

“You… you both are responsible for all this. You are the reason I am like this! The reason why those people had powers!” You accuse.

Adgar shrugs. “Possibly. But it doesn’t matter now. Everything is going perfectly.”

“What do you mean?”

 

Adgar gives you a smile.

“We have Elsa’s blood. The serum was completed.”

You are confused. “You needed Elsa’s blood… That’s why you sent all these people after her! You’re the one who promised Gaia answers! Why did you need Elsa?”

 

“Because she is pure,” Idun says. “She was born with the powers while all the other children had them forced onto them.”

“What? How?”

Idun looks to the cave where her daughters are.

“Because I was the original Ice Queen.”

 

You are trying to keep this going. You need time for your heart to recover.

“That doesn’t make sense. Elsa is the Ice Queen.”

“Yes, now. I was given the powers of ice and practiced how to use them. However when Elsa was born she had them naturally. It was part of her. She became the obvious candidate for the title.”

 

“And with Elsa’s progress as a child, you abducted other children…”  You concur.

“Very clever. You haven’t changed,” Adgar smiles. “With children, the genetics of the powers grew with the body. When we tried adults, few could keep the control that the kids could.”

 

Adgar, Idun and Hans make a triangle formation around you. They are ready to attack, but they may be humoring your attempt at recovery. Still, you’ll take it. You grip your arm tighter. The three know exactly what it means. Hans smiles at this.

 

“But… What was I? Why does everyone remember me?”

“That doesn’t matter right now. I would like to fight you now. See how much better you’ve gotten over the years,” Adgar grins.

 

“Let me fight!” Carnage howls in your mind.

The pain is too much for you to handle. You submit to his desire for blood and fall asleep. You lose it. Carnage wins.

 

Carnage lifts himself up and laughs.

“I finally get to kill you both! I’ve wanted this for years!”

 

He rushes at Adgar. Carnage drags his hand across the ground and swipes right as he gets to Adgar. Smoke covers the area. The smoke keeps going as Carnage drags him through the school. He smashes Adgar through classrooms and finishes by charging him into a tree on the opposite end of the field.

 

The smoke covers a large portion of the field, but it eventually clears. Carnage is indented in a tree with Adgar holding him there.

“Still a hot head. You never think.”

 

Carnage growls and slashes at Adgar’s face. Adgar leans back to dodge it then punches Carnage. Adgar grabs Carnage by the throat. He uses wind to lift himself and Carnage into the air, then throws Carnage and shoots lightning at him. He keeps this up for a second then stops.

 

Hans rushes at Carnage. He hops into the air and punches Carnage to the ground. Hans bursts towards the dust but Carnage is way ahead of him. Carnage grabs Hans’ face and throws him into the ground, then pins Hans and starts slashing his body. Hans lets out a few grunts of pain but is able to escape using vines to toss Carnage off.

 

Carnage regains his footing. He observes the three people around him. He howls at them and rushes towards Idun.

 

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Kristoff is on his break and is watching the fight.

“I think we’re going to lose,” he predicts.

Anna smacks his arm. “Why would you say that?”

“Look at the fight. The darker side of (Y/N) is being beaten down. That’s the strongest we know (Y/N) can get.”

 

“No, he can do it,” Anna whispers. “I know he can. He won’t let Elsa down.”

 

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Carnage slashes at Idun. She uses air to slow down the attack so she can dodge. Carnage keeps attacking her, almost hitting his mark each time. Hans throws a punch fueled with fire. Carnage catches the punch and knees Hans in the stomach. He proceeds to beat Hans’ face in then toss him aside.

 

Adgar creates a large boulder of stone, larger than the gym. He launches it at Carnage. Idun and Hans jump out of the way. Carnage laughs his insane laugh and opens his arms. The stone hits him. Carnage is keeping it back but Adgar is forcing it forward. Carnage jumps back a little to get some distance then starts clawing through the rock.

 

He bursts out of the other side and straight at Idun. Idun isn’t ready for this. Carnage lands a clean punch, sending her flying away. Adgar catches her with wind and sets her lightly on the ground.

 

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You and Carnage are head to head, struggling for control. You have each other’s hands, trying to gain the advantage.

“Carnage! We can’t win like this! We’re all going to die!” You yell.

 

You raise your knee to Carnage’s chin which knocks him off balance. You jump, spin, and kick him in the face. He stumbles for a moment. You use the time to close line him into the ground. You take a few steps back as he flips onto his feet.

 

“I can win this Carnage. Just help me!”

 

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Carnage is fighting all three at once. He is doing really well considering they are all attacking at the same time. Elsa and Kristoff still haven’t gotten the wall open yet. Anna sits at the back, wishing she could help.

 

She begins thinking on all the things you have told her.

“That’s why you didn’t want to admit you loved Elsa… Because when you did, you lost it. You didn’t want to lose it again,” Anna thinks.

 

Carnage is forced to the ground from the onslaught of attacks. He bounces up to dodge an ice spike that appears under him. He uses the momentum of his launch to kick Hans away. Carnage proceeds to grab Adgar and smash him upon his knee. Carnage tosses him at Idun as a distraction, then jumps up and forces Idun’s face in the ground.

 

Carnage stands back for a moment and laughs. It is stopped when all three get up as if it was nothing.

“You know, I am impressed. I never thought you were this good,” Idun praised.

“But now…” Adgar whispers.

 

The three rush Carnage at the same time. They deliver fast and powerful blows that Carnage can’t keep up with. Hans slides under him and pushes him into the air. Idun and Adgar send him plummeting back down. The three hover over top of Carnage while he lays on the ground.

 

They each charge their own element then blast him with it. A continuous assault of lighting, fire and ice are decimating Carnage. Your friends can hear his laugh and scream in reaction to the pain. After two minutes of the onslaught they stop. The area is filled with smoke. Adgar, Idun, and Hans land a few meters away and wait.

 

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“I can win Carnage!” You yell. “You know that you can’t win this. If you help me then we can guarantee they die! Please, for once, help me!”

 

You continue to fight for a little bit. Carnage punches you in straight in the nose. You stumble back but use the momentum to spin and kick him away. He rolls across the ground then bounces up. His smile is ever present.

 

“Tell me… Where did you… get… this strength?”

You smile. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s my friends. Maybe it’s pressure. I don’t know.”

Carnage continues to watch you. “What… makes you… think… that you can… kill them?”

 

He throws another punch at you, you block it and respond with your own. You’re both fighting as you speak.

 

“Because I’m stronger than you. Not physically, but all in all. You fight with your anger. You rely on brute force. I fight with emotion. All of my emotions, not just anger. I’ll kill them so Elsa is safe. I’ll kill them because they threaten who I am. I’ll kill them because they left me no other choice! They’ve hurt people I care about. People I respect. I can’t let them get away with it. You’re fighting for personal gain Carnage, that’s why you are weaker than me.”

 

You deflect his attack and charge up a haymaker to meet his face. Carnage flies back from the attack but stays on his feet. You are both breathing heavily, the fighting is intense. He chuckles then exits his fighting position.

 

“Listen to… me… now. Those beings… those people who did this… they deserve to… die. They tortured me… tortured you… for their own… game. I am the way… I am… because… it’s all… I was told… I could be.”

 

You listen to him. He’s never been so calm. Never actually spoke a lot. The fact that he is telling you this… What does it mean?

 

“Pabbie… said that… we were strongest… as a whole. I want… to be the… strongest. But it seems… we were made… to act as one. I will… help you… on one… condition.”

“Anything.”

“You… must kill them… Show no… mercy… for they will… show none. Punish them…for what they did… to me… Shadow… and you.”

 

You nod. “I will.”

“No… You won’t. You need to… show your own… anger. You need… to get… mad… to become… angry. Only then… will your strength… be shown…”

 

You stand still for a moment, thinking.

“I don’t know how to make myself angry Carnage… You always did that for me.”

Carnage smirks. He walks over to you and puts up his fist. You bump it. When you do he melts into your fist and spreads all over your body. You feel stronger, but also angrier. The anger passes but you can still feel it.

 

“I’m trusting… you… don’t make me… regret it…”

Carnage’s final words are spoken. You and he are the same. Limbo lights up. It transforms from the dark, grueling place to a white plane.

“My god, it is the afterlife,” you chuckle. “Now let’s do this. I’m winning for you, Carnage.”

 

Shadow appears in front of you briefly.

“(Y/N), let me fight for a little bit. It’ll give you some time to recover.”

You are about to argue but realize that Shadow has a good plan. You nod your head and sit down, waiting.

 

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Elsa screams when she sees you being beaten the way you are. She creates one giant ice spike and smashes the wall. The three rush out of the cave and see the opposing three. They pay no mind to them. They are only focused on Carnage.

 

You walk out from the crater. You are confident. Cool. Completely ready for the fight. Hans looks at you and laughs.

“You never know when to quit, do you?”

 

“You never did either Hans. Now I’m taking you all down,” you declare.

Everyone realizes it isn’t Carnage anymore. However you don’t seem the same. You start walking towards your enemies. You don’t show any sign of strain or weakness.

 

“You aren’t Carnage. Yet you aren’t (Y/N).” Adgar points out.

“You’re right. You thought I was going to sit this out? No fucking way.”

 

Shadow runs towards Hans. Hans smiles, ready to take on the final form of (Y/N). Shadow fakes a punch to the face. It successfully distracts Hans so Shadow can catch him with his legs. Shadow takes Hans down to the ground. Hans snarls at his weakness and explodes into fire. Shadow is sent flying back but lands nicely. He sees Idun’s leg coming straight at his face. Shadow catches it and spins her around. In the moment of weakness Shadow lifts up his knee and punches both Idun’s chest and hips so she lands on his knee. She coughs up some blood. Adgar rushes into play. Shadow, being ever perceptive, sees Adgar and decides to toss Idun at him. He catches her but also catches a solid punch to his face.

 

“Shadow, I’m ready! Let me end this!”

Shadow sighs. “I was just getting into it.”

“Oh boo hoo, it’s been like, a day in here.”

“Time doesn’t make sense there…” Shadow mumbles as he allows you to take control.

 

You open your eyes to see your opponents ready to fight.

“Well, looks like I finally get a turn. Who’s getting their beat down first?” You ask, initiating a fighting stance.

 

The trio take you a little more seriously. You see their posture change.

“They’re going to attack,” you presume.

The three rush at you. You prepare yourself. You are able to smack Hans away and dodge Idun’s lightning bolt but Adgar’s attack hits you.

 

He beats you into the ground with fiery fists. You try to ignore it but the heat and pain is a lot to handle. You grab Adgar’s face and slam it into your knee. You use your hips to bounce him off you then spring out of the whole he made.

 

Hans attempts to hit you but you see it in your peripheral vision. You get in good with a back hand. The three recover. You know that one-on-one you can win. But when the three of them are together it becomes too much. Especially since they have every power.

 

Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff are unsure what to do. Elsa wants to help you, but she can’t find the will to attack her own parents. On the other hand, Anna and Kristoff know they are completely useless right now. They would be killed if they tried anything.

 

“I have things to do. Let’s finish this,” Adgar whispers to Idun and Hans. “We’re not playing anymore. You were a fun distraction but our line of work doesn’t allow for long delays.”

 

You prepare yourself. Adgar raises some earth and stones to throw at you. They fire fast and are difficult to dodge. Idun starts shooting ice spikes at you from a different direction. You notice this and try to dodge those too. You know you can’t keep this up for long. They are already starting to graze your skin.

 

At the worst time your heart starts acting out again. You can’t keep focused. You jump out of the way of all the attacks. You see Hans rushing at you with a punch. You catch it and toss him over you. When he reaches your level you kick him away. Idun raises ice from the ground which you handily dodge.

 

You stop after another shot of pain occurs. Your hair turns white at an even faster rate. You’re losing your strength. Adgar, Idun, and Hans all throw a punch at you from different directions. You catch all three with your hands and your knee. You duck down and sweep kick all of them. They fall to the ground.

 

You get some distance between yourself and your enemies. You drop to one knee, breathing hard. Elsa watches and suffers. She realizes your heart is still frozen. You may lose because of what she did to you. She can tell you’re putting on a façade to keep the morale up.

 

They all get back to their feet and stare at you. They nod at each other and create a triangle formation around you. Adgar fires a condensed lightning bolt at you and raises you into the air. Elsa looks away for a moment. She felt that exact same pain.

 

Hans shoots fire while Idun creates dozens of ice spikes to launch at you. You can’t do anything, they have you.

“Damn it! Even I can’t do anything… Hold on, just… hold on!” Shadow states.

 

You are barely keeping it together. You scream in agony. It destroys Elsa. She musters up the courage to help. You’re the one she loves. Those aren’t the parents she remembers. They are the monsters, not you. Elsa conjures up a massive amount of ice. It is similar to the one she used on you. She splits it into three and fires them.

 

The three stop shooting, as the ice blast did a number on them. You fall to the ground and try to get back up. You are able to look up at Elsa.

“That’s… my… girl…”

 

She stands adamantly and begins to conjure more ice.

“How dare you strike your father!” Adgar yells.

He creates a solid blade of fire and throws it at Elsa. You see this and use all your strength to protect Elsa.

 

The blade flies through the air. You push Elsa out of the way. It slices your cheek bone but causes little more than a scratch. Your heart continues to throb and you fall to your knees.

“Elsa… Get everyone… out of here,” you say in between deep breaths.

 

Elsa shakes her head. “No, we’re not leaving you! I’m fighting!”

“She’s right (Y/N), we aren’t leaving,” Kristoff adds.

You shake your head and smile. True friends that stick with you until the end. You gotta love’em.

 

Elsa shoots what seems to be a hundred ice spikes at the trio. Some of them hit their mark.

Adgar is angry.

“Why must you all be so stubborn?”

Adgar creates a ball of air and launches it at all of you. You aren’t moved too much but everyone else is forced to the ground.

 

You are barely able to lift yourself up. You stand and face your enemy with a smile. You know it’s over.

“Sorry, Carnage… This frozen heart things a pain…”

 

Adgar creates a replica of the earlier fire blade and throws it at you.

“Just die!”

You watch it close in. You close your eyes and await the pain.

 

You hear it pierce a body. You feel blood splatter on what’s left of your clothes. But you don’t feel any pain. You open your eyes and see the lovely platinum hair you fell in love with. Your eyes lower and see some blood stained on it. You then see the blade where Elsa’s heart is supposed to be.

 

Your eyes widen. Elsa falls back into you and you catch her. You lay her on the ground but continue to hold her.

 

“Elsa… Elsa, Elsa… What were you thinking? Elsa please… Please…”

“Shhh, (Y/N). It’s okay,” she mutters.

“No Elsa… Oh man this is not okay. This is faaar from okay.”

 

Kristoff and Anna are in shock. Anna is crying but won’t make a noise. She and Kristoff place themselves between you and the trio. They won’t let them interrupt, even if it kills them.

 

Tears are forming in your eyes but you refuse to let them drop.

“You refuse to cry…” she points out.

You swallow hard. “There is no reason… no reason to cry. You’re going to be alright.”

Elsa smiles and places her hand on your cheek.

 

“I heard your… confession. The one about your past… I don’t think you’re a monster. Not after what I’ve seen. After what you’ve said… I understand.”

You stay silent.

“I’m sorry for… saying what I said. I know you love me. I know it.”

 

“Elsa, Elsa I do. I do love you Elsa which is why you aren’t leaving! I can’t let this happen again.”

Elsa coughs up some blood, but keeps a smile.

“(Y/N), you have to let it go… You can’t be afraid of the storm inside of you… Not anymore… Please… Keep Anna and Olaf safe… Make sure, Anna gets that chocolate you saved… for me.”

 

“Elsa, that’s yours… you’ll get to share it.”

“I love you, (Y/N). I have no regrets about this… I saved you this time… And that’s all I ever wanted to do. You are the man I love, now and forever…”

 

She pulls you closer. Her mouth is at your ear.

“Kill my parents… Protect… Anna. Let… it… go.”

 

Elsa’s body goes limp. You won’t believe it.

“Elsa, Elsa, Elsa, no! Please, Elsa! Elsa, you’re going to be okay. Elsa answer me! Elsa!”

You hold her body close to you.

 

 

Kristoff shuts his eyes. Anna continues to cry. She wants to hold her sister and you, but she doesn’t want to disturb you.

 

“Elsa no, I don’t want to lose love again… Elsa…” you whisper. “Elsa please don’t go.”

You realize she is gone. It’s just like how Kat died… right in your arms. Your grieving turns to anger.

“Please… Not again…”

This is an odd feeling for you. You never felt true anger before. But now… Now you feel it.

 

“(Y/N)… I’m sorry, truly. But she is right. It’s time to let it go. Fight them with everything you’ve got!” Shadow encourages. “Kill them for Elsa!

 

The ground starts shaking around you. Dark clouds form around the area.

 

You get to show your anger. This isn’t Carnage. This is you.

 

Pieces of the earth start rising into the air. Lighting is crashing down around you. Spurts of flame start appearing out of nowhere. The wind is going crazy. Snow starts lightly falling.

 

So many people have died because of these two. Tempest, Pyro, Gaia, Carnage and now Elsa.

 

Small bits of lighting start to appear around you. The elements are being completely disturbed.

 

“I won’t… I WON’T STAND FOR THIS ANYMORE!” You howl.

You stand up and face your enemy. Your eyes become pure white but tears still fall. You let out a howl and the elements do so with you. Your body bulks up, relative to what it did with Carnage.

 

You give Adgar a glare. Even with no pupils he knows you’re watching him. You begin to walk towards them. Kristoff and Anna surround Elsa’s body.

 

“To kill your own daughter… You aren’t parents,” you shame.

Hans rushes at you. He delivers a lightning filled punch but you don’t flinch at all. You stop walking and turn your eyes towards him. All he feels is pure terror.

 

“And you made me hurt her.”

You grab his hand and pull it away from your face. He struggles to break free but your grip is too much for him. You smile before grabbing one of his fingers.

“Remember when you waved at me with these fingers. Remember how you touched Elsa’s face with them?”

 

You push his finger back until it is pointing at his face. You hear a satisfying *crack* when you do so. You do this with every finger on his right hand. He cries out it pain. You enjoy this. You continue to torture him for revenge. You don’t care about morality or being a good person anymore.

 

You let go of his hand for a quick second before grasping his throat. You are crushing it, so barely any oxygen can come in. He is gasping for air, but hardly any is coming in.

“Talk tough Hans. Come on, do it,” you taunt.

He struggles to breathe, you can tell he’s dying. That’s not enough for you though.

 

You slam him on the ground and release his neck. He takes in large amounts of air to recover. You proceed to grab his mouth and pull him back into the air. This time he can breathe. You hold his mouth and chuckle. With a small thought, your hands start to burn with fire. Hans feels this and tries to break free. His skin starts to burn and so does his pride.

 

“Hans has the powers of fire, no? How is he affected by (Y/N)’s element?” Idun asks.

“I… don’t know. He must be producing almost as much heat as the sun. Who knows if he could surpass it,” Adgar responds.

 

Hans’ face starts to bubble a little before you decide that you’ve had enough. You release him from your grasp and he begins falling to the ground. His face will forever be marked. Without even moving you make air send him flying away.

 

You create a wall of earth for him to hit. You lock his wrists with vines. He attempts to struggle but you create two ice spikes to puncture each palm.

“I’ll deal with you later,” you say. “I have a little more feelings I would like to express.”

 

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Hunter is watching from a safe distance. He is smiling uncontrollably.

“That’s it (Y/N). That’s how you do it. You are part of the family.”

Hunter remains silent for a moment, thinking ahead.

“But you’re still not strong enough… I think I’ll have to reveal myself to you soon. You need to know who you are.”

 

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You walk up to Adgar and Idun. Lighting is showing up around you every so often. The ground itself is shaking at your footsteps. Fire and ice are battling themselves to see which one may hover around you. The wind is rushing around you. It whisks away the tears on your cheek.

 

 They have a surprised look on their face.

“So…Which one is first?” You ask, cracking your knuckles.

They stand together. This is the fight they were waiting for. The two rush at you. You don’t flinch. They zoom past you and into the air.

 

“He didn’t even react,” Adgar says.

“This is what they built him for,” Idun concurs.

“This is why we should’ve had control of the project!” Adgar snarls

 

They both send large amounts of elemental attacks your way. You turn to face it and put your hand in the air. You stop all of the attacks. They are all under your control now. You clench your fist and all the attacks disappear.

 

“That’s all you know. You can’t fight me otherwise,” you taunt.

Adgar and Idun merge their power in order to lift an enormous piece of earth and throw it at you.

You don’t move at all. A few sparks fly across your face.

 

You lift your hands and spread the entire hunk of earth to small pieces. You keep them in the air, however. You move your hands and start to create something. You create and draw out sand from all around you. Even the pieces of earth Adgar and Idun threw at you give sand.

 

“Think outside the box,” you recommend.

The sand forms into giant hands and start to chase both of them around. They aren’t able to evade them for long and are both stuck together by the hands. You start crushing them with the sand hands. Both Adgar and Idun shoot out intense heat to turn the sand to glass.

 

They breathe heavily. They partly admire what you just did. They begin to rush at you. You run for a short period then jump and use air to fly. You start spinning and fly right in between them. You stop and direct one hand at each of them which you shoot multiple elements out of.

 

Adgar and Idun do their best to dodge all of it but your attacks are so many and so fast. They submit to the ground. You relax your hands to your sides and wait for them to reappear. After a moment they zoom up into the air, higher than you. Their clothes are tattered and they are evidently hurt.

 

“I’m finishing this,” you say.

 

You zoom towards them. You charge up your fist. Fire resonates around it. Something is bubbling inside you. Something that feels natural. This next attack just flows into your mind.

“Dragon… FIRE!” You yell as you extend your punch. A grand dragon made of fire appears out of your hand and swallows the two whole. You close your eyes.

 

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You, Adgar, and Idun are standing inside the dragon. They don’t feel the heat, but they know they’re dead. They accept it.

“I never thought you would beat us. I am surprised,” Adgar states.

 

You don’t respond. You simply stare at them.

“We had a plan just in case you won. It seems that has to go into effect.”

Adgar pulls out a computer chip and a cell phone from his pocket and hands them to you. You place them in your own pocket.

 

“You never had a work accident, did you? You were never in a coma,” You state.

“No, we weren’t,” Idun chuckles.

“Then why do this? What was the purpose?”

They both smile. “Orders. We all have our bosses and our deadlines. You’ll know of that one day.”

“There are more of you? More people like you?”

 

They both smile, recognizing the irony that they are experiencing. You have no idea about that, however. They don’t respond. This upsets you and leads you to another topic.

 

“Do you even care that you used your daughter?” You spitefully ask. “That she’s dead?”

Gloom falls onto their faces.

“Yes, we do. But you are in the same boat as Elsa was. Being used, I mean.”

“My parents didn’t place me into your program!”

 

They both chuckle. “You weren’t in our program, (Y/N)”

You stutter for a moment, unable to process what they just said.

“Please, take care of our daughters. We are so proud of them,” Idun pleads.

You nod. They smile.

 

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The dragon explodes into fire. You make it so that the excess fire creates a beautiful show of victory. It’s the same one Elsa would do for you. You walk over to your friends. Kristoff and Anna have no words. You walk past them and kneel beside Elsa.

 

You hold her face then kiss her. While you kiss her you breathe ice into her body and pull out the blade that impaled her. You freeze the wound over. You part your lips from hers.

“Just breathe,” you hope.

Elsa begins coughing. You hold her close. The power you achieved slips away. Your physique returns to its norm. Your eyes return and the elements subside to their usual role. You aren’t paying attention to this. All you care about is Elsa.

 

You squeeze her in your arms. Once she realizes what has happened she hugs you back. You start kissing her.

“Never… do… that… to me… again,” you say in between kisses.

“I’ll have to think about it, you tend to throw yourself into dangerous situations,” Elsa teases.

Anna and Kristoff rush over to you.

“Your hair! It’s back to normal!” Anna points out.

The only thing you can think of is the power boost. Maybe having control over the ice unfroze your heart. Or maybe it was the power of fire. Who cares? Everyone is safe. Everyone is alive.

 

Something pops into your mind. Hans! You look over to where you held him. He’s not there anymore. You don’t know how he escaped but he did, which means you’ll have to find him another time. Right now, your friends are what’s important. Elsa is what’s important.

 

You back off from Elsa to let Anna give her sister a big hug. You stand beside Kristoff.

“You aren’t mad at me, are you?” You ask.

“Me? Nah, I couldn’t be happier. We understand. All of us understand. We’re your friends man!” He says as he puts his arm on your shoulder, “Plus, now we know the truth. You have nothing to hide anymore. No more secrets.”

 

You smile. “Yeah… No more secrets.”

You look around and notice that everything is a mess. The school is practically destroyed, the field is ruined and the small forest is burning.

“Dude… What are we going to do about this?” You ask.

Kristoff chuckles. “I have no idea.”

 

Anna and Elsa stop talking and both give you a big hug. You feel a sort of sadness.

“I’m sorry I killed your parents. You had to lose them twice now.”

They both smile. “(Y/N), those were not the parents we remember. Besides, you’re more of a family to us than anyone.”

You smile at them both. “A family… You’re right! I have a family again!”

 

Anna moves into Kristoff’s arms. He held her closely. She kisses him. You looked away so they could have their moment. Elsa stands behind you and watches you as you stare at the battlefield. You start chuckling weakly. You’re completely out of energy. You fall on your back.

 

Elsa rushes over to see if you’re okay. When she sees your face she adopts a smile from you. You are breathing heavily with a smile. She strokes your cheek.

“Your power has beauty in it too (Y/N). Never forget that,” she whispers.

 

Elsa calls Kristoff over to carry you to the car. Elsa sits in the back with you. Kristoff lays you across all the seats. Your head rests on Elsa’s lap.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Hunter walks across your battlefield. He is has a huge smile across his face. He takes in everything. He gets a feel for the entire area. The emotions that ran here, the blood that was spilt. He feels your fire, your will power. He accepts that it surpasses his own. In a way, you are stronger than he is.

 

Hunter stops in the middle of the field. He takes in a deep breath and exhales.

“Why am I the one who has to fix this? Well, I don’t have to… But I don’t think it would look good if it was left this way.”

 

He walks over to the destroyed school. He prepares himself.

“Let’s see if I can fix this all in an hour,” he challenges.

Hunter sets a timer on his phone and begins.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

There was a silence on the way home. It wasn’t a bad silence at all, in fact it was a silence of joy. Everyone was radiating happiness despite what just happened. Anna kept smiling and looking at Kristoff, he would respond in turn. Every once in a while Kristoff would look in his mirror to see you and Elsa. You lay comfortably on her lap as she stroked your face. You mumbled about food and warmth a few times. It made everyone chuckle.

 

Elsa didn’t stop staring at your face. Even though it was bruised and bloody she couldn’t help but see hope. Love. A hero who saved her from a fate that would have consumed her. Her face was completely different from the last time she saw you bloody and bruised. Her face was filled with the love she had for you, and the love you had for her. She knows that there is no man whom she could love more.

 

She also feels a stronger need to protect you now. Even when she sacrificed herself, you were still able to save her. You always one-uped her, and she didn’t like being left behind. It was like a friendly competition to her, and she was determined to win. When Kristoff or Anna wasn’t looking she would sneak a kiss onto your lips. She couldn’t wait for you to be able to respond to them.

 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Gerda and Kai were cleaning the house when everyone arrived. Kristoff carried you to your room but was redirected by Elsa to her room. Anna stayed behind to explain everything that happened. Gerda and Kai were surprised, but not as surprised as Anna would have expected.

 

Kristoff joined Anna downstairs. They hugged each other tightly, remembering that they are still alive. After dismissing themselves they hurried to Elsa’s room. They entered to find Elsa cuddling with you on the bed. She had dosed off. Anna and Kristoff smile at the sight. Kristoff notices that your necklace is still there, despite all the beatings you received. That one symbol of the connection between you and Elsa remains ever present.

 

He and Anna retreat to her room and have their own cuddling time. It’s well deserved. Everyone deserves this peace and rest right now.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You and Shadow stand face to face. He has a smirk across his face.

“You did it. You saved her.”

“I guess… I had to watch her die to gain the power though. That kind of takes it away for me,” you reply.

Shadow huffs. “It’s a good thing I know you. Carnage may not have been so easy to convince if I hadn’t set it up.”

 

You look at him confused. “What do you mean?”

“When I was holding Carnage off at the dinner he explained everything to me. He explained who they were and why they needed to die. I told him that only you could beat them. That he wouldn’t be able to win because of his motives. He disagreed. I made him a bet about it.”

 

“What was the bet?” You inquire.

“That your emotions and motivations alone made you stronger than him. If this was true then he would have to submit and let you take over. I didn’t anticipate him merging with you.”

 

You think back. You never liked Carnage but in all honesty you never knew him. You never learned his motives or desires. He was just a murderer to you but in those last moments he just wanted vengeance for what had been done to him. That still doesn’t excuse all the things he has done and what he put you through but… It seems relative to Gaia, Tempest and Pyro.

 

They simply wanted answers about their past and they were willing to kill you. They had a hard time in their life and just wanted answers, but their front just showed them as killers. It’s the same as Carnage. Everyone has some sort of motive to their actions that others may not understand. But to the person committing the action, it makes sense.

 

“I owe him my life. I owe him a lot, even if he caused a lot of pain in my life… He’s the reason I’m with Elsa.”

“That is true. So are you ready to truly love again?” Shadow asks.

“I think so. I just hope there isn’t anything else waiting for me.”

“That’s unlikely. I think we’re just getting started with this whole thing,” he responds.

You huff. “Just getting started? That was the warm up? Man… The payoff better be worth it.

 Shadow chuckles, “Well either way, we’re in it together.”

“And may that never change.”

You bump forearms.

 

 


	17. Act 2: Knights of a Modern Age: Forever in the Dark

# Act 2: Knights in the Modern Age

#           Chapter 17: Forever in the dark

 

You wake up from your sleep. You feel Elsa laying on you and smell her breath, which actually is quite nice. The niceness was overwhelmed by pain and the exhaustion of your body. It’s like doing a really good workout and feeling sore the next day. Your entire body just feels sore and you can feel the damage you received.

 

Being with Elsa takes the pain away, at least from your mind. The less you focus on it the less it hurts. You move Elsa’s hair out of her face so you can completely see it. She looks so cute sleeping. Her little snore she does still gets you to this day. You stare at her for a bit before kissing her and sneaking out of bed.

 

You try to clear you head of everything but something is swirling in your mind. The things Adgar gave you. You can feel them in your pocket. You have no idea what they’re supposed to mean, but they have to be important. As important as it is, however, you feel like your friends are more important right now. Whatever is on the phone can wait.

 

You make your way to the shower to wash off the dried blood. However, you don’t have any extra clothes, but you need a shower. Even though your clothes are almost completely destroyed, they’ll work for now.

 

You take off your shirt – what’s left of it – and look at yourself in the mirror. You have cuts, bruises, scorch marks and dried blood. You smile at yourself. No matter how much you just endured, you are still alive and they aren’t. You wish you could give a big “fuck you” to those who say human bodies are weak and frail. Then again you are an exception, but still.

 

You strip down and get in a nice warm shower. It really washes everything away. Especially the dirt and grime. You give every part of your body a good wash before you turn it off. You try yourself up, put on your clothes and head downstairs for food.

 

You slide down the railing and into the living room. You hear Olaf’s electric laugh in the kitchen. You smile at it, it has a type of soothing effect. You enter the kitchen to find Gerda, Kai and Olaf. They look over at you and smiles stream across their faces. Olaf runs over and gives you a big hug. He actually is heavier then you remember.

 

“(Y/N)! I heard you did amazing things again!” Olaf happily states.

“Well, maybe a little. But nothing as amazing as your hugs!” You compliment.

Gerda takes Olaf away from you and gets him into a seat. Kai walks beside you.

“Anna told us what happened… Are you alright?”

You huff, “Yeah Kai… I’m fine. I finally told them about my past.”

“How did they take it? Likely not the same as Gerda and I took it.”

 

“It was… a mixed bag. But hey, it’s all over now. Well, for the most part.”

Kai raises and eyebrow to show he was waiting for you to continue.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Really,” you lie.

Kai looks at you for a moment, his brow still raised. He nods and returns to his regular spot.

 

You had a feeling that Gerda and Kai probably knew more then they let on. But they have a duty to keep the secrets of the house, as they kept yours.

“By the way, your room is back to normal. We gathered your clothes and personal items and set them up as they used to be. That is if you want to stay here?”

You smile, “Of course I do!”

“Everyone will be happy about that. Also you should be too, as you now can change out of your battle gear,” she jokes.

 

You sit down at the table. Gerda gives you some toast and some condiments for starters. They won’t give everything out until everyone is here. You finish the toast and converse with Olaf a bit. Gerda asks you to wake everyone up for breakfast.

 

You enter Anna’s room first. To no surprise you find Anna and Kristoff in her bed. However they are a little exposed at the moment. Your eyes take in what you just saw and you quickly turn away.

 

“Good for Kristoff, but still…” your entire body shakes in a melodramatic way.

You keep your eyes averted from them and simply look at the door.

“Anna… Kristoff?” You say with a slightly loud voice.

The two wake up and realize they are naked. They cover up quickly.

 

“Hey (Y/N), when’d you get here? Oh my gosh you’re alright!” Anna realizes.

She forgets she is naked and burst out of the bed to hug you. Kristoff tries to grab her but she is too quick. She wraps her arms around you and pulls your back close to her. You feel her body press against yours. You blush intensely.

 

“Anna… you’re still… well… naked.”

She remembers this and quickly backs off. Kristoff laughs at Anna’s insane blushing and embarrassment. She hits him playfully.

“Breakfast is ready so… yeah I’ll see you there.”

“Of course,” Kristoff says.

 

You exit the room and try to contemplate what just happened. You noticed that Anna doesn’t feel the same as Elsa. Her body has a different… You can’t explain it. It’s just different. You shake your head to try and forget what just happened. You and Anna have been way to close on two separate occasions while you were with Elsa.

 

A thought enters your mind. What if you ended up with Anna? No. It wouldn’t be the same. You brush that thought away. You hate it when you think of things like that. It happens often. You once thought of joining Gaia against Elsa. What if that happened? What if they indeed killed Elsa but left you alive during your fight? These thoughts continue to soar through your mind. One sticks out in particular.

 

You remember when you were getting to Elsa in that last fight. What If Hans actually kissed Elsa? What if she fell for him right there and then? If Hans got his hands on her beautiful soft skin. If she succumbed to him and let him have his way with her. She wouldn’t do that. You know it.

 

Still, it’s those types of thoughts you struggle with at times. The “What if?” scenarios. You brush it all away and proceed to Elsa’s room. She was still sleeping soundly. You almost didn’t want to wake her but you knew you had to. You to her side and moved in close. You put your hands on her shoulder and lightly shook her.

 

“Elsa. Elsa you have to wake up,” you softly said.

Her stunning eyes slowly opened. They blinked a few times before she could register what was happening. She sees you and your goofy smile staring at her.

“Are you okay? Feeling drowsy or anything?” You ask.

 

“You’re the one who should be receiving questions,” says in a tired and playful voice.

“I’m not the one that died,” you counter. “You’re the one we should be worried about.”

“No,” she shakes her head, still having the same voice. “Everyone knows I am okay, thanks to you.”

“That’s debatable. I mean, you only got stabbed because you jumped in front of me. So it is somewhat my fault.”

 

She lightly smacks your face. “Oh shut up.”

She moves her hand back to your face, and rests it against your cheek.

“I thought you hated me… I thought you didn’t love me…” She groans.

She rolls onto her back and stares at the ceiling.

 

“Elsa… I…”

“You don’t have to say anything, (Y/N). I already heard you explain everything.”

“It’s not the same. Let me say some things I want to say only to you.”

She turns her head towards you, waiting for your speech.

“Elsa, it killed me to do that to you. I wanted so badly to turn around and kiss you and tell you I didn’t mean it. I was scared… I…”

 

Elsa chuckles then pulls you into her bed. She mounts you and stares into your eyes.

“I know exactly how you felt. I know what it’s like living in fear. But it’s okay now.”

She leans into your ear, “I love you.”

She moves from your ear to you lips. She meets your mouth with pure passion as she grinds on you. You’re surprised she’s in the mood for this right now.

 

You meet her passion with more of your own, then flip her over.

“My turn to be on top,” you whisper.

 

Anna and Kristoff got dressed and made their way downstairs. They found everyone except you and Elsa at the table.

“Where are they? It shouldn’t take this long to get up.”

Not a second later they heard a quiet scream from Elsa. The way she delivered it gave everyone an idea of where you two were.

 

Kristoff and Anna couldn’t stop laughing at this. They found it to be pay back for you walking in on them whilst they are naked. Gerda suggests Olaf watch some T.V. really loud. Even Kai can’t help but chuckle a bit. Gerda gives him a look before exiting the room with Olaf. Kai keeps stern for a moment before laughing again.

 

About an hour later the two of you came down. Elsa was in different clothes, even though she hasn’t had a shower yet. You were still in your ruined attire. You grab Elsa and slide down the railing. She giggles when you do this, then gives a slight bow as you release her at the bottom. You both turn to see everyone at in the living room.

 

“Hey guys,” you cheerfully greet.

Everyone looks at the two of you with smug looks. Neither you nor Elsa understand.

“Oh yeah… breakfast… I totally forgot about that,” you smile, rubbing the back of your head.

“We were just pre-occupied,” Elsa finishes.

“With what?” Anna smugly asks.

 

“Tending… wounds…” You answer.

Kristoff chuckles, “Man, you must have one heck of a wound Elsa. We could hear you from here.”

Elsa’s face lights up like a christmas tree, she goes completely red and hides herself in your chest.

 

“You… heard us?” You stutter.

Kristoff nods his head. Anna won’t stop smiling. Anna never stops smiling in these situations. You would like one time for her to be mad at you or something instead of looking so smug and victorious.

 

“Ahh, (Y/N) don’t stop,” Anna mimics overdramatically.

You blush a little, then look down at Elsa. She is dying from embarrassment right now.

“Well, I did find you two naked this morning. So don’t act all high and mighty.”

Gerda and Kai look over at Anna and Kristoff. Elsa slightly turns her head to look at them as well.

 

Anna smacks you with her stare. You chuckle, knowing you just got pay back.

The mood lightens in the room to friendly banter. Anna tries to defend herself but can’t find the words to do it. She just keeps stuttering. Everyone gets a good laugh out of it.

 

“So (Y/N), what was It like having those powers?” Kristoff asks.

You sit on the couch and slouch. You try to think of a way to describe it.

“It was like… feeling my anger for the first time, but it was finally under my control.”

“Feeling your anger for the first time?” Anna questions.

 

You remember that Carnage is no longer with you. That he sacrificed himself so you could win.

“As I have said, whenever I got mad Carnage would take over. I never really knew what anger felt like because he stopped me.”

“Carnage?” Kristoff queries.

“The violent one.”

He nods.

 

“But now…” You pause for a moment, “He sacrificed himself so I could win. He and I are one in the same now. It’s weird, I don’t really understand it myself.”

“Are you happy he’s gone?” Elsa inquires.

You let out a huff, “I don’t know. I really don’t. I know he was a murderer and did so many awful things but… he led me here, with all of you. I think he just had a bad childhood.”

 

The room goes silent for a moment, but it’s broken by Elsa’s chuckle. Everyone looks at her.

“Even with someone who ruined so much of your life, you still try to see some good in him…”

She looks at you and smiles. “That’s one of the things I love about you.”

You are stunned for a moment, but then adopt a goofy smile accompanied by a quiet laugh.

 

“Oh, I hate to interrupt but shouldn’t we get going, Elsa?” Anna mentions.

Elsa looks at Anna with a questioning stare. They look at each other for a moment until Elsa understands.

“Right, we should go. We’ll see you two later.”

 

“Wait, what? Why?”

“Girl stuff,” Anna says.

“What does that even mean?” You continue.

“It’s girl stuff sweetie, you don’t wouldn’t want know,” Elsa teases.

 

The girls leave the residence and head on into town. You are left confused.

“What is girl stuff?” You ask aloud.

Kristoff laughs, “You probably don’t want to know.”

 

You both head to your room to hang out. You change your clothes to a simple jeans and t-shirt. While changing you placed the phone and computer chip on the dresser. You forget to pick them back up.

 

“So… the noises? Or should I say… moaning,” Kristoff mocks.

You give him a look, “Really?”

“You must be something for her to moan that loud.”

You shake your head, “Hell, I’m surprised you’ve never heard her before.”

“I know that feeling. I’m surprised you never heard Anna.”

 

You are about to respond, but you don’t even want to know.

“So, was she your first?” Kristoff smugly asks.

“What is with you right now?” You smile.

“I’m bored and need some entertainment. I thought we established this before.”

You shrug, then go to the bathroom to brush your teeth. Kristoff follows you.

 

“So… was it the first time, you know? Bowchikawowwow”

You look at him oddly, “What does that even mean?”

“You know, did the deed. Laid the… You know exactly what I mean.”

You chuckle then finish with your teeth.

 

“First girl I loved?”

Kristoff’s faces drops to a fake disappointment, “I already know she isn’t that.”

You laugh, “I know.”

You both walk out of the bathroom and back to your room.

“Oh, by the way. She was the first girl I bowchikawowwowed,” you mock.

“Shut up, man,” Kristoff smirks.

 

Kristoff sits on a chair a little bit away from you.

“So… really. Are you okay?”

You look at him oddly, “What do you mean?”

“(Y/N), I know you like to play macho and everything but a lot just happened. I doubt you are unfazed by Elsa’s death and your loss of… Carnage, I think you called him. It was a lot to process.”

 

You lay on your bed and look up at the ceiling. You are a little stressed right now, even if it’s all behind you.

“I don’t know man… I just hated that Elsa died for me.”

“How did you know you could save her?” Kristoff asked.

You smirk and look towards him. “I didn’t. It just seemed natural, like that giant fire dragon I created. I have no idea how I did that.”

“That was pretty badass though,” Kristoff praises.

 

You continue to stare at the ceiling.

“So… Is Shadow always talking to you? He’s always there?” Kristoff asks.

You knew there would be questions on this. You had very little answers yourself, but you had no problem in telling Kristoff everything.

“Well, not all the time. I could contact him whenever I want, but we aren’t continuously talking.”

Kristoff nods his head and slouches back in his chair.

 

You throw your upper body off the bed in urgency.

“Shit! The school!”

You bounce out of your chair and look to Kristoff. His face is ever calm.

“Oh man, what are they going to say?”

“Nothing,” Kristoff responds.

You’re confused. “What do you mean?”

 

“Gerda and Kai drove by the school last night. It was spotless. There was no trace of your fight.”

“But… how?”

Kristoff shrugs. “I have no idea. Someone had to of cleaned it after we left.”

You try to think of who could have done such a thing. The only person who comes to your mind is Rain, but he hasn’t shown up at all.

 

“Life is full of mysteries, huh?” You jest, obviously playing at the huge mystery that has surrounded all of you.

“That it is (Y/N), that it is.”

“Do you regret it? Being part of all this?”

Kristoff looks at you with a sort of “are you kidding me” face.

“No way. You and Elsa are the best friends I’ve ever had. Anna is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I wouldn’t give you guys up if my life depended on it.”

 

You smile. You are happy you decided to talk to Kristoff that day. You never would have guessed that it would have brought you here. That you would experience these events. But like Kristoff, you wouldn’t have it any other way. Except maybe for Elsa almost kissing Hans. That you would’ve wanted to change.

 

With all this thought on what has happened you remember the objects Adgar gave you. You get out of bed and grab them.

“Hey Kristoff, wanna solve a mystery with me?”

“Are we playing Clue? I love Clue!”

“No, why would we… never mind.”

 

You pull out the phone and unlock the screen. There is a message on the screen.

“Go to our room. Find your way.”

You stare at it for a moment then look at Kristoff.

“When I killed Adgar and Idun, they gave me these. I think there is more to it all. It says to go to their room.”

Kristoff is hesitant for a moment but submits and gestures you to lead on.

 

You both reach the room and slowly open the door. The feeling you get when you open it makes you think this hasn’t been opened in years. The door seems so firm and old. You bot walk in and look around. It’s a nice room, to be honest. There is a T.V. mantled on the wall, opposite the bed. There are pictures of Anna and Elsa on the dresser and the bedside table. Some random decorations and nice bedding. It seems pretty normal.

 

You both start to look around to find anything that could be of value.

“Hey (Y/N), come here,” Kristoff says.

You walk beside him. He is pointing at a picture of young Anna and Elsa, which was located on their bedside table.

“They look so cute when they were young,” he says.

“I think this is before Elsa hit Anna with the ice blast,” you point at Anna’s hair. “See, no white streak.”

 

Just then the alarm clock begins to go off. It is an old analog clock but it seems to be modified for modern times. You notice a small opening that could fit a chip. You take out the chip and place it in there.

“What are you-“

 

Kristoff is cut off by a large section of the wall opening up. It has a facial recognition scanner that waits for a face. You grab the computer chip before continuing.

“What are you doing? Who knows what could happen?” Kristoff warns.

You ignore his warning as you walk up to it.

 

You place your head in the proper position, and start to hear a scanning sound.

“(Y/N), code name: Overlord. Access granted.”

The scanner retreats into the wall and an elevator opens. It almost feels like it’s calling you to it. You begin to get excited.

 

“Seems there is more to this house than meets the eye. However, how did nobody notice this? Especially the servants, Gerda and Kai?” Shadow chimes in.

“Well, it seems to have been closed off for a long time. Plus it took that chip to open it, so I doubt anyone could have accessed it to begin with.”

Kristoff looks at you awkwardly. “Um… Who are you talking to?”

You look at him then smile and rub the back of your head.

“Sometimes I forget to not speak aloud, sorry.”

“Shadow?”

“Shadow,” you confirm.

 

Kristoff shrugs. He remembers a couple other times when you would talk to yourself, and started to realize it now. Even though you’ve had it for years, you still seem a little goofy with it. Then again, you are quite goofy. It was one of your best traits, at least from what Elsa would always tell Kristoff.

 

You walk into the elevator and turn around. Kristoff hasn’t joined you yet.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know… Let’s just get this over with. I have a bad feeling.”

“Oh man, you jinxed it,” you joke.

Kristoff smirks as he walks into the elevator with you. His gut is telling him that something bad is going to happen.

 

The elevator doors close but nothing happens. It just sits there. You and Kristoff wait for a moment, wondering if it’s actually not moving or just a really smooth ride.

“So… are we going down?” You ask.

As soon as you finish the sentence the elevator shoots down at a devastating speed. It throws you both up to the ceiling. You push yourself down then lock yourself in a corner. Kristoff is having trouble doing that.

 

You push off the wall under him. You grab his waist and pull him down. During your rescue the elevator stops. You fly up and crush Kristoff between you and the roof, then he falls on you. Thankfully he is a lot bulkier than you, so you don’t hurt him too much. However he does a number on you when you are on the receiving end. He rolls off of you and helps you up.

“Thanks man…”

He chuckles.

 

The elevator doors open to a vast room of darkness. You can’t see two feet ahead of you. The only thing that helps is the light from the elevator. You both walk in, but keep on alert. You were hoping for minimal conflict. You were still banged up from yesterday, and you don’t think you could stand another fight right now.

 

The door to the elevator closes, which causes you fall in the darkness. You and Kristoff go back to back. You do this so you don’t lose each other. The lights start breaking through the darkness and showing the area. It seemed to be a split facility from what you can see. There was a large open area, which is what you are in now. The floor seemed very bright, as small square lights covered the floor and even spread to the walls.

 

The other part was more closed off from this section. From what you saw it had a massive computer there, but it was blocked off by the walls of the current room you were in. You and Kristoff moved slightly away from each other and looked around.

 

“It looks like an arena…” Kristoff muttered.

“(Y/N), I’m conflicted you could make it,” Adgar’s voice says over an intercom. “On one hand you actually got here, which is worth praise. You survived this long given your problems. On the other hand, I have died. You can see how I don’t jump for joy at that fact.”

“I’m sure the world will be devastated,” you mumble.

 

“Well, since you’re hear I bet you want to learn what secrets we have hidden. They are yours if you can prove yourself worthy of them. The room you are standing in is a training room with different settings. If you want to get into the research lab, then you have to complete the Overlord Protocol. Of course you can train to your heart’s content in this room to prepare. This room was modified for you after we arrived.”

 

The recording stops and you both wait for something to happen. Nothing occurs, which confused you. You have an idea, which may have you look like an idiot.

“Computer, what is Overlord Protocol?”

A few beeping noises fill the air.

“Overlord Protocol is a hyper realistic simulation intended for Overlord. In this, the user must face all the elementals listed in my databanks, plus the Duke and Duchess. The user will experience pain in this simulation. If the user receives too much pain for the body to handle, then the user will die.”

 

You look over to Kristoff and shrug.

“I can’t do that right now. Maybe in a few days.”

“(Y/N), no!” Kristoff denies.

You are confused. “What do you mean?

“Look, I understand you want to learn about your past and what these people were doing, but don’t you think there has been enough lately?”

 

You stare at Kristoff as he speaks.

“Think about it. These past few weeks have been hell. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do this and I’m not saying you shouldn’t train with this, because I know you will. I’m saying that maybe we should have a break from all the action for a bit. Let everyone catch their breath.”

 

You contemplate what he is saying. It does make sense, and he never said you couldn’t use it to better yourself.

“But we should tell the girls,” you say.

Kristoff nods. “Of course, but how about we wait until school ends? That way we won’t fail it or anything. We’ve already missed enough.

“But that’s so far away,” you whine.

“But it’s for the best. Train all you like, just don’t go off on some journey for the truth just yet.”

 

You accept Kristoff’s logic. You agree that Anna and Elsa deserve a break from all the fighting. You both leave the room and enter the elevator. You command it to take you up, and it does. It flies at high speeds to the top. You again experience difficulty keeping yourself in place.

 

After a few hours the girls come home. They still won’t tell you what they did, and you made a joke out of the whole thing. You and Kristoff told them about the training ground beneath the house. You told them about the message you received from Adgar, and the secrets that are still hidden. They agree with the idea to wait until school ends. Elsa can see you aren’t completely on board with the idea and holds your arm tight.

 

“We’ll get the truth (Y/N), you can count on it.”

You smile at her then kiss her. You were happy that, for a few months, you could spend some quality time with Elsa.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

The board room is filled up with twelve men. They are all in business suits and are listening. There is one man who is in some casual wear, that is mostly black and a dark pair of jeans. He is at the head of the table.

 

“And with our deaths, we leave Westergaard Anderson Industries to our daughter, Elsa Anderson. We have appreciated the partnership with all of you, and hope you all work well in your future and current projects.”

 

The room stays silent for a moment.

“We can’t have one of our own projects run our company,” one man argues.

“Of course not! We should use our resources to kill the Ice Queen and Overlord while we can!”

Everyone continues to argue except for the one at the head. He slams his fist onto the table.

“Enough!”

The room goes silent.

 

“The Duke and Duchess made us the wealthy men we are today. There would be no W.A. Industries without the Andersons. We respect their decision and let Elsa take over.”

“But Alec,” one begins.

“No. No buts. We have quite some time to cover any projects up. Elsa will need to finish school before she can take over the company, which means you have months to cover your asses and move your projects to a different location. And I swear, if any of you make an attempt on Elsa or (Y/N) then I will kill you myself. We must respect the wishes of the Duke.”

 

“The Hierarchy will not stand for this!”

“They were the second highest members in the Hierarchy. They have more of a say than any of you. Only the Monarchy could over rule them, and I doubt they give a shit.”

Nobody argues Alec’s statement.

“So what do we do about Hans?” Another Westergaard asks.

“We let him be. If he interferes with anything then we will take action, but for now we leave him to his business. This meeting is adjourned,” Alec declares.

 

The men angrily leave the room while Alec stays. He closes his eyes and relaxes a bit. This is interrupted by a call on his tablet. He picks it up and clicks the accept button. A man’s face pops up on the screen.

 

“Sir, we have a-“

He is cut off by a crashing sound.

“Man here who wishes to see you.”

Alec shrinks the call to half the screen and brings up the security camera on the other. He smiles and shakes his head.

“Send him up.”

 

A few minutes later a man walks into the room.

“How many guards did you take out this time, Hunter?”

Hunter chuckles and shakes Alec’s hand. “Only seven this time. They’ve gotten fast at calling you.”

Alec laughs and gestures Hunter to take a seat, which Hunter does.

“So, I assume you know what’s happened,” Hunter starts.

“Know? Hell I have seven reports on what happened. Me and all the other members of the Hierarchy. They’re all calling for your brother’s death.”

 

“The entire Hierarchy?”

Alec nods his head.

“Does that include..?”

“Yes, it does. The Monarchs are part of the Hierarchy. Hell, they’re the leaders of the damn thing.”

Hunter pauses for a moment. He is hoping the Monarchs will stay away, but the likely hood of that is slim.

 

“So what does that mean?”

“Well, the Monarchs sent me a message saying they would be arriving this coming July. But that may change.”

“I’m going to assume in a bad way,” Hunter asks.

“Yes. Hans is searching for the Monarchs. He wants revenge, and is looking for them to help him.”

“Would they?”

“Not for Hans’ reasons,” Alec states.

 

Hunter and Alec stand up and look out the window.

“(Y/N) did discover the Duke’s lab, which is home to the same sort of training simulator you use. It will improve his strength, and also lead him to some answers.”

Hunter stays silent.

“Which will take him to the North Mountain. I would say that’s a good place to reveal yourself.”

Alec looks over to Hunter, who is lost in thought.

 

“Hey,” Alec says, putting his hand on Hunter’s shoulder.

“(Y/N) is passing all our expectations. We never thought he would’ve had the power to kill the Duke and Duchess, yet he did. He is like his brother.”

“Handsome?”

“Stubborn.”

 

The two chuckle. They both look out the window once more.

“Alec, be honest. Do you think we can beat the Monarchs?”

“You know them better than I do. You tell me.”

Hunter remains silent. Alec picks up on the hint.

“Hey, you’re a smart guy. You’ll figure it all out. I’ll help you as much as I can, but I can only do so much.”

“I know.”

 

Hunter walks towards the exit.

“Do you still have that sword?” Alec asks, still looking out the window.

“I’ve saved it for him. I think he’ll like it.”

 

Hunter is escorted out of the building and to the streets of Arendelle. He thinks back on your battle and your victory. He wants to help you, but he has things to do right now. He has to prepare for the Monarchs arrival. He knows exactly who to find.

“I hope there’s a high chance for rain today,” he chuckles.


	18. Whatever Happens

Chapter 18: Whatever Happens

9 months later

Anna is sitting on the couch writing in her diary. She giggles at a few things she is writing. All she can think about is how amazing these last few months have been. With no catastrophes occurring, you have all had bonding time. You and Elsa have become extremely close. Almost every day another special thing would happen between you two.

Anna and Kristoff were doing great too. Anna offered Kristoff to live at her house, but Kristoff didn’t want to leave his family just yet. Pabbie has been having strange dreams lately and Kristoff wants to be there to hear them. When Pabbie is having strange dreams it usually means something is wrong.

Anna didn’t agree with some of the things you’ve done the past few months. For starters, you were always down in the training room. Elsa and Kai would drag you back up to make sure you were social. Sometimes you would even forget to eat. Kai made you promise that you would finish all your homework and spend time with everyone before you went down there. You never meant to leave everyone, but there was a desire in you to get stronger.

Shadow was also more present lately. He would always leave in the middle of the night and not come home for hours. Nobody ever knew what he was doing, and when they asked you it was met with confusion. You ask him about it, but he says not to worry. That he needs some time to play as well.

Shadow also started using the training room for himself. Your body had become much stronger after all this time, but you still never activated the Overlord Protocol, even though you wanted to. You made a promise not to do so until school is over. But it’s the last two weeks of school, which means you can try it soon. 

Anna hears her phone ring and grabs it. She chats on the phone for a moment before coming to a realization. She hangs up the phone and rushes to her parents room. Before she could activate the elevator a huge earthquake occurs for a moment. Everything in the house topples over, including Anna.  
“Ow…” She said, rubbing her head.   
She picked herself up and remembered you.  
“Oh my gosh! Is (Y/N) okay?”  
She runs into the elevator and activates it. You made sure that the elevator had a better decent than it did the first time you used it. The ride ends and the door opens. Anna sees you lying on the ground.  
“(Y/N)” she shrieks, running over to you.

When she sees your face she becomes unamused. You are laughing. She walks up beside you and hovers over you.  
“Hey Anna, how’s it go-“ you are cut off by her kicking you in the ribs.  
You grab them and moan.  
“Man, you hit hard. Wow…”  
Anna chuckles for a moment, but retains her serious face. 

“What happened? The whole house shook!”  
“It did? Sorry,” you chuckled. “Anyway, I was trying to activate that mode again. I haven’t been able to do it since the first time. In the session, I was hit by a bunch of elements at once. It hurt.”  
Anna shakes her head and lies beside you. You both look at each other for a moment.  
“Hey, where’s Elsa? Wouldn’t she normally be the one beating my door down?”

“Elsa and Kristoff are out shopping. Like we should be doing.”  
You cough. “Why?”  
“You forgot, didn’t you?”  
“Evidently.”  
“It’s prom this week!”  
“And?”  
Anna gives you a look. “Elsa wants it to be special, (Y/N). We should be buying a suit and dress.”

You laugh, “Yeah, like I’m going dress shopping with you.”  
She smacks your chest, which is still sore from the training.  
“Ow,” you complain.  
Anna blushes, “Sorry, sorry… Wait no, no you insulted me! It would take ten minutes!”  
You burst out laughing at the statement.  
“It would take ten minutes for me. It would take hours for you. You’d find thirty ‘perfect dresses’ and cycle through them eight times. There is no way I am shopping with you. No way.”

Anna is upset you think so little of her. She looks at you with a pouting, angry face. You try to resist but you know Anna will never stop asking you.  
“Oh…fine. Just let me shower and change.”   
Anna giggles in excitement and helps you up. She grabs one of your hands and pull. You pull as well, but you use to much force and Anna falls right on top of you.

You chuckle at the situation before lifting yourself and Anna up. Anna is blushing and rapidly apologizing. You are curious as to why she is taking it so seriously. Then again, you may just not be taking it seriously when you should. Either way you brush it off and head upstairs for a shower. 

You take off your clothes and hop in the shower. You stand there for a moment, thinking. There has been so little going on for you. You and Kristoff have become quite the band, without even trying. Pubs and musical gatherings have asked you both to come and play. You never said no to playing guitar, as Elsa was always impressed with how fast your fingers could move. She would always make a dirty joke about it, which surprised you. Even though Elsa can be playful, you didn’t think her mind was as polluted as yours.

You think about Hunter. You haven’t seen him lately. You assumed he went to your school, as you’ve only ever seen him there, but he was never around. You were getting fond of him, even though you only talked to him twice. He seemed like a good guy. Seemed like someone you could talk to. You wish you knew more about him, but it doesn’t matter now. With everything else that has been happening he may have been forgotten.

You turn off the shower and dry yourself off. After giving your hair a dry you wrap the towel around your waist and start to go to your room. You check yourself out for a minute. It seems like it was only yesterday that you were filled with scars. Now your body is clean and normal. There is a difference between then and now, however. You are a lot stronger than you used to be. Your muscles are noticeably more defined, but not like those magazines that always show ripped men.

You didn’t want that. You didn’t care about the physical appearance of your strength, you cared about the actions that strength could do. But you have augmented your strength more than it used to be. You’ve been training really hard for what is coming, and you won’t stop until you’ve passed what you think is enough. 

Your favourite part was training with the gravity higher. You could act natural at 2.5 times earth’s normal gravity. You found it odd how your body could handle the pressure, but your bones never broke. Your body never became a pancake, which you’re sure Elsa appreciates. She never understood your need to get so strong. You were likely the strongest man on the planet, but you felt like you needed more. Like if you took a rest, declared that you reached the highest point of your strength, then this training simulator would demolish you. 

The computer even said that you can die if you aren’t careful. You seem to always find a way to win, but that was with Carnage. You don’t have Carnage anymore, which means it’s all you and Shadow. You feel as if you need a guarantee that you can win, no matter what. That you will find these answers about who you really are. 

You chuckle then head to your room. Anna passes by you.  
“So we can head out now?”  
“As long as I can put some clothes on. I mean, I’m sure nobody would mind if I went to the mall like this but…”  
Anna laughs. “I’m sure all the girls would fall for you right then and there, (Y/N).”  
You laugh in turn and make your way to your room. You grab a black long sleeve shirt and a pair of jeans. You slip them on really easily then run to the front door to meet Anna.  
“So, are you gonna drive, or am I?” Anna asks.  
You shrug. “Up to you.”  
“You drive.”

She walks over to your new car that the family bought for you. They felt like you needed a car, rather than walk around all the time. It was a super car that you didn’t recognize. Gerda said it was a custom made for you. You didn’t want to know the price of it. You took it for a few test drives. It was fast, agile, and beautiful. It seemed like it was trying to copy you. The car had an amazing looking shell with a pure white colour. You never asked for a car, but they gave it to you anyway.

You didn’t mind too much, as it got from A to B and that’s all you really want in a car. The beauty of its shell is an added bonus, you won’t deny. You grab your keys from the bowl inside and unlock the door. Anna sits in the passenger seat and you sit in the driver seat. This was Anna’s dress shopping day, so she seemed a little more peppy than normal. That’s saying something.

“So I made a list of all the places we should go,” Anna says, handing you a list.  
You read it and your eyes explode. There were at least fifteen stores written down on this page, and none of them were for you.  
“Anna… I only need to go to Moore’s. Why do we need to go to all these places?”  
“Well, they all have really nice dresses. How else am I supposed to find the–“  
“Perfect dress?” You finish, hinting at what you said earlier.  
Anna stares at you for a moment, realizing what you are saying.  
“Shut up, (Y/N),” Anna laughs.

You chuckle and start up the car. You drive out of the driveway and onto the road. Your seven hour journey begins. You decide to get yours out of the way first, and head to a Moore’s. Anna complains about this at first, but then gets excited at the thought of finally seeing you in a suit. You both enter the store and are greeted by a well-dressed man.

“(Y/N)!” A man said, dragging your name out.  
“Ah crap,” you say under your breath. “Hey, Matt.”  
“Aw, I was hoping you’d be happier to see me,” he responds.  
Anna noticed a strong lisp on this man. She does recognize him, but can’t put her finger on it.  
“So who’s this sweet thing you have with you? Oh, the other sister. How daring of you (Y/N),” Matt teases.

Anna remembers! He was one of the people who went to your school. He graduated last year but always came back to visit. He took a fancy to you, in two ways.  
“It’s not like that Matt, Anna is ju–“  
“Oh I get it, I get it. So, I can only imagine you came here for a suit.”  
“Well, kind of. I came here to see you too. You invited me here once, remember.”  
“Oh I do! I’m surprised you remember. So, we’ll get you set up in a PERFECT suit,” Matt says, eye balling your figure. “I’m guessing this is for prom?”  
You nod. “Anna is making me do it now, rather than later.”

Anna waves shyly, and you snicker at that.   
“She’s getting her dress today too. I just wanted to get my suit over with first.”  
“I understand. So how about we get to try on some suits.”

The process takes longer than you wanted. Matt continually said that it wasn’t good enough for you, even when you thought it was fine. He kept saying, “With a body like yours you need the perfect suit.” Even though it was taking up Anna’s dress time, she was stirring up quite the conversation on what suits could work on you. You weren’t enjoying how long this was taking.

Eventually – an hour and a half to be specific – a suit was finally “suitable” enough for you. You chuckled at the pun you made. Anna and Matt gave you a look and went back to their discussion. The suit was black, and had a black dress shirt underneath. You wanted a white one but you realized your opinion barely mattered anymore. You were just a mannequin they were using for their amusement. Oh how you wish Elsa was here. Or even Kristoff. You wonder how their endeavor is going.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kristoff walks out of a different Moore’s with a suit in a suit bag. He's happy with his purchase, as it's plain and simple. Elsa's ready for her dress shopping, however she has more of a plan than Anna did.

“So, where are we going first? And why couldn’t you take Anna or (Y/N) along?”  
Elsa gives a look to Kristoff. “Well, for one, (Y/N) can’t see what dress I am wearing! That ruins it. Same goes for you and Anna. Second, (Y/N) probably would forgotten about getting a suit if Anna didn’t use her personality to get him out of the house.”

Kristoff laughs, “He can beat all these super powered people, but can’t stand up to you two.”  
“Yes, cause all he does is train all day,” Elsa says with some bitterness.  
Kristoff catches this.  
“Elsa…”  
“I know, I know. That wasn’t fair of me to do. He spends a lot of time with me and sets up some pretty marvelous dates. The days where we do nothing at all are still magical. But…”

Kristoff puts his hand on Elsa’s shoulder. “He cares about you more than anything, you know that. He just needs to figure out more about himself. I would want to know more too if I was some sort of project. I know you somewhat understand, and you may not completely agree, but your support means everything to him.”  
Elsa smiles at Kristoff’s speech.  
“Besides, you’re gonna blow him away with the dress you’ll pick.”

Elsa smiles. “Speaking of that, we have a much easier dress picking than Anna and (Y/N) does. I made sure to tell Anna to keep (Y/N) out of the house for a long time.”  
Kristoff raises his brow. “What do you have planned?”  
“I’ll explain on the way, let’s go!”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Shadow, can you please take over for me? Please? I will love you forever,” you beg.  
“For one, I don’t care whether you love me or not. Two, HA. You’re on your own for this one (Y/N).”  
You face palm.  
Matt got off of work after you got your suit. He and Anna are choosing dresses now. You are on the verge of smashing you head against every wall you encounter.

Just as you predicted, Anna has found too many dresses for her to wear. You are graced with the marvelous job of carrying everything. EVERYTHING. This wasn’t just dresses anymore. Anna found even better shoes to wear, some great make-up and so much more. You complained about it and called everything heavy but it didn’t even break a sweat for you. The one drawback of your strength! The one weakness!

Anna wants to find a dress that could compliment her white streak of hair. Matt agrees completely on her thoughts. Unfortunately, the dresses she picked didn’t follow this new line of thinking. They bring all the dresses back to their stores and apologize. You set them down one by one. As you do it, you hear someone giggle.

You look over to find a girl with blonde hair and a nice figure giggling at you. She was very attractive, and her giggle was pretty cute, but not as cute as Elsa’s. She is in a uniform, which likely means she works at the store, though you don’t remember seeing her before.  
“You know, laughing at someone’s misfortune is not very nice. Ever heard of karma?” You mention.  
“Ever heard of a cart?” She retorts.  
“Ouch, you got me there,” you chuckle, setting the last of the dresses down. “But how else would I be able to show off my amazing strength?”

She walks a bit closer to you.  
“I don’t know, go to the gym, enter a contest, go into some professional fighting club,” she cheekily responds.  
“Ha, professional fighting wishes they had something on me,” you say, not realizing you almost spilled a secret.

“(Y/N)! Come on, we’re going!” Anna calls out.  
“Stop flirting with girls,” Matt teases.  
You start jogging towards them. “Flirting? I wasn’t flirting! I can’t even flirt!”  
“That’s not what Elsa says,” Anna chuckles.  
You blush at the statement. You look back to the girl. She is smiling and waving at you. You give a smile and a wave before leaving. 

Anna hits you on the back of the head. “Stop it (Y/N)! Elsa will get jealous!”  
“Elsa isn’t the jealous type… is she?” You say.  
“As her sister, I will inform you that she indeed is the jealous type.”  
You look at Anna oddly. “How sophisticated of you, Anna.”  
“It’s all these fancy stores,” she laughs. “Hey, we should get some chocolate! It’s been a long day!”  
Matt gets excited at the idea. You huff.  
“We have a huge supply of chocolate at home, remember?”  
“Yes, but Matt won’t be there! He’s been so helpful!” Anna compliments.

You decide not to argue and just go along with it. The three of you reached the chocolate shop. Anna was the first to order some. You sat back and waited for the two to order.  
“Are you getting any, (Y/N)?” Anna asks.  
You make your decision and follow through. Everyone cleans up and heads off to another store.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

5 hours later

You push the door to your house open and fall face first on the couch. You don’t even notice Elsa sitting on the couch with you. You almost fell right on her lap.   
She giggles. “Had a fun day?”  
“That was more exhausting than the training I’ve been doing.”  
Elsa giggles some more. “Anna can be quite the handful, at times.”

Anna walks in with her arms crossed.  
“(Y/N), you have to get my dress for me! How could you just leave me like that?” She teases.  
Kai volunteers to grab Anna’s dress and your suit. Anna makes sure Kristoff isn’t around before Kai enters.  
“Kristoff went home. You’re fine,” Elsa informed.  
Anna nodded and ran to her room with her dress. 

“Shall I place this in your room?” Kai asks you.  
“I don’t even care,” you say, your voiced muffled by the fact your face is in the couch.  
Kai stood there for a moment.  
“He said yes,” Elsa responds with a smile.  
Kai nods and starts walking to your room.

Elsa moves her eyes to the back of your head. She giggles again, and puts her book down.  
“Are you going to face me?” She asks.  
You let out a muffled moan.  
“Is that a yes?”  
Another moan. Elsa shoots a small blast of ice at your butt. You jump off the couch and hold your butt.  
“What was that for?” You exclaim.  
“See, you moved,” she smiles.

You smile back and lay on the couch. You go to the same spot, but this time with your face actually facing the rest of the world. Elsa leans over and kisses you. It’s a little weird, since it feels like you’re upside down. But you never pass up a chance to kiss Elsa. 

She backs away from your lips and smiles.  
“So what’s the plan for this week?”  
“I don’t know. More training, probably. I haven’t played gui-“   
You are cut off by Elsa slapping your stomach.  
“No silly! Prom! You make sure that you don’t forget!”  
You smile, “Well, you do have a talent for distracting me and making me forget.”  
She chuckles, “Flatterer.”

You spin your body around to face Elsa then pull her close. She giggles at your actions.  
“I can show you some real flattery, if you want,” you tease.  
“Oh please good sir, I must know,” Elsa melodramatically responds.  
You kiss her with great passion and she responds with the same. You pick her up and she wraps her legs around you. She giggles while she kisses you. This tickles your lips a bit. You start to bring her up the stairs but see someone in your way. Kai is standing a short distance in front of you with his brow raised. 

You shrug and bring Elsa to her room. Elsa didn’t notice, so she never complained. Kai rolled his eyes at the two of you.  
“Young love. I’m surprised they’ve kept their passion for so long.”  
“Those two were made for each other,” Gerda chimed in, walking out of the kitchen.  
“That they were. It’s almost scary how well Elsa connected with him after she distanced herself from everyone else.”  
“He is special, you know that,” Gerda says. “He has a certain something that makes people believe and trust in him.”

Before their conversation could continue the doorbell rings. Kai makes his way to the door and opens it.  
“Hello, is this the Anderson household?” A male voice asks.  
“Yes, it is. May I ask who you are and why you are here?” Kai asks.  
“Of course. My name is Alec Westergaard, CEO of W.A. Industries. I have business with Elsa Anderson.”

Kai bows then walks up to Elsa’s door. He knocks twice.  
“Ms. Elsa? You have a visitor.”  
“Tell him to go away,” you yell.  
“(Y/N)!” Elsa cheerfully giggles. “I’ll be there in a second.”  
“What? Why? You were the one who was getting-“  
A slap is heard.  
“Ow,” you complain.

Kai shakes his head and returns to the door.  
“She will be down in a moment.”  
“Not a problem,” Alec responds.  
After twenty seconds you and Elsa come rushing down the stairs. You slide down the railing while she made an ice slide for herself. She beat you to the bottom. Thankfully the stairs are hidden from the door, so the man doesn’t see her powers.

You make your way to the door with Elsa to see who was there. Alec didn’t look at Elsa right away. Instead he looked at you. He hasn’t seen you in the flesh for years, and was happy to see his best friend’s younger brother.  
“Hey, how’s it going?” You ask him, extending your hand. “My name is (Y/N).”  
“Alec is mine,” he responds, shaking your hand. “I’m doing quite well, thank you.”  
Alec gives you a quick smirk before turning his attention to Elsa.   
“Elsa Anderson? My name Is Alec Westergaard.”  
Both you and Elsa become weary of him. You have a bad taste when it comes to that family.

“How can I help you?” Elsa questionably asks.  
“I have come to ask whether my messenger boy has come to talk to you yet.”  
Elsa’s face shows confusion. “No, nobody has come on your behalf.”  
“Except maybe your brother.” You hiss.  
Alec looks at you. He knows exactly where your hatred is coming from, but he has no intention of messing with you.  
“There are a lot of us, and we’re all different. I assure you I am quite different from all of my brothers.”

You and Elsa share a look before turning your attention back to Alec.  
“Well, your parents left Westergaard-Anderson Industries under your name. I have been acting as CEO until you take over. But apparently you know nothing about it, so I will have to explain.”  
Elsa was going to question it, but decides to wait for his explanation.  
“You’re parents ran the company, and with their untimely death – which I am truly sorry for – they left their company in your name. When you finish school, you may be the CEO of the biggest company in the world.”

Elsa is surprised at this. She never expected something like this from a Westergaard. Or even at all. The CEO of a company? Her? You are equally as taken back by the information.   
“I’m the CEO of W.A. Industries?” Elsa states.  
“Only if you want to be. It is optional.”  
Elsa turns to you, her eyes are screaming for your opinion.

“So, what will Elsa have to do? She doesn’t have any experience with running a company,” you query.  
“I’ll teach her about it myself. I am fully behind you being the CEO, and will help you with getting in the groove. I also ask if I could be your advisor, to aid you in decisions. The choice will always be yours, but I would give my personal opinion.”

Alec looks between you and Elsa.   
“Listen, you have time to think about it. If you need more information then I urge you to come visit the company and see what we do. Whether you take over or not, you’ll still have royalties from the company. You’re basically going to be even more rich.”

Alec shakes Elsa’s hand before leaving. Elsa closes the door and walks over to the couch and lays on it. You watch her for a moment before bursting out the door and catching up to Alec.  
“Hey!” You call out, grabbing his arm.   
Alec hardly reacts. He starts to turn around and you let his arm go.  
“Why now? What’s with the timing? You had months after her parents died to contact her, but you do it now? What’s the purpose?”

Alec chuckles, “How did you know when her parents died?”  
You are without words at this. You have an explanation, but you aren’t going to tell this guy what happened. Alec smirks at your silence.  
“Cat got your tongue? No matter. To answer your question I simply respect the Anderson’s wishes. If they want their daughter to lead their company then that is what I support. I know you may not trust me, given your encounters with Hans, but I have nothing against you or your girlfriend.”  
“How did you know about Hans?” You ask.  
Alec exhales and looks around. He leans into your ear.  
“Once you complete the training program, come meet me at W.A. Industries.”

Your eyes widen at this. He knows more than he’s willing to tell. Before you know it you fall asleep. Shadow assumes his posture and cocks a smirk at Alec.  
“Surprise, surprise. W.A. is behind all this.”  
“No. Not all of it. I would say we’re just a proxy.”  
“A highly protected proxy,” Shadow counters.  
“You are quite perceptive, aren’t you, Shadow?”  
Shadow is slightly surprised. “You knew it was me?”  
“Your tone changes from (Y/N)’s. Your stance and postures shifts slightly. Your words and manner of speech is more sophisticated.”

Shadow chuckles. “Good to know I have a clear difference.”  
“It’s subtle, but there. I wonder, have any of (Y/N) or your memories come back to you? With the loss of Carnage I assume the memories don’t fade out from your mind.”  
Shadow gives a cynical look to Alec. “How did you know?”  
“Then you haven’t shared the information with (Y/N), have you? You know he would go rushing in without a thought.”  
“He tends to do that,” Shadow reflects.

Alec begins walking away. “I offer the same thing to you as I did to him. See me after your training is completed. I’ll offer you some aid.”  
Shadow watches Alec walk away. He is somewhat angry that there are things being hidden from him. Shadow wants to pin Alec down and beat the information out of him. But there isn’t time for that right now.

Shadow comes back into the house and closes the door behind him. Elsa lifts her head to see him come in.  
“What’d you-“  
“Nothing, it doesn’t matter,” Shadow coldly responds, passing by Elsa and heading upstairs.  
Elsa is perplexed at this response. She gets up from the couch and chases after him.

Shadow opens the door to the parent’s room and activates the scanner. Elsa enters the room during the scan.  
“(Y/N), what’s wrong?”  
“Scan complete.” The computer verifies.  
Shadow walks into the elevator and looks to Elsa.  
“I’m not the one you want to talk to, Elsa.”

The elevator door closes, leaving Elsa staring at the wall. Elsa isn’t stupid, she knows it’s Shadow. Elsa has had a few encounters with Shadow, and can tell his cold and distant tone from your warm and loving one. Elsa leaves the room and heads to Anna’s. She knocks on the door.   
“Anna? Can I come in?”  
“Of course. Come see my dress!”

Elsa walks into Anna’s room to see Anna in beautiful dress. The bottom half is a lovely shade or green. The body is black with some blue and red designs on it, and finally the shoulders are a darker shade of green. Anna is spinning around, letting the skirt part dance around her body. Anna’s smile is so wide, as she is obviously happy with her choice.

“Anna, you look beautiful,” Elsa compliments.  
“Thanks! I actually picked this a while ago and showed (Y/N)’s friend Matt a picture. He thought it was perfect. Though, I still kept him out all day, like you said. What was that about anyway?”  
Elsa leads Anna to her room and opens the closet. It is almost completely cleared out, except for one mannequin with a dress on it. Anna’s eyes widen. The dress is completely made of ice. It emanates with beauty. It sparkles, even in the dark closet. It is a thing with no parallel, no equal.

“Elsa… you…”  
Elsa giggles, “Do you think (Y/N) will like it?”  
“Like it? He’ll love it!” Anna hops in the air, clapping her hands. “You have to try it on! Please?”  
Elsa takes the dress off of the mannequin and puts it on. The icy feel doesn’t bother Elsa. She rather enjoys it. The dress fits beautifully on Elsa. There is some amount of cleavage, but not much. There is a sliver in the bottom half for a leg to be exposed. The dress complimented Elsa’s pale skin, and brought out her true beauty. Anna was over joyed.

“Elsa you look amazing! I can’t believe you made this out of ice!”  
“It took some inspiration. I took Kristoff out just to get some ideas for the dress. He was happy it didn’t take long.”  
The two giggle as they enjoy their time in the dresses. Elsa’s face falls flat as she remembers why she came to talk to Anna. Anna notices the lack of joy in her sister’s face.

“What’s wrong Elsa?”  
Elsa takes off her dress and places it back on the mannequin.  
“It’s… I don’t know. It’s silly.”  
“Come on Elsa. Is it about (Y/N)?”  
“Somewhat. It’s about that other one.”  
Anna realizes it may be a bit more serious than she originally thought. The two sat on Elsa’s bed.

“I worry about that. I know it hasn’t been too much to handle lately, but it’s weird seeing him be so cold towards me. I know it’s not him… but…”  
Anna chuckles a little bit.  
“What? What’s so funny?”  
“I swear you need a reminder every few months that he loves you,” Anna chuckles. “Even Kristoff notices that.”  
Elsa blushes then lightly smacks Anna. “Oh shush!”

Anna laughs, “I get it. It’s nice to be reminded that you’re beloved truly loves you, especially when said beloved has another person inside of them.”  
“That still seems really weird to me,” Elsa confesses.  
“Yeah, it’s weird. But (Y/N) always says that Shadow has nothing against us, he just doesn’t find a need to speak to us. But who cares about that! Right now you have to plan! You need proper hair, and make up, and… oh so much. Can I help you?”  
Elsa chuckles, “Of course you can.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Shadow blocks a punch, then breaks the arm that attacked him. He straightens his hand and chops the assailant’s neck. The man goes down, then disappears. The simulation ends, and the gravity is reverted to normal. Shadow is relieved by the release of pressure. Unlike you, he trains at 4x earth’s normal gravity. It is much more difficult to keep himself up, but he has learned to do it quite well. He too is baffled on the reason the body doesn’t collapse under the pressure. The only explanation he can think of is the project you were placed in.

Shadow enjoyed raising the stakes on training behind your back. This ensures that the body is more durable and capable than what you believe it is. He uses this just in case you believe you are in over your head. It’s like a safety net. He knows what the body can do more than you do. It is also the reason you are so much stronger, faster, and more tired. Two people are training with the same body.

You do train harder than Shadow does, at times. You like to place yourself against an overwhelming force with the gravity turned up. Shadow tends to have the gravity higher than you, but less people to fight. The method works for the way each of you go into battle. Alec was right in his statement regarding the difference between the two of you. Shadow heads to the elevator and returns to the main house. He lays on your bed and falls asleep, allowing you to regain control. 

Most of the time you barely notice. It’s like blinking then being in a completely different place at a different time. You are used to it, but know that Shadow has messed with something. You get out of bed and run right into the wall. You hold your head for a second and wonder what happened. You were going way faster than you normally do. That is usually a sign of gravity training. 

You take a moment and start hopping around the room. You get used to the gravity before leaving the room. You knock on Elsa’s door.  
“Elsa? You in there?”  
There was no response.  
“Hm… Maybe in Anna’s room?” You mutter.  
You hop over to Anna’s room and knock on the door.  
“Anna? You there?”  
“Yeah, come on in.”

You open the door to find Anna brushing her hair, and Elsa sleeping on her bed.  
“Why is Elsa..?”  
“She was tired. Also worried.”  
“About what?” You ask.  
“Your alter made her paranoid, sort of.”

“Damn it Shadow!” You yell in your mind.  
“Well she doesn’t have to be so sensitive,” he retorts.

“Oh… I guess you guys aren’t as used to that as I am,” you say.  
“Well, Kristoff and I are somewhat okay with it. But I can see where Elsa is coming from. Sometimes her boyfriend isn’t actually her boyfriend.”  
“Yeah… I guess that makes sense.”

Anna can see the sadness in your eyes, she cheers you up by giving you a hug.  
“Hey, you can make it up to her at prom! I know she’s looking forward to it.”  
“Yeah, I kind of am too.”

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The days seem to have flown right by, as tonight is the night! It’s prom! Elsa and Anna have gotten dressed up and are waiting for you and Kristoff to pick them up. You all agreed that you and Kristoff would get ready at his place while Anna and Elsa fixed up at theirs. Anna is freaking out while waiting.

“Why are they late? Does my hair look good?”  
Elsa giggles. "You look beautiful, Anna.”  
“You look beautifuller,” Anna responds, but soon regrets saying that. “Well not fuller but, more beautiful.”  
Elsa giggles some more. "Thank you. You have to calm down a little Anna. Kristoff is going to love how you look.”  
“That’s not fair for you to say, Elsa! You’re drop dead gorgeous in that dress. You even fixed your hair, make up, and everything.

Elsa’s hair flowed beautifully over her shoulder, braided like little snow flakes. Elsa used a little ice to make sure her hair stayed that way.  
“You look amazing Anna. Just give it a minute, they’ll be here.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Anna is going to kill me!” Kristoff yells from inside the car.   
He pokes his head out the window and looks back at you. Small drops of rain fall on his hair.  
“How’re you doing?”  
“Fuck you!” You yell, pushing the car across the road.  
Kristoff chuckles a little bit but is still concerned. He never thought his car was going to break down and limo is going to show up at the girls’ house any minute now.

Kristoff looks out the window to you again.  
“I thought you were stronger than this!” Kristoff taunts.  
You look at him with a half playful and half angry face.  
“I’ll come up there and show you how strong I am!”

The car keeps going on the road. Other cars honk and pass by. You ignore them and keep pushing the car. You curse the suit for its lack of flexibility. You swear it is going to rip sooner or later. The rain isn’t helping either. You’re basically soaked to the bone. You get annoyed with this whole situation. Even though you never showed care for prom, you hate being late to something you have agreed to go to. You push off the car and wait for a second.

“Just go!” You yell, giving the car a grand haymaker.   
The wheels spin fast as the car flies across the road. Kristoff grabs the wheel and attempts to lead it to safety. He checks the speedometer, which reads 80 mph.  
“Damn (Y/N), how strong are you?” 

After the punch your suit jacket rips completely. You let out a small huff then start running to catch up to the car. It is slowing down, and eventually reaches a spot close to Anna and Elsa’s house. You catch up and Kristoff makes fun of your little tantrum and your ripped clothes. You both notice the limo arrive at the girls’ house so you rush there. 

You talk to the limo driver while Kristoff rings the door bell and motions you to join him. The limo driver agrees to wait a couple minutes. He better, as he’s being paid well. You walk up to the door beside Kristoff just in time for the door to open. Gerda opens it and leads the two of you inside. She notices your ripped jacket and pulls you towards her.  
“What happened?”  
“Ask Kristoff,” you mutter.

The girls saw you both coming from outside, so they planned something for your arrival. Gerda knew what to do.  
“So, the girls requested you to get them from their rooms. They are a little childish,” she chuckles.  
“Not a problem Gerda, this is their night,” you smile.  
“It’s yours too. Make it a good one boys,” she says as she walks away.

You and Kristoff gives each other a quick smile before bumping fists.  
“Let’s make it a damn good night,” you say.  
“Can’t get any worse than you pushing a car,” he laughs.  
You shake your head as the two of you split up. 

You reach Elsa’s room and take a breath. You are wet, cold, and have a broken suit. You are just hoping she isn’t focused on the appearance of it all. Not that you look bad, but your clothes are a tad… ruined. You knock on the door twice before opening it. Elsa is standing in the middle of the room with her dress on. Your jaw drops when you see her. She has never looked more stunning than she does right now. Elsa giggles at your reaction.

“You like it?”  
“Like it? I love it! Is it made of ice?”  
She nods. She takes a look at you and becomes confused.  
“What happened to you?”  
“Don’t even get me started. Kristoff is getting a piece of my mind tomorrow.”  
“From the way Anna tells it, he may get a piece of her tonight,” Elsa says with slight aggravation.   
You laugh. “You can’t get mad at her for anything tawdry she does with him. You know what we’ve done, and that surpasses anything that they could do.”

Elsa looks at you and smiles. “Tawdry?”  
You shrug. "I don’t know.”  
Elsa walks around you with such a sexy walk that you just want to kiss her right now and forget all about prom. It’s almost killing you.  
“I suppose you need a new suit,” she says seductively.  
“I guess, but I don’t know- whoa baby,” you say as she uses her powers to remove your clothes and cover you with ice.   
The ice forms into a blue suit that perfectly fits you. It sparkles like Elsa’s.

“I think we’re matching now,” she giggles.  
You admire her work, but you can’t take it anymore. You grab her waist and pull her in to kiss you. She doesn’t fight back one bit. She embraces it. You took continue to make out for a couple minutes until Anna and Kristoff interrupt you.  
“We do have a prom to go to, remember? Hey… nice suit,” Kristoff comments.

You and Elsa smile before following the two out to the limo. You all find a spot and take position with your dates. Kristoff gives you a smirk and slight nod out of respect. He knew your girl looks amazing, but of course he has his eyes on Anna. You all have a great talk full of laughs and “awwww”s. You were all ready to graduate school, and tonight was the night to celebrate that.

You reach the school and thank the limo driver. You exit the car and take Elsa’s hand as she exits.  
“My lady,” you joke.  
“Why thank you,” she says, her hand on her chest.  
You wait for Anna and Kristoff before entering the school. The prom was in the show room. The same one that you and Kristoff played in throughout the year and at Battle of the Bands. 

Anna and Kristoff enter first. Everyone knew the two were coming together, but whispers could be heard wondering where you and Elsa were. You both stand outside the door before entering.  
“You ready Elsa?”  
“When I’m beside you I’m ready for anything,” she smiles.  
Elsa slips her arm through yours and gets close to you. You smile then open the door to the dance. 

Everyone stood silent as they watched you both walk in. Your matching clothes were absolutely stunning, but you knew Elsa was taking all the credit. She looked better than anyone there, and that was a fact. You both walk into the room and stand with Anna and Kristoff. The two are having a drink and chatting. You grab your own drinks and talk with them. The night is mostly just you four talking up a storm with the occasional person asking one of you to dance. You were surprised that people had the balls to ask Elsa to dance with them. She respectfully said no, as she was saving her first and last dance for you. 

Eventually a vote started coming around. It was to vote for the prom king and queen. You and Elsa voted for Anna and Kristoff. They seemed to be the best for the part. The two laughed when they heard it, as they voted for you and Elsa. Before the tallies were counted the final slow dance commenced. Elsa only wanted to dance to this, so you took her hand.  
“May I have this dance?”  
“I’ll have to think about it,” Elsa teases.

You pull her into the dance floor. You somehow find your way to the middle. Everyone else makes a circle around you. You had a lot of space for the dance. You pulled Elsa close to you and started dancing. Your form was perfect and you lead fantastically.  
“I never knew you were a dancer,” Elsa compliments.  
“I’m not. Fighting is kind of like a dance, so I had the basics down. Gerda made sure I knew how to dance properly though. You don’t know how many times she came into the basement and forced me to dance.”  
Elsa laughs imagining the sight.

She stops laughing and comes even closer to you. She lays her head on your chest and embraces the beautiful moment the two of you are having. You smile and somewhat lean your head on hers.  
“I love you, Elsa. I’ll always love you.”  
“I love you too, (Y/N)”

The dance is starting to come to its close. Another student goes on the stage with two ballets.   
“Okay ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to find out who the prom king and queen are! Let’s start with the queen!”  
He opens up the ballet and reads it.   
“The prom queen is… Elsa Anderson!”   
Elsa is surprised at this. You encourage her to go up. The whole room is applauding for her. She waves weakly as she stands on the stage. A small crown rests above her head.

“And now for the king… Kristoff!”  
The room goes dead silent. You aren’t really moved by it but everyone else is. Even Elsa is shocked. Kristoff slowly makes his way up to the stage.  
“We’re just messing with you buddy, sorry. The real king is (Y/N)!”  
Kristoff looks over at you and nods. You smile back and give a nod. You rush onto the stage and make your way beside Elsa.  
“You seemed a little worried,” you whisper.  
“I would rather choose my own king,” she responds.

The crown is put of your head.  
“Let’s hear it for King (Y/N) and Queen Elsa!”  
The crowd lets out a huge roar. The school photographers take pictures for the paper. You wink at the man then pull Elsa in for a passionate kiss. The crowd gets even louder. You break off and she gives you a conflicted smile.  
“Live in the moment, my love.”  
“My love? What’s with your speech today?”  
“I am the king you know, I have to have some kingly speech,” you joke.  
“Uh huh,” Elsa rolls her eyes with a smile.

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The four of you get back to your house. Anna and Kristoff won’t separate from each other. They kiss all the way to the bedroom, and you don’t want to imagine what’s going to happen next. You and Elsa head to your room. She slips out of her ice dress, and you do the same with your ice suit. You hang it and place it neatly in the closet.

Elsa pulls you in closer to her a resumes the dance you two were doing.  
“We never finished,” she says.  
You smile and continue to dance. A gloomy thought passes your mind.  
“You know… I’m going to do that training program soon. That may lead me to some answers.”  
Elsa lets out a weak smile, “I know. I’ve been complaining about it for months.”  
“Elsa… I have to do this. I’m sorry bu-“  
She puts her finger over your lips to stop you.

“(Y/N), I understand. I do, and I support you one hundred percent. If this leads you on some new adventure then so be it. I’m okay with it.”  
“Really?” You confirm.  
“Of course. Whatever happens I will be by your side. I will be your love to the end of time.”  
You smile and kiss her passionately. You know you’re ending this night exactly how Anna and Kristoff are ending it: tawdry-like.


	19. Open Sesame

#  **Chapter 19: Open Sesame**

 

School was finished quite quickly after that night. It seemed like it was only one day, but you know it was so much more. There were speeches, crying, and partying. You were told to give a speech, which you reluctantly did. Elsa laughed as you were sent up on stage. You pulled her along with you for morale support. She got mad at you but wouldn’t show it, as she was in front of the entire school. Anna and Kristoff giggled when they saw you brought Elsa up on stage with you.

 

You both stand there in front of everyone and stare at all the people who were with you through the school year. The idea of them not knowing what has really happened at the school… You watch the eyes of the school stare at you, and you try to think of something not too cheesy to say.

 

You look to Elsa, who smiles back at you. You once again look to the crowd and start.

 

“Life, huh? It’s a weird concept when you think about it. We’re brought into this world and are told we can do anything we set our minds to. But that’s only half true, as you have to fight for what you want, and you have to be ready to fail. These past years have been nothing but preparation to what lies ahead.

 

“I believe we all have an idea of what we want to do. Who we want to grow up to be like. But life doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes life changes, and you along with it. It’ll put you in a maze like a rat and laugh as you try and find your way out.

 

“Am I trying to discourage all of you? No. I doubt I could. As humans we have a conviction –a will,” you say, turning to Elsa and smiling. “To move forward and get what we want. It is that passion you hold that will push every obstacle out of the way. No matter how much gets in your way you WILL persevere and complete your goal.

 

“Life can’t keep us down! We’ve taken the tools of our youth and learned how to live! Whether you use your mind,” an image of Shadow comes into your head.

“Or your strength,” an image of Carnage pops into your head.

“You can do what you want to in life, and become the person you want. Be the man or woman you truly want to be, and don’t let anything keep you down!”

 

The crowd cheers and throws their hats in the air. You smile at the response. You didn’t think the speech was that great, but whatever.

 

The video tape pauses and everyone looks at you. You throw your head into the couch and let out a huff.

“It was a very nice speech, (Y/N),” Gerda compliments.

“You were so impactful,” Elsa giggles.

You move your head to see her still giggling in front of you. You grab her and pull her towards you. She falls on the couch, right on top of you. You quickly flip her over and smile at the victory.

 

“You two should be wrestlers or something. You do it enough,” Kristoff smugly remarks.

“I have to prove that I’m stro-“

Elsa quickly flips you over and freezes you to the couch.

“Prove you’re what, now?” Elsa grins.

Kristoff and Anna laugh at you. Gerda and Kai can’t help but chuckle too. You roll your eyes and try to break free. The ice is stronger than you anticipated.

 

“Having trouble?” Elsa taunts.

“Nope. Not one,” you struggle some more. “Bit.”

Anna gets up and walks over to the stairs.

“Well, I’m going to bed. Tonight was exhausting and I need the energy to look through all the pictures I took!”

Kristoff stands up and stretches. “Yeah, I better head home too. My family will want to congratulate me some more.”

 

Kristoff and Anna leave. Gerda and Kai finish up their duties before taking their own leave. Olaf was already sleeping, so it was just you and Elsa. Unfortunately you are still stuck to the couch, and Elsa won’t let you go.

 

“Seriously, when did your ice get so strong?” You complain.

Elsa sits beside you with a hot chocolate and some marshmallows.

“You didn’t even make me some?”

“Oh there is some for you,” Elsa says taking a sip from her drink. “You just have to go to the kitchen and get it.”

“I hate you,” you say.

“I love you too.”

 

You struggle some more before gathering enough force to break out of the ice. You stand up and look at Elsa. She has a giant smile and is still drinking her hot chocolate. Before saying anything you jog to the kitchen and grab a cup of hot chocolate. There were a ton of marshmallows in it, and most have melted or are in that awesome mid-way point where they are really soft. Elsa knew how to make a hot chocolate.

 

You sit back down and kiss Elsa on the cheek. She blushes as you do this. You found it funny that she still blushes when you do things.

“So really, how is your ice that strong?”

“You think you’re the only one whose been practicing?” She says, giving you a smirk.

You are baffled for a moment but smile after. You take a sip of your hot chocolate, which tastes magical. It’s the only word you can find to describe the taste.

 

You lower it and wait for a moment.

“You want to go for a walk?” You ask.

Elsa looks at you and smiles. “Will you piggy back me?”

“What are you, four?” you joke.

She pouts.

“Of course I’ll piggy back you.”

 

Elsa giggles and finishes her hot chocolate. You do the same. Elsa gets her shoes on and is ready to go. You open the door and start to walk out. After a few seconds you notice Elsa is not there with you. You turn back to see her hands out and a questioning look.

“Oh right, you’re piggy back.”

 

You rush over to her and let her get on your back. She giggles as you walk away with her.

“Couldn’t even walk out of the house?”

“Nope,” Elsa says enthusiastically.

You chuckle at the childish manner.

“You’re starting to sound like Anna.”

 

She smacks your head, which makes you laugh some more. You continue to walk down the road. You have an intended destination, but won’t tell Elsa where it is. You two talk during the walk. Your arms never get tired of carrying her. Her breath smells like mint, even after drinking a hot chocolate. It puts your breath to shame, which is why you try not to face her too much. You fail at that attempt, however, as you always like to see her face.

 

“So, what are you going to do about Alec and the company?”

She sighs, obviously in thought. Elsa hasn’t had much time to think on it, and her spare thinking time was spent on you.

“I think I may do it.”

“Really?” You ask, surprised.

“Yes. I think I’ll be able to learn things from that place, and maybe make the world a better place,” Elsa rambles.

 

“How sweet. You want to make the world a better place,” you joke.

She smiles. “What do you want to do after school?”

You stop for a moment. You really don’t know anymore. You had some ideas, but this year has really left you confused on what the hell you’re going to do with the rest of your years. Any simple job would be pointless and a waste of your time. You’d likely kill yourself working at a fast food place, or being cooped up in an office.

 

“I… I really don’t know Elsa. What would you do when you have talents like mine?”

“Be a boxer?”

You chuckle. “I’d punch the guy through the wall.”

Elsa chuckles alongside you. She rests her head on your neck. Your cheeks are pressing against each other. It isn’t even a battle for control. Your cheeks each have enough room and are simply holding each other, embracing the warmth of the others touch.

 

You both stay silent, as not to ruin the moment. You walk over to your old field. You haven’t been here in months, but you feel like it would be appropriate. Elsa’s eyes are resting until you get there. You shake her a little and whisper.

“Elsa, we’re here. Wake up.”

Her eyes slowly open and she looks around without separating the touch of your cheeks.

“The field?”

“Yep.”

 

You let her off your back and you both lie on the ground. She cuddles right up to you, which you don’t object to.

“You don’t need to find a job if you don’t want to (Y/N). We have enough money to support all of us. Plus the money I’ll make from W.A. Industries.”

You stay silent.

“But I doubt you care about money,” she finishes.

You look at her and smile. “You know me so well.”

 

“You know, I’m surprised,” Elsa starts.

“At what?”

“I’m surprised you aren’t in that room fighting whatever challenge is coming your way.”

“Well,” you say turning towards her. “It is just a simulation.”

“A simulation that could kill you.”

“Well you don’t have to be so pessimistic,” you joke.

 

“I’m serious, dork. You could get hurt. You could die!”

“You died on me once.”

Elsa stays silent.

“I still remember how much that killed me. I wouldn’t allow you to go through that same pain. Plus, it would be real embarrassing for me to die by a simulation after everything I’ve fought.”

“It’s all about the fight with you, isn’t it?” Elsa asks, brow raised.

 

“No. That’s third. Second is Gerda, Kai, Anna, and Kristoff. First is you. You’re what I’m all about Elsa. I love you.”

Elsa gives a weak smile and a tear falls down her face. You become worried.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Nothing is wrong. Everything is perfect.”

She grabs you and kisses you.

“Everything is perfect when I’m with you.”

 

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You both returned home safely that night.  You laid Elsa in her bed but she wouldn’t let you leave. You snuggled in beside her and spent the night. Your eyes open at an early hour. The sun was barely out. The effect of school was still apparent on you. You try to get back to sleep but your body won’t let you. It screams at you to wake up. You let out a sigh and pull yourself out of bed.

 

You slip out from Elsa’s grasp and head downstairs. You didn’t take a shower, as not to wake anyone up. You walk down the stairs and stretch your arms. You yawn and shake a little bit. You reach the main floor and walk to the kitchen. You grab something to drink and lean against the wall. You start to feel your head pounding. It starts to seep into your mind with a thud.

 

_Thud_

_Thud_

_Thud_

It feels like your head is a drum set and someone is playing you. You put down the glass and grab your head with one hand. You squeeze your head and grunt in pain. Your teeth clench together.

 

“Shadow, what’s going on?” You weakly ask.

“I don’t know. I feel it too,” he responds.

It is evident that there is pain in his voice to. Something is attacking your mind and you have no idea what it is.

“Is it Carnage?” You ask.

“No, this is different. This is coming from the outside, I think.”

 

You fall to one knee and grasp your head with both hands. You try to stay as quiet as possible but there isn’t much you can do to stop it. You slither your way towards a cabinet and reach for the handle. You pull it open – almost ripping it off – and grab an advil bottle. You quickly open it and swallow two of them.

 

“What is that supposed to do for the-“

Shadow is cut off by another wave of pain. The thuds grow louder and hurt even more. You have no idea what to do, so you sprint outside. You push the door out of your way and fall to your knees. You grasp your head once more and bite your tongue so you don’t yell. You haven’t felt pain like this for months. It rivals what Elsa’s parents did to you. Your body goes limp on the grass as you retreat into your mind.

 

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Shadow is holding his head like you are, trying to deal with the pain. He looks up and sees you. He cracks a smirk before returning his gaze to the ground.

 

“You’ll find no peace here. You never have,” he warns.

“That’s a shame. I was hoping we could hold hands and make the pain go away,” you smile.

“Fuck off. I’m not Elsa, you won’t touch me.”

“But I love you,” you smirk.

“I will kill you.”

 

You both remain silent for a moment before laughing.

“Get out of here (Y/N), this is my place.”

“It isn’t the same without Carnage. Literally. How is it with this place being whiter?”

“Do you just ignore everything I say?”

“If it’s not helpful advice in battle, then yeah,” you say.

 

Shadow rolls his eyes. You smile in victory and start walking around. The black horizon and grey clouds were gone. It was a mix of white and grey now. It was quite nice, really. You turn back to look at him. He is attempting to look strong, but you know he is really hurting. It is the exact same thing you do to Elsa and your friends. Maybe it’s just a subconscious thing both of you do. You shrug and decide to leave.

 

“I’ll see you later Shadow,” you say, waving.

“Waving? Really?” He questions.

“What? I can’t be formal?”

“This generation is dead if waving is formal. A handshake is formal.”

“This generation? What are you, fifty?” You snicker.

 

Shadow growls at you while you leave. You really love messing with him, as he enjoys messing with you. It’s all mutual. You two are like brothers. The brother you never had. It was funny how the two people who were in your mind were the closest thing to brothers. Shadow was likely the oldest one who thought before he did anything. Carnage would have been the middle child who always starved for attention. And you? You were the youngest who always got the most attention from everyone. Maybe Carnage was jealous of you this whole time.

 

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You open your eyes to see Anna hovering over you. The bright sun shines around her. You realize you must have been outside for a long time. Anna has concern written all over her face. You smile at the familiar face. Anna sees your eyes start to open and a grin occupies her face.

 

“Hey Anna, how’s it going?”

“(Y/N)! Are you okay? What are you doing outside?” She questions.

You rub your head and get on your feet. The throbbing pain has gone away for now.

“You know, just enjoying the fresh air.”

Anna gives you a look of disbelief. You rub the back of your head and chuckle.

“I thought you said there were no more lies?” She accuses.

 

You lower your head in guilt. It’s true, you said that.

“It was nothing Anna, really. I just had a headache and I suppose I just fell asleep again.”

“Whatever you say. Come on back inside before everyone notices you were out here,” Anna says as she walks towards the house.

“Right,” you agree.

 

You both enter the house and sit on the couch. You look around but can’t see Gerda or Kai. That was odd.

“Where’s Gerda and Kai?”

“Oh, they called and said they weren’t feeling well. I told them to stay home, I’m sure we can keep this place up and running.”

“Ha, I get the feeling you mean I am going to keep this place running.”

 

Anna looks at you and giggles. “Well, you just offered.”

“What? No I didn’t!”

Anna giggles some more and lays on the couch.

You walk over to the kitchen and try and find out what to make for breakfast. From what you see it wouldn’t be so hard to make pancakes. You get all the necessary utensils and such out. Anna walks in and laughs.

 

“You’re gonna make pancakes?”

“Yeah, what’s so funny about that?”

“Elsa told me about your cooking (Y/N),” she continues laughing.

“It was one time, seriously. It wasn’t even my fault!”

 

You once bought a turkey for the family. It wasn’t a special occasion or anything but you wanted to try cooking for everyone. Anna and Kristoff had reservations at a fancy restaurant that night, so they weren’t there. You invited Gerda and Kai to eat, and they did. You still don’t know exactly what happened, but you assume the turkey was bad. The meat was horrible. Everything else tasted fine, but the turkey was awful. Nobody believed it was the turkey, so they joked about you being a bad cook.

 

“I swear this’ll be good,” you defend.

“Yeah, yeah. I just need some water,” she brushes off.

“So where’s Elsa?” You ask, stirring some ingredients together.

“Sleeping, I assume. It’s only ten.”

“Usually Elsa is up by now. How strange.”

“I can go check on her, if you want,” Anna says, taking a drink of her water.

 

“No, it’s fine.”

You continue to make the mix for the pancakes as Anna watches you. She simply sits there, takes a sip of water, and then giggles. You have no idea why. She doesn’t have her phone out, so she can’t be talking to Kristoff.

 

“What is so funny?” You eventually ask.

“Oh nothing. I’m just thinking about tomorrow.”

“What’s tomorrow?”

“You’ll see,” Anna giggles again.

You roll your eyes and finish up the pancakes. You flip them two more times to check each side. You’re sure the first batch is done. You place them on a plate and hand them to Anna.

 

She takes them and pours a bit of syrup on it. She takes a bite and chews it up. She won’t let a single expression be seen. She’s acting like a critic or something. She puts her fork down, grabs a napkin, and dabs her mouth.

“Really?” You smirk.

 

She puts the napkin down and looks at you.

“It’s delicious.”

You smile in victory and proceed to finish up the batch. You heard Olaf run down at the smell of the pancakes. Elsa follows soon after. You all enjoy the pancakes and have a nice conversation. However, nobody believes you made the pancakes. Anna continues to say she made them and you swear that’s a lie.

 

After breakfast Olaf calls his friend and makes plans to go to his house. Anna offers to drive him, leaving you and Elsa alone. You wave as the two leave and turn to Elsa, who is reading on the couch.

 

“I’m surprised you made such good pancakes,” she remarks, eyes still on the book.

“Now you agree I made them?” You shout.

“I knew you made them all along. It’s just fun bugging you,” she smiles.

“You… you…” you slowly say.

Elsa giggles then returns to her book. You stare at her beauty for a moment before walking upstairs.

 

You know what you have to do now. You’ve kept your promise, and now it’s time for your reward. You take a soothing shower and put on some jeans and a long sleeve black shirt before making your way to the training area. You allow the computer to scan your face, then enter the elevator. You wonder what secrets this place has. It could show who you really are. What chemical components they put in you. Maybe it will show why Anna and Elsa’s parents did what they did.

 

At any rate, whatever is there has got to be worth it. It better be worth it. The elevator stops and you exit. The room lights up and you hear the computer awaiting a command. There is no room for doubt, it’s time to do this. You tilt your head upwards.

“Computer, activate Overlord Protocol.”

You hear the computer process the request.

“Overlord Protocol activated. Warning, protocol changed by Monarch user.”

“What?” You question under your breath.

 

The room lights up and transforms. You look around to find a clearing between two places. There is a forest behind you, and some sort of temple in front of you. It’s surrounded by a large wall but the three story temple is still visible.

“What is this place? I’ve never seen something like this before.”

You walk around a little before you hear someone coming in from behind you. You quickly pivot your body. You move just in time to dodge a punch. The attacker passes by you but recovers smoothly.

 

The man is in a three piece red robe. There are silver armor pieces on his shoulders, chest and legs. The legs are a little harder to see, however. There is a hood covering his face, leaving it out of sight and covered in darkness. The weird part was that there should be some light breaking through that darkness.

 

“I thought I was fighting elementals!”

“Think idiot! The computer said it was changed. This must be what we’re fighting!” Shadow informs.

“We?”

“Would you rather me leave you to do it all?”

“Meh, we’ll see how it goes,” you smile.

 

You get into a fighting position, and the man does the same. You both stay still for a moment until you move. You put all your leg strength into your heel and push off it. You almost glide across the ground before reaching the man. You throw a punch. He raises his arm and blocks it with his forearm. You move to his back and attempt to elbow his spine. The man counters this by spinning around and connecting the back of his fist with your face.

 

You stumble back but keep focus on him. He rushes at you and throws some punches. You block them and throw some back. The two of you are locked in a stand still. You keep blocking his punches and he blocks yours. You connect your fist with his. You attempt to punch him with your free fist but he sees this. He quickly uppercuts you and kicks you away. You don’t let him go unscathed, however. You grab his foot and spin him around. After gaining enough momentum you release him, sending him flying into the temple grounds.

 

You chase after him. You gain momentum from sprinting then jump through the hole he created. You wouldn’t have been able to do this nine months ago, but the gravity training has done miracles for you. As you push the dust out of your way the man grabs you in mid jump. He grasps your face and slams it against the ground. He proceeds to jump, spin, and slam you into the ground once more. He takes position on top of you and starts to beat your face into the ground. You can’t concentrate with the barrage of punches coming at you. You think simple.

 

You shoot your hand out and grab his face. You use all your might to try and crush it. The man pulls back some, which gives you an opportunity to punch him off of you. He rolls across the ground but does recover. He looks up just in time to see your foot coming straight at his face. He has no time to react. Right before you connect you are pushed away by something. You stumble across the ground but bounce onto your feet.

 

You wipe some blood off your mouth and look up at him. His hands are positioned in a manner which he pushed you away, but he never touched you. You try to figure out what happened, but nothing comes to your head. The man stands up and you see him chuckle. He flicks his hand. Your eyes widen at the possibility. You look down and see the ground is becoming red. You jump away from the location. A small tunnel of fire shoots up from the ground. You land in another spot and look at the man.

 

“So he is an elemental.”

The man rushes at you and flicks his wrist again. A swarm of ice shards come zooming at you from both left and right. You keep running at him. The ice shards collide into each other and form a giant swarm of them. They chase you from behind. You look back, then at the man. He swipes his arm right and a barrage of lighting rushes towards you.

“Oh crap.”

 

You keep running. Right before the lighting hits you slide under it. The man didn’t expect this. You push off the ground and connect both feet right in his face. He flips backwards and lands flat on his face. You let out a smirk. He flips onto his feet and stares in your direction. He rushes towards you. You prepare yourself for anything he might do.

 

He raises the earth below him to get higher ground. You hop farther and farther back to keep your eyes on him. You reach a building, so you can’t go anywhere. You realize his plan. He’s going to squish you! You look up and decide there’s no better place to go. You run forward, spin, and then jump on the first story of the building. You hop up to the second, then the third. The man is waiting for you at the top.

 

“You know, this is the most fun I’ve had in months. It may be a simulation, but it’s still fun.”

The man doesn’t flinch at your words. You shrug and get back into a fighting position. Both of you rush at each other and jump in the air. You collide and start fighting. He uses wind to keep you both suspended in the air. You throw a punch that he catches. You kick him in the ribs and he lets go of your hand. He proceeds to straighten his hand and fill it with fire. He slices at you, but you sway out of the way.

 

You kick him in the back of the head. He turns and punches you in the face. You punch him. He kicks you. Punch. Kick. Dodge. Kick. Dodge. Hit. Collide. Punch. You are both knocked away from one another. You become a victim of gravity and plummet to the ground. He remains in the air. He shakes his head then rushes towards you. Like a diving bird he closes in on you. He creates a layer of ice for you to land on.

 

You properly land on the sheet of ice, but have to jump out of the way of the man’s attack. The new platform shatters into pieces when he connects with it. You position yourself close to him then attack. He catches it and throws you to the ground. You won’t accept being the only one hurt by this. You manage to grab his head and pull him closer to you. Neither of you notice the ground during the struggle. You both smash on the ground, creating a large cloud of dust.

 

You slowly pick yourself up. You’re coughing and holding your side. Some blood is coughed up. Your opponent is hurt as well. He is holding his leg in pain. You stretch your back and hear a couple good cracks. You look back at your opponent and smile. He shakes his leg and returns to a normal stance. You rush at him once more. You jump in the air and start spinning. You extend your leg to hit him. He blocks with his arm, but is in a weakened state. You lock your foot around his arm to move up and behind him. You use your other foot to kick the back of his head and send him flying into a section of the temple.

 

You take the moment to get your breath. Before you know it the temple turns to ash. The man has his arms raised, and the elements are going wild. Lightening is showing up around him in small intervals. The wind is making his robe go crazy. This site almost looks familiar. Suddenly lava starts appearing out of nowhere. Lightening starts crashing down. Ice and snow are caught in the wind. He is destroying the environment around him. You look at the disaster, and make sure you aren’t caught in anything.

 

He seems to have an aura of power around him now. His very presence shakes the ground around you. It seems so real that you almost forgot it was a simulation. You stand your ground until the man stops his display of power. He lowers his arms and starts to walk towards you. Flames burst from the ground around him. The whole area is just a mess. You decide not to just sit and wait for him to attack.

 

You run towards him you are about to throw a punch but are tossed aside like nothing. He uses the air to throw you meters away. You twirl across the ground, unable to recover. You stop on the ground and raise your head to see the man. He is walking towards you once again.

“Ok… this may be a problem,” you mumble.

 

You pick yourself up and try to look as strong as possible. The man walks closer and closer to you. You throw a punch. It connects right in his darkened face. He doesn’t flinch at all. He grabs your hand and pulls it away. You use all your strength to try and keep control of your hand but to no avail. He pulls your hand to the side and readies his own punch. He sends you flying into what’s left of the forest.

 

You crash against the remnants of a tree and land on your face. You push yourself up and look at the man. He is miles away from you and is keeping his walking speed. You need to give him one good hit. It’s all about quality, not quantity.

 

_How can I get the impact though? I obviously don’t have enough strength on my own. I need… Wait! When I got the momentum from my spinning kick he was weakened. I just need speed on my side! Ha, I don’t need Shadow to make a good plan!_

“I heard that,” Shadow chimes in.

“I know,” you smirk.

 

You start running as fast as you can towards your opponent. You’re speed is amazingly fast after all your training. You’re going even faster than you thought possible. You keep running and running and running. The man is getting closer, and you’re ready. You clench your fist and go to punch him. You appear right in front of him and throw the punch. He attempts to hit you but the punch goes right through you.

 

“Hm?” he mutters.

You suddenly appear right in front of him. Time seems to have slowed down right before the punch. You get in right in his face. You are positioned beside him and your arm isn’t straight yet, but it’s still in his face. You use the last of your momentum to straighten your arm and finish the punch. He flies right back to the ruins of the temple.

 

He stands up and looks at you. You can hear his howling, and the elements follow him. The man starts running towards you. His speed is incredible. You start running as well. The both of you get close real fast. You ready a haymaker, and he does the same. You both throw your punches. They collide. Neither of you are giving up any ground. The man starts conjuring the elements to aid him.

 

You start losing your ground. You put as much pressure on your feet as you can but you can’t stay stationary. You start sliding through the dirt. You grunt and try to use all your strength.to push him back, but you can’t. You feel the fire and ice start surrounding you and absorbing you into them. Your body feels like it’s being tossed between a boiling pot and a freezing cold lake. You feel lighting enter your body and the winds pull you apart. You can really die here. You could be leaving Elsa alone.

 

Your eyes shoot open. They become completely white. You thrust your body forward and unleash your own elements. You regain your lost ground and push him back.

“Eat this!” You howl.

You push your fist even farther. A large explosion of elements shoots out from your two punches. The explosion covers everything in a 20 mile radius. The simulation can’t handle the power you are putting out. The room begins to shake. The lights flicker violently. The whole place lets out a huge explosion that shakes the earth for miles across.

 

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Elsa is trying to keep herself up. She froze the entire house in place so nothing would fall or break. She feels the intensity of your battle from up here. This feels worse than what Anna described. Elsa becomes worried about your health and decides to find out for herself. Elsa stumbles her way to the elevator. She allows the scanner to scan her, then enters the elevator.

 

The half the ride down is full of uncertainty. The place has a constant shake for a while but eventually stops. Elsa waits for the door to open then sprints out of the elevator.

“(Y/N)! (Y/N) are you okay?”

She sees someone lying on the ground. She runs over and kneels beside them. She looks to see your face, but the clothes are odd. You are wearing tattered red robes with broken silver armour. She hovers over you.

“Weird, huh?” a voice says.

Elsa spins around to find you – also looking injured – looking away from the body.

“It may just be a simulation, but someone changed the protocol, which means someone wanted me to fight this person.”

 

“(Y/N)… are you okay?”

You turn to face her. You have a big grin on your face, and your arms open for her. She rushes towards you and falls into your arms. You give her a big hug.

“Did you… Beat the simulation?” She happily says.

“Yeah, that I did.”

 

You look back to the simulation’s version of you.

_But why did I have to fight myself?_

You release Elsa and kneel beside the man.

“You gave me one hell of a fight. Thank you.”

“Protocol Overlord complete. Simulation shutting down,” the computer states.

 

The grand metal door finally opens. You move away from the now empty space and towards the opening. Elsa follows closely and grabs your hand. You intertwine your fingers between hers. She smiles. You both walk into the next section of the room. It is slightly smaller than the training room, which means it’s quite large. There is one main computer surrounded by other ones. There is what seems like a work bench. It has a few things on it, but you’ll look at those later.

 

The place is really just computers with the odd place for working and one locker. You walk up to the computer and look at what to do. You see a small section. It looks like you can place a computer chip inside. You remember the one you used to open this place up. You rush back upstairs to grab it, then rejoin Elsa. She is hiding it well, but she is eager to see what this computer will say. You place the computer chip in the slot. The screen lights up and there is a video prepared. You click the play button.

 

“And here I will be describing the details of… hrm… Project Overlord…”


	20. The Pieces are Falling

Chapter 20: The Pieces are Falling

 

You and Elsa listen attentively to what is about to be said. It may change everything, or leave you with more questions.

“What a cute kid, shame he’s a killer on the inside,” the voice on the video states.

The video shows a young version of you sitting in a room. You could be no older than six years old.

 

“So, let’s get this started. First name: (Y/N), last name unknown. Has the designation of Overlord. His last name will be changed to (L/N) when we give him up for live testing. Even with my clearance his last name is left a mystery. It likely won’t matter.

 

“Overlord is placed within the Elemental Program, at request of the Monarchy. The Duke and Duchess were confused at why their project was being invaded by this boy, but the Monarchs wouldn’t have any of it. Overlord was placed in the program, but never given any of the mandatory drugs. He and Ice Queen – Elsa Anderson – are the only ones who are not genetically enhanced.

 

“However, Overlord was given some sort of stimulants during his training. The nature of them is unknown, as the formula was never elaborated on. It was another order given by the Monarchs. It was obvious that the Duke and Duchess were unhappy with Overlord’s presence, but they know better than to question the Monarchs. Overlord did prove to be a good training partner with all the other elementals. The only problem was with the Ice Queen. Overlord and Ice Queen never fought. They simply wouldn’t.”

 

You chuckle and look at Elsa. She smiles slightly then grabs your hand.

 

“During trials we learned that Overlord has a resistance to all the elements. We can only guess that its part of the concoction the Monarchs gave him, but it has proved useful. He barely feels hot and cold, which is good for testing intensity. He also has amazing potential for combat. At his young age, he’s been able to beat some of our expert fighters. Of course he is still young, so his strength can only grow.

 

“The most noteworthy thing about Overlord is his mental state. He seems to have to other… people in his mind. They can come out and act on their own. Of course they are all young, but I have made a small list on what each one is. There is the host, (Y/N). He is natural and acts how people normally would. The second one seems more calm and collected. He prefers to be on his own, and is more technical in his endeavors. Lastly, and the most interesting one, is a person of absolute destruction. He seems to love fighting and is always looking for another challenge.

 

“The angry one seems to have more strength than the other two, and can take more damage. Another thing to note is that all three seem to have a different sense of pain. When (Y/N) was hurt he would obviously feel it. However if one of the others came out they showed no signs of pain. The only time we saw pain shared among them was when (Y/N) broke his arm. This impaired all of them. The angry one seemed to thrive off the pain, and didn’t care about it. This boy is dangerous, and it’s evident why the Monarchy is so interested in him.

 

“One of the Monarchs did come and see him. He seemed happy about his progress more than the progress of the Elemental Project. Over all, Overlord is ready to be sent out in the field, but should be watched at all times. The angry side can only grow stronger as Overlord ages. We may bring him back to the mountain later, but that is undetermined.”

 

The video ends and resets to the beginning, awaiting the signal to be played. You stand there trying to process what you heard.

“So… I always had Shadow and Carnage? It wasn’t something forced into me. But I suppose they tortured Carnage to see how much pain he could take. I-I need to know more. They talked about a mountain! I need to find this mountain!”

 

“(Y/N), there are mountains all around Arendelle. You don’t even know what you’re looking for,” Elsa points out.

You stare at her for a moment before smiling.

“But I do know someone who does.”

 

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A jet lands at an airport. It was a fancy private jet. All black. After a moment the door opens and two people step out of the jet. The man looks up and reads the sign. “Arendelle Airlines.”

“How catchy,” he remarks.

The man walks out of the jet, then a woman follows him. She stands beside him and looks around. The man is wearing an expensive black suit with a white dress shirt. The woman is wearing a stunning all white suit. She has sunglasses covering her eyes. Her brown hair is barely moving with the wind. The man’s hair is blond and slicked back. It doesn’t move one bit.

 

Someone walks up to them and bows slightly.

“It’s a pleasure to have you in Arendelle. I’m sorry the Duke and Duchess are unable to greet you.”

“There is no reason to mention them Alec. Their failures have been noted,” the woman responds.

“Of course. Would you like me to take you to W.A. Industries now?”

 

The man looks at the woman.

“No, I have someone to meet. You can go, honey.”

The woman nods and follows Alec to a car. They enter a limo and drive off. The man watches the whole time. He turns his head towards the jet and waits. Another man in a suit walks out. He is also wearing sun glasses, but the lower part of his face is somewhat disfigured.

 

“I’m surprised you’re willing to show your face in public. I assumed you liked being the pretty boy,” the man mocked.

The other takes off his glasses to reveal his full face. Hans.

“Well, you said you would help me with that. So I hope you keep to your word.”

“Of course. I’m a man of my word, after all.”

The suited man reaches into a pocket and tosses a small vial at Hans. Hans handily catches it.

 

“Do what you have to do and I’ll repair that wreck of a face.”

Hans bites his tongue so he doesn’t back talk. He puts his glasses back on and makes his way. The suited man chuckles at Hans. The pathetic man came crawling to his knees for support. For revenge.

 

“The pathetic need to reclaim your pride. If you were worthy of that pride, you would never have lost it. I wish (Y/N) killed you, but I suppose I can find SOME use for you. Just don’t expect me to save you.”

 

The suited man walks out of the airport and onto the streets of Arendelle. He observes all details around him. The birds sitting in their nests, aiding their newborns. The taxis sitting at the airport waiting for someone to enter them. The countless souls who walk around with no true purpose in their life.

 

The man continues to walk the streets, looking at everyone. A few women walk past him and give a flirtatious smile or wave. He nods his head at each of them, and respectfully declines their advances. He could imagine what would happen if his darling wife was with him during these moments. She’s scary when she’s mad.

 

He continues to walk. He knows the streets of Arendelle like the back of his hand, and knows exactly where he wants to go. The man walks into a hotel and right to the desk.

“I’m here for my room key. Penthouse suite. Alistair.”

“One moment sir,” the man at the desk says.

He punches a few commands into his computer before nodding.

“Alright sir. I’ll grab you your key right now.”

 

The man walks into another room, then returns with a key.

“Enjoy your stay sir. Also, your guest has already arrived.”

“Oh, thank you. Have a nice day.”

Alistair puts down a one hundred dollar bill and walks away. He walks into the elevator and swipes the key card that came with the actual key. You need both to enter the room in this hotel. The elevator reaches the top floor and stops.

“Penthouse.”

 

The door opens and Alistair walks out. After a few seconds of walking down a hallway he reaches the door. He opens it to see a white haired man standing in the room, looking out the window.

“I’m surprised you came. I thought you were going to send someone to eliminate me,” the man says.

“No. I just want to talk this time.”

 

Alistair walks beside the white haired man.

“So what does the all-important Monarch want with me?”

“I just want to talk with you Hunter. You’ve been busy lately.”

“I may have been. But that doesn’t concern you,” Hunter retorts.

“I’m sure that’s a lie. Don’t worry, I don’t know what you have planned.”

Hunter looks at Alistair.

“You’re someone who likes to know everything. Why ignore what I’ve done?”

 

Alistair smirks. “I’m looking forward to the surprise. At least I hope you have a surprise planned for me. I trained you, so I have right to think you are conniving something beautiful for me. You also have (Y/N) now, which makes it even more fun.”

“You haven’t killed him yet?”

“No faith in your brother?”

“I have complete faith in my brother. It’s you I have no faith in.”

"You shouldn’t rely on him.”

“I only took your training, not your ideals. I’ll accept the help of others.”

 

“Just be weary. It’s best to do things yourself to make sure it’s done right. That’s what I do,” Alistair counters.

“And you were on point when (Y/N) killed the Andersons, I’m sure.”

“I never told them to kill (Y/N). That was their own decision, and it lead to their deaths.”

“Are you worried that (Y/N) might bring your death as well?” Hunter chuckles.

Alistair smirks. “No. I’m not worried one bit.”

 

Alistair turns and begins to walk away. Hunter looks over his shoulder to watch him leave.

“Be careful Hunter. Next time we meet, I won’t be so nice.”

 

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You and Elsa lay in her bed. You’re so anxious to go see Alec but you won’t. It’ll be easier to get to him when Elsa goes.

“So when are you supposed to be meeting with Alec?”

“Tomorrow. There’s going to be a quick meeting with shareholders and anyone else with a part in the company, then Alec is going to show me around the whole building. Why?”

“I’m coming,” you state.

“Really? I was going to ask but assumed you wouldn’t want to.”

 

“Of course I want to. This is something that’s important to you, and I want to be there,” you say, pulling her closer to you.

“You are manipulative. You just want to talk to Alec,” Shadow points out.

“Thanks (Y/N). Just make sure to wear something nice,” she says.

“I always wear something nice!”

She chuckles and strokes your cheek.

“Aww, that’s cute.”

 

Elsa stands up and walks to the bathroom.

“What? I do! Look at this shirt! It’s a V-neck, that’s obviously top notch stuff.”

“Whatever you say,” she responds.

You shake your head and start to leave the room. You hear the front door open and close.

“Is anyone still here?” Anna calls out.

“Yeah, Elsa and I are here,” you respond.

 

You jog downstairs and meet up with Anna. She smiles and gives you a hug.

“So, are you ready for today?”

“What’s today?”

“Elsa didn’t tell you?

“Tell me what?”  You ask.

“We’re going on a date!”

 

Your eyes widen and you raise your hands.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. I like you Anna, I do. But I respect Kristoff and…”

Anna breaks down laughing.

“Not a date date silly. Elsa, Kristoff, and myself,” she says putting her hand on her chest in a superior manner. “Have set this day up a week ago. You and me never spend enough time together, so we’re going to have an entire day together! I promise it’s not going to be shopping like last time!”

 

You let out a breath of relief. “Ok, that sounds fine. I was a little worried for a second. You are really pretty and everything, but-“

“But what? Is Elsa prettier than me?” Anna pouts.

You freeze for a moment. Both sisters are beautiful, and you obviously have a biased opinion. You stay silent for long enough for it to be awkward. Anna starts laughing again.

“You’re just too easy (Y/N).”

 

You brush Anna off and start to walk away.

“Oh come on. I’m sorry!” She calls out.

You smile as you walk towards the kitchen for a drink. Anna skips along with you to the kitchen. You chuckle at her actions. You grab a soft drink from the fridge and open the can. Anna sits there and watches you drink.

 

“You okay Anna?”

“Yep. I’m just waiting for you to be done.”

You take a slow drink of your pop. Taunting Anna. Anna catches on to this and starts pouting.

“Yeah, yeah. Let me shower and we’ll go.”

“You haven’t showered? It’s three in the afternoon.”

“I did some stuff that got me dirty,” you say.

Anna raises her eye brow and grins.

“Not what I meant,” you quickly say.

 

You walk to the shower and turn it on. You clean off your body in the warm water and dry yourself off. You walk to your room and throw on a light sweater and a pair of jeans. As soon as you walk out your door Anna is standing right there.

“Whoa!” you yell, throwing yourself back.

Anna is confused for a moment, but then starts laughing hysterically. You shake your head and walk past her.

“You know, if all you do is laugh at me tonight then I won’t be having much fun.”

 

Anna recovers and catches up to you.

“I swear, it won’t. We’re gonna have some fun!”

“Uh huh,” you mutter.

You find Elsa, who is doing her hair. She sees you and Anna in the mirror then spins around to greet you.

“I suppose you’re going out now?” She asks with a smile.

“Yep. I promise I won’t steal him from you Elsa,” Anna giggles.

 

You thought Elsa was going to get serious over this comment but she giggles as well.

“I hope not. Anyway, I hope you have fun (Y/N). Sorry for not telling you about this earlier.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” You kiss Elsa for a few seconds. “We’ll be back later. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Elsa says in a playful tune.

“See, this makes me not want to leave,” you smile.

 

Anna drags you away, causing Elsa to laugh then return to fixing her hair.

“I really hope you let loose a little bit. You deserve some fun before you go off and do something silly. I swear if he makes me have to save him I will be so mad. I won’t talk to him for a week. Ney, a month! That will teach him,” Elsa jokingly says to herself.

 

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You and Anna have been driving for around five minutes. You’re not too sure what she has planned.

“So, we’re going to the mall first.” Anna throws her finger in your face. “And we aren’t there for shopping. Unless you want to buy something. But I promise not to go on a shopping spree.”

“That’s quite the promise. Ok, I promise not to get into any fights while we’re out,” you tease.

Anna giggles. “That’s a shame. I was hoping you would beat up some guys for my entertainment.”

You chuckle and refocus on driving. The mall was only a minute away, so it wouldn’t take much longer.

 

“So what were the ‘dirty things’ you were doing this morning?” Anna asks with secret intentions.

“It’s not what you think Anna.”

“Really? From what I’ve seen you two can barely keep your hands off each other.”

“And you can stay away from Kristoff?” You smile, knowing you have her.

Anna pauses in defeat. “Alright. You have me on that one.”

 

You pull into a free parking space and exit your car. You lock it and toss the keys in your pocket. Anna makes her way beside you, walking with complete enthusiasm as she always does.

“So, how have you and Kristoff been doing lately?” You query.

“Why not ask him?”

“Because as much as I love Kristoff, I get the feeling you have more depth to the relationship than he does.”

“Well,” Anna starts. “You would be wrong. He’s actually quite the romantic when he wants to be. I wouldn’t have guessed it, but I assume he got it from his family. He often calls them the ‘love experts’, so I guess he got some pointers from them.”

 

You laugh, “Yeah, I’ve heard that term be used before. So you guys are good then?”

“Yes, extremely. We but heads a few times, but I like that. He might let me get my way, but he always voices his opinion. I really do like that. I don’t think he notices that I actually alter things when he complains,” Anna smiles.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, a few of my friends are pretty rich. Kristoff doesn’t do well around rich people.”

“Yeah, like the night with your parents.”

 

You immediately regret saying that.

“Yeah, I suppose,” Anna glumly says.

You walk in front of Anna and put your hands on her shoulders.

“Anna, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring that up. That was stupid of me.”

“No, no. It’s fine. I just miss’em some times. They used to be a lot nicer before their so called ‘accident’.”

“How so? I would like to know what they were like before they tried to kill me. I noticed Elsa has an ice figurine of them. They seemed happy.”

 

Anna smiles at the news she takes your hands off her shoulders but stays close to you. You both walk through the mall.

“Our parents were so outgoing and lively. They always had something interesting to say or something fun for us to do. I always used to get jealous of Elsa, as it seemed she got more alone time with them then I did.”

 

You think back on the video you watched earlier today.

Probably because she had powers, and they wanted more out of her. I wonder why Anna doesn’t have any powers.

“But don’t get me wrong! My parents took me out alone all the time! My mother loved chocolate, and her habit was passed down to me and Elsa. Hopefully our kids will do the same.”

“K-kids?” You question.

“What? Yeah, kids. Not now! But down the road. What’s with the reaction?”

“Nothing. I was just imagining what a child of Elsa and I would be like. With my power and hers,” you ramble.

“That makes sense. It would be one special child, I’ll tell you that,” Anna reassures with a smile.

 

“Yeah… Anyway, continue on with your parents.”

 

“Ok! Well… My mother loved to sing! I think that was a trait that was given to us both as well. The three of us used to sing together all the time, and our dad would watch. He would run up to us and take us in his arms, spinning us around and telling us how amazing we were. His smile would always be genuine and happy.”

Anna pauses for a moment.

“Shouldn’t you know all this? Haven’t you asked Elsa about them?”

 

“Yeah, once. After everything that’s happened she is trying to forget about it all. Especially with what we’ve just learned.”

Anna’s face turns curious.

“What’d you learn?”

 

You both end up near a café. There are some random tables outside the café you decide to sit at. Anna sits across from you.

“Well… Remember I said I did some dirty things? I went down into the simulation and fought it. I did what I’ve been training nine months to do. It took a lot out of me though, and the simulation itself left me with some questions. Anyway, it opened up a huge laboratory, which I’ll show you later. I plugged in that little computer chip and a video popped up. It talked about me. What they did and who told them to do it.”

 

“And you want to pursue any leads you can?” Anna assumes.

You let out a sigh.

“I have to. It’s my past. It’s my life.”

“I understand. Just don’t push it too far, okay? You’ve got people here who care about you.”

You smile. “I know Anna. I always have a reminder with me.”

You pull out the snowflake necklace Elsa made for you out from under your shirt. You haven’t taken it off once. You’re not sure Elsa even knows you’re still wearing it.

 

“You still wear that? I thought you just kept it in your room,” Anna asks, leaning in to look at it.

“It’s always with me. It helps me remember all of you.”

“Especially Elsa?” Anna queries.

You chuckle. “Especially Elsa. Anyway, we should do something. You must have something planned.”

“Actually, I don’t. I was hoping we could make it up on the spot.”

 

You shake your head a smile.

“Yeah, why not? Let’s so find some place to eat. I’m starving.”

 

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Kristoff remains at the bedside. Pabbie is resting in his bed. He continuously tosses and turns. He can’t get a good rest. Pabbie keeps talking about the visions he’s having. The inevitable end that will come. The family isn’t sure what to make of all this, but they stand with him all the same.

 

Kristoff remains home most of the time to take care of Pabbie. The entire family keeps telling him to go out but Kristoff wants to remain with Pabbie until he recovers.

 

“Kristoff… could you grab me… a glass of water?” Pabbie requests.

“Of course. I’ll be right back.”

Kristoff hurries to the kitchen to get some water. He pours the water into a glass, but is interrupted by a knock on the door. Kristoff puts the water down and walks to the door.

 

He opens it to see a blond haired man in a suit.

“Hello young man. Is Pabbie here?”

“Why? Who are you?” Kristoff quickly asks.

“My name is Alistair. I’m in town visiting some old friends. Pabbie is one of those old friends. You must be Kristoff.”

Alistair extends his hand. Kristoff hesitantly shakes it.

 

“Anyway, is Pabbie indeed here?”

“He is sick. I think it would be best if you let him rest.”

“That’s a shame. Could you at least check for me? Tell him Alistair is here to see him.”

Kristoff eyes up the man. Something isn’t right.

“Okay. I’m going to close the door though.”

“Whatever makes you feel comfortable,” Alistair responds.

 

Kristoff closes the door and his body runs with chills. This guy makes him feel uneasy, but he also has some familiar feel to him. Kristoff doesn’t know exactly how, but he seems familiar. Kristoff walks through the kitchen to grab the glass of water for Pabbie. He enters the room and puts the glass on Pabbie’s bed side table.

 

“Pabbie, someone is here to see you. A man named Alistair.”

Pabbie turns towards Kristoff.

“Let him in. He’ll only be here for a few minutes.”

Kristoff stares at Pabbie for a moment before leaving the room. Pabbie lets out a small smile before closing eyes.

 

Kristoff opens the door to see Alistair staring at a butterfly that landed on his finger.

“Excuse me? Pabbie will talk to you. Come on in.”

“Yes, of course,” Alistair says, his voice hinting he’s in his own little world.

The butterfly departs from his hand, and Alistair frowns. He slightly shakes his head and walks into the house. He takes off his shoes and lays them neatly by the front door. Alistair looks around while he follows Kristoff.

 

“Could you leave us alone for a moment? I won’t be long. You can wait right outside the door.”

Kristoff gives a suspicious look at Alistair, but allows him to go in alone. Alistair smiles and nods his head in respect. He enters the room and sees his small friend in a bed.

“You seem to be doing great,” Alistair smirks.

“I’m content with life. It’s all one needs,” Pabbie responds, keeping his eyes closed.

“That it is. That it is. But I think we have different opinions on the meaning of content.”

“Yes. I enjoy watching my family grow. You didn’t care about your family,” Pabbie says.

“They were a distraction. All I need is my wife.”

“Whatever you say, Alistair.”

 

The two remain silent for a moment.

“I knew you would come. My visions told me,” Pabbie states.

“Am I that sickening to you?” Alistair questions.

“No, no you aren’t. I’m just getting old.”

“Age comes with wisdom. You’re smarter than you were when I was younger.”

“That’s debatable. Your vision of me when I was your teacher is likely different then what you see now. I’m just a withered old man now.”

 

 

“No. You were the one who gave me my purpose. You found telekinesis, but I have found so much more and will continue to find more.”

“But at what cost? How far will you go? You are a genius but you lack empathy towards others,” Pabbie points out.

“What does it matter to you?”

“You just said I gave you purpose. Whatever you do is a result of me. I do not want to be the cause of any destruction.”

 

“I do not intend destruction, Pabbie,” Alistair defends.

“What do you intend?”

“I intend to end the violence.”

Pabbie chuckles, but it evolves into a cough. He reaches for his water and drinks it.

“Have fun with that. I don’t think your pet project will like that.”

“You mean Overlord? (Y/N)? You’ve met him?”

 

“Yes, I have. I knew who he was as soon as I entered his mind.”

“I don’t know what you intend to do, but let me rest before you do it.”

Alistair looks back at Pabbie.

“That shouldn’t be too long. I can feel your life energy slipping away. You won’t be around for much longer.”

 

“My life energy?” Pabbie questions.

“Yes. As I said, I have found so much more than simple telekinesis.”

Pabbie sighs and finishes his water.

“It was good to see you one last time, Alistair. I pray you don’t let power go to your head, and instead allow empathy to slip in.”

 

Alistair stands up and walks towards the door. He quickly glances back and nods. Giving his final good bye to his old mentor. He opens the door and quickly leaves the house. Kristoff enters the room and sits with Pabbie. He wants to question his grandfather, but Pabbie seems tired.

 

Alistair steps on the streets once more.

“That’s all I have to do today. Let’s just hope Hans gets the plan rolling.”

 

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You and Anna have spent three hours walking around town looking for a place to eat. Anna wants to go to a fancy restaurant but you don’t want to. You aren’t dressed for it, and you aren’t really in the mood. You want to go somewhere more informal, but Anna says she’s too overdressed.

 

“Ok, how about this? We go get you some clothes for the night. But only a shirt and pants! No five hour spree for some shoes or whatever.”

Anna thinks for a moment then agrees. You both look for a simple clothing store for Anna. It doesn’t take long for you to spot one. You both walk in and a woman greets you.

“Hello, can I help you two with anything?”

“Just looking for a simple outfit for her,” you say, tilting your head towards Anna.

 

“That shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll take you to the women’s clothes.”

You both smile and follow the woman. She brings you to the corner of the store and leaves you to it.

“So, what size are you?” You ask, looking at jeans.

“I’m not telling you that!” Anna snaps.

“Why?”

“Because. That’s my business. Now go over there while I pick some clothes,” she says, shooing you away.

 

You roll your eyes and walk over to the men’s section. There isn’t anything special, but one thing catches your eye. It’s a black, light weight, jacket with a small design of a dragon on the right sleeve. It’s made of some thin material, so calling it a jacket it generous. It has a zipper down the middle, and no hood. It’s a cool jacket.

“Like that?” The store lady asks.

 

You jump a little before turning around and smiling.

“Yes. It’s a nice.”

“It’s only fifteen dollars.”

“Sounds good, but I don’t have any room for it right now, and I don’t want to have to carry it around with me,” you explain.

“You can pay for it and I’ll hold onto it until you pick it up.”

“Sure, why not?”

 

You grab a twenty from your pocket and give it to her.

“Keep the change.”

She smiles and walks over to the cash register. You look over to Anna, who’s changed into a pair of blue jeans and a black shirt. It shows a little cleavage, but you think Anna enjoyed that a bit.

 

“Found some clothes?” You call.

“Yes, thank you.”

You both walk up to the register and pay for the clothes. Anna has her own clothes in a bag, and is willing to carry them home.

“Anna, I’ll be back here tomorrow. How about you leave them here? Can we do that?” You ask.

“Yes, I have no problem with that,” the woman says.

Anna agrees and hands her clothes over to the woman. You both exit the store and start walking.

 

“She was nice,” Anna says.

“That she was. Anyway, let’s hit a pub or something. I’m starving and there’s one down the street.”

“A pub? I’ve never been to one before.”

“Well, better late than never! Come on!”

 

You grab Anna’s hand and start running down the street. Anna is surprised by this action, but stays on her feet. She starts running along with you.

“Slow down silly!” She giggles.

 

You both reach the end of the street and make your way into the pub. You find a table to sit in and take position. There is a karaoke machine, and people are singing with it. The person on stage right now is actually really good, so it’s nice. A waiter soon greets you both.

 

“Hi, my name is Steven. Can I get you something to drink?”

“I’ll have some water,” Anna says.

“No she won’t. Two rum and cokes to start off.”

The waiter writes it down and walks away.

“Rum and coke?” Anna questions.

“To start you off. I might as well progress with you. Don’t want to seem superior in anyway.”

 

Anna chuckles. “I’m guessing you have experience with this stuff?”

“I’ve gone to a few parties before, so I know my way around.”

Anna smiles and looks around the room. The place is lively, and people are smiling. It seems like the perfect night. Your waiter comes back with your drinks.

 

“Ok, so are you ready to order?” He asks.

“I’ll have a steak and fries,” you choose.

“Like always, huh?” He smiles. “And what about your date here?”

“Oh, we’re not on a date,” Anna smiles. “And I’ll have… hm… chicken wings!”

“Chicken wings? Really?” You ask.

Anna nods. “Give us thirty.”

“Alright. Steak and fries for you. Thirty chicken wings for you. Ok, have a good night folks. Give me a call if you want another drink.”

 

The waiter walks away.

“So… chicken wings?”

“Yeah, I assume you’ll want some?”

“Of course, but chicken wings can be messy. You don’t seem like a messy girl,” you say.

Anna laughs. “You don’t know me at all, (Y/N).”

You smile with her and finish your drink.

 

After thirty minutes of conversation your food arrives. You’ve had about four rum and cokes by now. So has Anna. You both order another round after the food comes. You eat your steak and fries easily, and chuckle and Anna as she chows down on the chicken wings. After finishing your meal, you grab a chicken wing.

 

“I don’t think you’ll be able to eat a lot of these (Y/N). You’ve just had your steak.”

“Coming from the girl who just ate seven. Trust me, I’ll be fine,” you respond, eating a wing.

You finish your drink and grab another wing. Anna does the same. You both keep eating more wings until it’s done. You felt completely full, but so happy at the same time. You could tell Anna was full, but she seemed to be having fun.

 

The waiter walks towards you two and puts down two cups.

“What is this?” You ask.

“Someone bought these for you. It’s some of the strongest stuff we got,” the waiter explains.

You look at it for a second before shrugging and drinking it. Doesn’t taste too bad. You look over at Anna.

“Seems fine to me.”

Anna nods and drinks hers. The waiter smiles and walks away. He leaves the store and meets a man in a suit and glasses.

 

“I gave them your drink. They won’t be hurt, will they?”

“No. They’ll live. Here,” the man says, handing one hundred dollars to the waiter.

 

You and Anna feel really happy. You realize you’re drunk. There is no denying it. You and Anna are laughing and talking away. The horrible singers on the karaoke machine doesn’t even bother you anymore. You look at Anna and smile.

“We should go sing!”

“We totally should!” She agrees.

 

You both stand up and wait for the next guy to end his song. As soon as he gets off the stage you both hop on the stage. You look through the songs and find the perfect one.

“Just read the lyrics and follow my lead,” you say.

“Your lead. I think my lead is the better lead,” Anna slurs.

“Nope. My lead leads this time.”

 

You hit the play button and grab the mic.

 

When the truth is found to be lies

And all the joy within you dies!

Anna laughs as she realizes what song you chose. She grabs the second mic and sings along.

 

Don’t you want somebody to love?

Don’t you need somebody to love?

Wouldn’t you love somebody to love?

You better find somebody to love!

You smile at the success of your plan. You dance around for a moment before the next verse hits.

 

When the garden flowers

Baby, are dead, yes

And your mind, your mind!

Is so full of red!

Don’t you want somebody to love?

Don’t you need somebody to love?

Wouldn’t you love somebody to love?

You better find somebody to love!

Your eyes, I say your eyes may look like his

Yeah, but in your head, baby

I’m afraid you don’t know where it is!

Don’t you want somebody to love?

Don’t you need somebody to love?

Wouldn’t you love somebody to love?

You better find somebody to love!

You put the mic on the stand and go right beside Anna. She notices and pulls you in to sing in the same mic.

 

Tears are running

They’re running all down your dress

And your friends, baby

They treat you like a guest

You both put everything you got into this last part, half laughing.

 

Don’t you want somebody to love?

Don’t you need somebody to love?

Wouldn’t you love somebody to love?

You better find somebody to love!

You both hold that last note for some time before ending the song. You and Anna laugh. The crowd cheers and raises their drinks. You and Anna bow. Anna almost falls off the stage, but you keep her on her feet. You both exit the stage and walk up to your waiter.

 

“I think we should pay now. I think we’re done. Yes. Done diddly done,” you mumble.

“Actually, the owner was so impressed with your performance that you get the meal for free. He is a fan of the Ice Harvesters, even if one is missing.”

You smile and put your hand on his shoulder.

“Thank you good sir. I will return his genr… gender… genrerosity.”

The waiter laughs, “Close enough. Have a good night you two.”

“You have a good night,” Anna responds.

 

You both exit the pub and look around.

“Where… is my car?”

Anna slaps your chest. “At the mall! It’s so faaaar”

“I know! Did we get here?”

“You’re a super hero! Fly us home!” Anna yells.

“But of course! Hold on to me!”

 

Anna grabs onto you. You jump in the air and fall flat on your face. Anna lands on her feet, but falls over laughing.

“My powers! They have failed me!” You complain.

You get on your feet and pull Anna to hers. You both start walking down the street, towards your home.

 

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Shadow stands in his area. His plane of oblivion. His arms are crossed and his eyes closed. His face shows signs of thinking, and slight discomfort.

“This doesn’t make sense. It’s not possible for (Y/N) to get drunk this easily… and how am I feeling the effects as well. That’s never happened before. Something is wrong, but I can’t concentrate enough to think. Damnit.”

 

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You and Anna somehow manage your way back home through all your laughing and yelling. You must be a nuisance for the neighbors. You finally reach your house. You open the door very loudly.

“Gerda, Kai! I require… something.”

Anna follows beside you.

“Shhhh, Elsa is sleeping!”

“Oh yeah. Shhhh,” you whisper.

 

Anna giggles and fumbles away. She goes upstairs and out of sight. You stumble over to the kitchen and drink water straight out of the tap. It wasn’t as cold you would have wanted, but it works. You wipe off your face and look at the faucet.

“Shhhh, you’re gonna wake up Elsa. Bad faucet.”

Your head lays down on the counter and you don’t want to raise it.

 

“Okay… One. Two. Three.”

You lift your head and push off the counter. You fly out of the kitchen and towards the stairs. You climb them and reach your room. You slowly open the door and fall into the room. You push yourself to your feet and look up. A woman’s figure is standing in your room. She starts walking towards you. From what you make out, it’s Elsa.

 

“Elsa?”

She nods her head. In an instant she pushes her lips against yours. You don’t question it for a second. You respond with more passion than she does. Her tongue enters you mouth and explores.

She seems more… thingy today. Like… thingy. I know what I’m talking about, shut up brain.

You do the same thing to her. You feel every inch of her body. She feels slightly different, but it’s just because you’re drunk. You remove her shirt and her bra right there. She lifts your shirt off of you and presses up against you. Simple skin on skin. She jumps up and wraps her legs around your hips. You continue to kiss her passionately as you bring her to your bed. You lay her on the bed and start feeling every inch of her.

 

You remove her jeans, and she does the same to you. You continue to kiss her, and push her hair out of the way. She throws you over her and takes position on top of you. She keeps her upper body right up against yours, grinding on you.

 

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The night was amazing, and it was no doubt due to Elsa’s surprise visit. Some light shines in through the window and into your eyes. You stir a little bit, and squint your eyes. You move a little to get out of the lights path. You feel a warm body behind you and smile. Before you turn around you notice something. A single strand of hair. You couldn’t focus on it, but you knew it wasn’t Elsa’s.

 

Must be mine. Oh man, this headache. How much did I drink last night? Damn, I wonder how Anna’s doing if I feel this bad.

You grab your head real quick before turning over to face Elsa. You turn over and witness the body in front of you.

“Oooohhh fuck.”

 

 

 

 

 

 


	21. Pain of the Mind

Chapter 21: Pain of the Mind

 

You look at her face with complete surprise and shock. You don’t know whether to say something or just stay silent. She starts moving around, and her eyes start to open. You prepare for what may come. She opens her eyes, looking at you. She takes a moment to register your face.

“(Y/N)?”

“Anna…”

 

You both stay silent for a moment before pushing off against each other and falling off the bed. You both stand up and look at each other. You’re both naked. You turn your head away and look for your clothes. Anna grabs the bed sheet and covers her body. You find your underwear and slip them on.

 

“(Y/N), why were we naked?” Anna asks.

“Why were you in my bed?”

“Did we..?”

“Do the thingy…” You finish

“The thingy?”

“You know… sex.”

“Why would you say that? Of course we didn’t… did we?”

“We were drinking.”

“Oh god.”

“But not driving,” you mumble.

“Are you absolutely sure we… did stuff?”

“Hold on, I have a way to check,” you say.

 

You walk to the bathroom and lift up the toilet seat. You exhale and get ready for the ultimate test. At the same time Anna is gathering her clothes – which are scattered all over the room – and putting them back on.

“Oh man, oh man, oh man. I know I thought about it once or twice but I never thought I would actually sleep with him. I thought he was Kristoff. Ohhh, Elsa’s going to kill us.”

“Awwwww, crap,” you say from the bathroom.

 

You step out of the bathroom and look at Anna.

“Yeah… I had sex last night, and it was no doubt with you.”

“How do you know?” She asks.

“When guys… you know what I’m not explaining it. My stream isn’t right, okay?”

Anna stands there puzzled for a moment before rushing towards you.

 

“So what are we going to do? We have to tell her!”

“Yes, that we do. But I’m just trying to think on last night. I can’t seem to remember it all that well. I remember chicken wings and a song,” you recollect. “I kind of remember us, but I swore you were Elsa.”

The memories of that night are… cloudy at best. Now thinking a little bit on it, you remember thinking she felt different. You made that comparison before. You should have known better.

 

“I remember drinking a lot,” Anna says, chuckling a little bit.

“Yeah… that we did. Listen, how about we clean ourselves up and talk about this in an hour or so? That way we can get a clear head, and maybe remember some stuff.”

“Ok… that seems fair.”

 

You walk up to your dresser to grab some new clothes for the day. Anna starts to leave but stops at the door.

“(Y/N)…”

“Yes, Anna?”

“Things won’t be weird between us, right?”

“No. You’re one of my best friends and this was just… a thing. Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.”

 

Anna nods then leaves the room. She goes to her own room and lies on the bed for a moment. She tries to think of what happened last night but she can’t. She shakes her head and slams it into a pillow, trying to remember. Guilt starts settling on her. She just slept with her sister’s boyfriend who she loves immensely. She isn't looking forward to that conversation. Anna gets up and heads to her personal shower. It would probably help with her thinking.

 

You grab some clothes and head to the main bathroom. You open the door to find Elsa doing her makeup.

“Oh, hey sleepy head. I was worried you weren’t going to wake up. Five more minutes and I would have woken you up myself.”

You chuckle and rub the back of your head. You can only imagine how bad that would have been.

“Well, you know me. I’m pretty good when it comes to waking up.”

Elsa laughs. “No you aren’t. Remember when I had to shoot you with ice a few times just for you to wake up.”

 

You laugh and nod.

“Yeah, I remember that. Anyway, I’m going to jump in the shower.”

“Go right ahead. I’m almost done.”

Elsa starts focusing on her make up once more. You take off your shirt and look in the mirror. You see your chest and neck are filled with lipstick marks and a couple hickies. One may have been Elsa, but not all of them.

 

You quickly throw your shirt back on and aim for your pants. You slip them off and then your boxers. Elsa chuckles and turns around.

“Well, you could have waited for me to leave.”

You stand there, confused.

“But… you just said…”

“I’m kidding, don’t worry. Make sure you dress nicely, I want to make a good impression.”

Elsa gives you a kiss before leaving the bathroom. You watch her leave and smile.

 

You throw your shirt to the ground and look at your body. The lipstick will be washed off, but the hickies may take some time. You shrug and turn the shower on. You get it to your preferred temperature and step in. The water flows down your body and seems to slow the whole planet down. You try to think back on what has happened. You can’t get a clear picture. It’s all black.

 

“Wait… Shadow might know!” You exclaim.

You lay down and take position against the opposite end of the tub. You close your eyes and enter Limbo.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You open your eyes and look around the plane. It’s empty. 

“I hate when he hides like this. Can’t you just APPEAR WHEN I GET HERE?” You yell.

There is no response. You raises your brow then shrug and put your hands at shoulder height.

“Man, how rude.”

 

You start walking through the endless plane that is your mind. You look around but can’t find Shadow. This has happened before, but now it’s mostly white instead of black so you should be able to see easier. You keep walking for some time before finding Shadow. You shake your head and walk towards him.

 

“Shadow, what the hell? Why are you… Shadow?”

You notice he is holding is head with one hand and allowing his other arm to be limp. Blood is dripping down his arm and onto the ground. One more drips down and the white Limbo turns red. Shadow turns around to see you. He seems deranged and wrong.

 

“(Y/N)… What are you… Argh!” He drops to his knees in pain.

You start to rush towards him but a large pain shoots through your head too. You drop to one knee and hold your head.

“Shadow… What’s…” Another pain shoots through. “This is… it’s like before… What is…”

“I can’t… focus… I need to… think…” Shadow mumbles.

 

It feels like hours are passing by. Or is it minutes? You really can’t tell. The pain is destroying you and you have no idea why. It’s more intense than when Anna found you. You look towards Shadow, who is the same as you.

“Hey Shadow, I have a plan.”

“Yeah… What is it?”

“Let’s put our heads together!”

Shadow pauses for a moment.

“What?”

 

You slowly walk up to him and lift him up. He looks at you for a moment before you act. You grip Shadow’s shoulders and head butt him. His head flies back but his body stays still.

“What the hell?” He yells.

“Come on, return.”

He shakes his head and prepares a head butt. You both do it at the same time and connect. You hold it together for a moment before closing your eyes.

 

You almost feel like you’re merging together for a moment before a shockwave causes you to fly apart. Neither of you recover, and you both slide across the ground. The pain stops for you, but you aren’t sure about Shadow. You lift yourself up and look towards Shadow. He is standing straight and looking away. He seems back to normal.

 

“You got up fast,” you start.

“Huh… I suppose. Maybe you just can’t get up fast enough.”

You shake your head and walk towards him.

“So what the hell was that?” You query.

“I don’t know. It started last night during your drinking.”

“Did the alcohol affect you? It never has before.”

 

Shadow sighs.

“It never has, but something affected me. It was wrong, and I didn’t like it.”

“And it’s happened twice. It’s something we should look into.”

“No shit,” Shadow retorts.

 

You look at Shadow and smile. He looks over at you and raises his brow.

“What?”

“Nothing,” you say, looking away quickly.

Shadow looks towards the endless abyss, thinking.

“Wait… what about that drink you didn’t order?”

You think back but it’s still blurry.

“Which drink?”

 

“The waiter brought you and Anna a drink. It may have just been because he liked you, but it’s still something to look into.”

 

“I’ll ask Anna to look into it. I want to go to W.A. Industries and see what I can find there,” you plan.

“Fine, that seems logical to me. Sometimes I wish we had separate bodies so we could do different things at the same time,” Shadow says.

“Wouldn’t you just leave?”

“Ha, you really don’t know me.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Elsa finishes her food and stops for a moment. She looks towards the stairs and listens to the shower. Confusion takes over her face and mind.

“It’s been half an hour. (Y/N) never takes showers for this long.”

Elsa gets up and starts walking up the stairs. Anna walks down the stairs and passes Elsa.

“Hey Anna,” Elsa greets.

“Hi! Hello. Good luck!” Anna rapidly spews and rushes away.

Elsa watches Anna rush away and shakes her head.

“Huh, I wonder what that’s about.”

 

Elsa knocks on the door.

“(Y/N)? Are you alright?”

No response.

“(Y/N)?”

Elsa pushes the door open and looks in the room. Your clothes are still lying on the floor and the steam is filling the room.  Elsa opens the shower curtain to find you sitting down. Your eyes open and look towards her.

 

“Oh, hey Elsa. What are you doing here?”

“You have no humility, do you?” She chuckles.

“Why? You’ve seen me naked before.”

You get on your feet and turn off the shower. Elsa hands you a towel and you start drying yourself. Elsa steps back to let you get out of the shower.

“So what’s with the check up?”

“Well, you were taking some time in there and I got worried,” she explains.

 

“Got worried about what? What could… Elsa you didn’t think that I was… you know.”

“What? No. Well, maybe. I don’t know what you do when I’m not around.”

You hear Shadows laughter at the irony of the statement.

“Oh come on Elsa, I hope you mean that in the nicest of ways,” you say, kissing her cheek.

She blushes. “Of course I do.”

 

You chuckle as you wrap the towel around your waist.

“Hey, have you talked to Anna today?” Elsa asks.

You pause for a moment, hoping she doesn’t know.

“Yes, for a second. Why?”

“She seems a little more… off. That’s all I can use to explain it.”

“I can talk to her before we go, if you want.”

“If you could. But quickly. We have to go in a few minutes,” Elsa says.

 

You pick up the clothes you brought with you and keep them in your hand. You forgot you had to dress fancy when you woke up. You walk to your room and toss the clothes on the bed. You open your closet and grab a suit. You wore the same black and black suit you wore for prom. You put a bright blue tie on, just to finish it all off. You make sure it’s all on properly before looking at yourself in the mirror. You wink at yourself and walk away.

 

You hop down the stairs and find Elsa putting on her shoes. She looks up at you and smiles.

“I’ll go get the car started. Just go talk to Anna then meet me.”

“Of course,” you respond.

You walk into the kitchen to find Anna vigorously eating chocolate. You shake your head and walk towards her.

“Y’alright Anna?”

“No! How are you so calm?” She cries out.

 

You rush over and sit down beside her. You look her in the eyes and smile.

“Just smile, Anna. You didn’t mean to do… me, I guess. Look, I may have an idea on why this happened. Would it make you feel better if we figured it out?”

Anna nods.

“Ok, do you remember our waiter last night?”

“If I saw him, I would know.”

“Okay, ask him about the drink he gave us. We think it may have been spiked.”

“We?” Anna asks, her brow raised.

 

“Me. I. I think it was spiked.”

Anna continues to stare at you as you back away from her.

“You know, it’s kind of funny how similar yet different you and Elsa are,” you mention.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I thought you were Elsa when you walked in. But I remember how you felt, and not in that way! I mean you both have a different feel, I guess. Anyway, I have to go. Try and get out of the house. Bring Kristoff with you, if he will come.”

 

Anna nods once more as you leave. She puts her chocolate away and grabs a glass of water. She drinks it and thinks for a moment.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You and Elsa are sitting in her car. She is driving and singing along to some music. You’re smiling at her as she sings. It’s a sound you could hear until the end of time. You start to sing along with and she laughs at you.

“What? What’d I do?”

“Nothing, it’s just you started singing when the male singer in the song started singing. It was perfect,” she giggles.

“Well, maybe I’m just THAT good,” you smirk.

 

Elsa shakes her head and focuses on the road once more.

“So how was your night? Did you and Anna have fun?”

“Yeah, it was fun. We ate a lot. I was actually surprised how much Anna can eat. I was so surprised.”

“Is that all you did?” Elsa chuckles.

“Eat? No. We went to a store, got some clothes, – which reminds me I have to pick up some clothes later today – we went to a bar. That’s where we ate and drank a bit.”

“You drank?”

“Yeah, a bit. We had a good time,” you nod.

“That’s good. I should set up a time to be with Anna. She’s been really worried lately.”

 

“Worried? Why?” You ask.

“She’s been worried about you and Kristoff,” Elsa explains. “Kristoff because of Pabbie. He isn’t doing so well and Kristoff hasn’t been leaving the house much.”

“Yeah, I’ll admit I’ve been worried about him too… Wait, why is she worried about me?”

Elsa sighs. “She’s worried in the same way I’m worried about you.”

“Why are you worried?” You ask, your voice a little louder but not angry.

“Because of all the adventuring you want to do! We’re getting into a normal life again and you want to go off and do… something! You could get hurt!”

 

You smile and stroke Elsa’s cheek. She glances at you quick before looking back at the road.

“Oh Elsa. You’re so cute when you’re worried.”

“Shut up,” Elsa shyly says, moving your hand away from her face.

You laugh and lean back in your seat.

 

She turns the corner and looks for a place to park. She ends up parking on the side of the road. Elsa exits the car and looks up at the giant building ahead of her. You step out of the car and walk beside Elsa. You put your arm around her shoulders and hold her for a second.

“Don’t worry Elsa. I’m right here. I’ll always be here.”

She looks at you and smiles. She kisses you before heading towards the building. You follow her and keep a look out. You aren’t sure what could happen in this building.

 

You both enter the building.

“Welcome to W.A. Industries. The foundation to a better world,” a synthesized female voice greets.

You chuckle at the statement. Elsa nudges you to quiet down.

“Sorry,” you whisper.

You look around the main area of the building, which is impressive yet simple. There are displays of impressive and advanced technology. There are flight suits, robots, floating water in a case. You don't understand the water thing. Other than those few examples and a couple pictures, there isn't that much in the area. Behind the reception desk are two sets of stairs leading to two separate elevators.

 

You both walk up to the receptionist.

“I’m here to see Alec Westergaard. My name is Elsa Anderson.”

“One moment please.”

The receptionist clicks a few buttons on her computer and smiles.

“Yes, a Mr. (Y/N) and Ms. Elsa. I’ll let him know you’re coming. Take the elevator to the right up to the 17th floor. He should be waiting for you once you get off the elevator.”

“Thank you,” Elsa says.

“Yes, I’ll make sure to tell your boss what a great job you did,” you add.

Elsa gives you a sarcastic look and walks away. You chuckle and catch up to her.

 

“You don’t love me,” you say.

“Ha, sure I don’t,” she snickers.

You shake your head and click the elevator button. Within seconds the doors open and welcome you in. You both walk in and Elsa clicks the appropriate button.

“Why did it say both you and Elsa?” Shadow asks.

“Because we were both supposed to come,” you reply.

“No. Elsa was supposed to come. You weren’t expected to come.”

 

You try to argue but you can’t. Shadow has a point. How did they know you were going to come? It doesn’t matter now, though. You are here and there’s no going back. The elevator stops and the door opens. Alec is standing in front of the elevator with a cocky smile.

“Elsa, (Y/N). Thank you for coming. Follow me.”

 

Alec spins around and starts to walk away. You and Elsa follow him. You look around to see a large variety of rooms all housing different things. There are scientist working hard on… something. You don’t even know what it is, but it seems early in production. It was mostly sketches and schematics on this floor. Some of the scientists look out at you and quickly return to their work. You don’t know whether it’s you, Elsa, or Alec that’s scaring them.

 

You find one room that captures your interest. You stop following Alec and Elsa, and stroll on over to this room. It has some drawings of a watch. From what you can tell, it’s more than a simple watch. You slip into the room and look around. There is a distinct lack of personnel in this area, and you’re going to take advantage of it.

 

You start reading the board and looking at the notes.

“A watch with unlimited space? Materialize items into and out of the object? Oh man, this sounds great!”

You grab all the notes you can and some partly finished schematics. You stuff them in your pockets and begin to walk out. As you walk out you almost bump into a man.

 

“Look out kid, you’re gonna hurt someone,” he says.

You look at him. He has slicked back blonde hair and a highly defined face. He has a suit on and a smirk on his face. You can tell he is muscular, even through the suit. He reminds you of someone, but you can’t quite make out who. A woman stands next to him. She has a firm yet beautiful face. Her brown hair is tied in a bun. Her eyes are covered by sunglasses and her body is covered in a suit.

 

“Sorry about that,” you say.

The man looks at you for a moment then chuckles. The chuckle turns into a light laugh and he starts walking past you. The man and woman take opposite sides of you. As they pass you an odd feeling takes over you. You feel it through your entire body.

“Are you feeling this?” You whisper.

“Yeah… what is that?” Shadow responds.

 

The two walk past you and towards the elevator. You turn around and look at them. The elevator opens for them and they walk in. They turn around and face you. The man winks before pressing the button to close the door. A large part of you wants to follow them. It boils your blood and urges you forward.

 

You walk towards the door and click the button. You look around the door to try and find some sort of indication on what floor they’re on. There is none.

“There’s got to be something. Come on!” You yell.

“Calm down. What is wrong with you?” Shadow asks.

“Did you not feel that? It was like my body freaked out.”

 

“(Y/N)? What are you doing?” Elsa calls out.

You turn around to see Elsa and Alec staring at you.

“Oh… nothing. Nothing.”

You quickly jog over to the two and follow them into Alec’s meeting room.

 

“So, do you agree to the terms? You have full control of the company and it’s staff, but I must be your advisor,” Alec sums up.

“Why do you have to be an advisor?” You ask.

“(Y/N), he already explained it. Don’t worry,” Elsa says.

“No, it’s fine. It’s simply a compromise. I believe I told you that my family isn’t too enthusiastic about having Elsa lead our company. I’m there to keep their interests in mind, and give my opinion. I have been in charge for eight years now.”

 

“That’s likely a lie. If the Andersons were alive then he wasn’t in charge. Maybe just a decoy, but nothing more,” Shadow utters.

 

“And I will no doubt keep that in mind. I don’t want to take away everything this company is, but I do have some ideas,” Elsa agrees.

“Yes, you told me. They were indeed great ideas. We can get started on those soon. So, do you want to work here?”

Elsa looks at you for your opinion. Even though you have heavy suspicion about the company, you know Elsa will be able to do well with it. Having her lead it may also give you the opportunity to snoop around easily.

 

You nod. Elsa smiles and looks back at Alec.

“I accept. I’ll follow my parents’ footsteps and surpass them.”

“Fair enough. Come in on Friday and I’ll show you everything.”

Elsa nods and stands up. You remain seated.

“Come on (Y/N), let’s go.”

 

“I’ll be there in a second. I want to talk to Alec.”

“(Y/N),” Elsa whines.

“It’s quite alright Elsa. Go on, we’ll talk,” Alec says.

Elsa stares at you for a moment then walks towards the elevator. You wait until her heels are no longer heard.

 

“You completed the simulation,” he says, walking over to a secret cabinet.

“Yes, except it was different.”

“You still completed it.”

Alec pulls out some scotch and pours some for himself. He looks to you and raises his brow.

“No, I’m fine,” you politely decline.

“Suit yourself. You look nice, by the way,” he says.

 

“Whatever, so what did you want to tell me? What do I do?”

Alec takes a drink and walks towards the window.

“What have you learned so far?”

You stand up and slowly walk towards him.

“I know that I wasn’t part of the Andersons’ – or Duke and Duchess’ – project, but rather forced in by ‘The Monarchy’.”

“And do you know who that is?” He asks, his voice cocky.

“No, why don’t you enlighten me?”

 

He chuckles. “That’s not how this works. I’m helping you as a favour to someone else, but I won’t get killed for you. Try typing in your name. Try exploring the wide bank of knowledge that computer holds.”

 

You stop behind him.

“I’m not playing games!” You say, voice raised.

“And I am? Listen, you have to look up a facility in the mountains. All the information you should need is on that computer. If you truly need help, then I will indulge you. But you don’t need my help just yet. Find the facility and that should help you.”

“Why did you want me to come if you aren’t going to tell me anything?” You ask.

“Fair point. I’ll give you some information then.”

 

You await his words.

“Protect Elsa. She’s more important than you think,” he whispers.

“What? Who’s after Elsa?”

“Why do you think I’m advising her? There is no danger yet, but there will be. If you really do love her than you better bust your ass to protect her.”

 

You nod at him and walk away. You leave the room and head towards the elevator. Alec watches you go then pulls out his phone. A voice is heard from the other side.

“Get moving Hunter. (Y/N) will be at the base soon, and I know you want to introduce yourself.”

 

You find Elsa waiting beside the elevator. She looks at you with a concerned look.

“What did you talk about?”

“Nothing. I just needed to ask him a question.”

“Oh… alright then.”

 

The elevator opens and you both enter. You click the main floor and it begins to descend. You look at Elsa and smile. You grab her hands, which grabs her attention.

“Elsa, you know I’m here for you. You know I’ll protect you with every fiber of my being right?”

“Yes, I know. I simply hope you never have to.”

You smirk and hug her. She is confused but hugs you back.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Maybe just a little scared.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Anna finally puts on some new clothes and walks out the door. She pulls her phone out of her pocket and calls Kristoff. The phone starts ringing.

“Hello?” Kristoff starts.

“Kristoff! It’s Anna.”

“Hey Anna, how’s it going?” He asks in a gloomy voice.

“Good. Listen, I’m coming to get you.”

“Wait, what? No, I’m looking after Pabbie. I’m not going anywhere.”

“But Kristoff…” Anna whines.

 

Some voices are heard on Kristoff’s side. He responds then huffs.

“Alright, alright. I’ll come with you.”

“Fantastic! Be there in a few,” Anna cheerfully says.

“Wait, where are we go-“

Anna hangs up the phone and gets in her car.

 

She pulls out of the drive way just in time to see Gerda, Kai, and Olaf pull in. She waves to them as she drives out. Anna proceeds through Arendelle until reaching Kristoff’s house. She pulls into the driveway and walks up to the door. She knocks five times in a cute little pattern. Kristoff opens the door a few seconds later. He is all dressed and ready to go.

“Hey cutie,” Anna says, kissing Kristoff.

It lasts a few seconds, as Anna hasn’t kissed him in a few weeks, and she wants to erase the memory of you and her.

 

“Hey Anna. Alright, where are we going?” He asks after Anna releases him.

“We have a couple places to go, but we absolutely NEED to drop off at a pub.”

Kristoff’s expression changes to a startled one.

“A pub? Why would we… no, you, need to be at a pub?” He chuckles.

“It’s important. Besides, we have to pick up my clothes as well,” she says, leading him to the car.

 

“What the heck have you been doing lately? Pubs? Loss of clothes? Jeez Anna,” Kristoff huffs.

They both get in the car and drive out onto the road.

“So how has Pabbie been?” Anna asks.

“He’s been up and down. The family says I’m worrying too much but… I don’t know.”

“Hey, he’ll be fine. He’s a tough old guy.”

“Yeah, that he is,” Kristoff smiles. “Listen, I have to apologize to you guys. I’ve been such a downer lately.”

“It’s okay Kristoff. We all know what it’s like.”

 

Kristoff smiles and kisses Anna on the cheek. Anna blushes, but continues to drive. Anna’s mind wanders back to her time in bed with you. She’s beginning to remember things about last night. She remembers singing alone with you, and calling you a super hero. She remembers kissing your neck and rubbing up against you. She remembers her moaning, and the pleasure she felt. The thing is, she still remembers it being Kristoff. She knows it’s you, but her mind says it was Kristoff.

 

Kristoff rolls down the window and positions his hand to support his head. The wind blows through his hair and his light beard. He doesn’t have a beard most of the time but he has let himself go. He has stayed fit and muscular though. He would never let himself fall behind you, even though he has. But he doesn’t look like he has. That was the key.

 

He’s spent so much time indoors that he forgot what it was like to be outside. The fresh air and busy streets have been lost to him. The sound of fans while he played drums was almost like a dream now. He hasn’t been playing as much, and left you to be the lone Ice Harvester. You’ve been meaning to change the name, but never spoke to Kristoff about it. He still chuckles every time he thinks back to the day he named you.

 

Things seemed easier then, even though it was far from easy. Kristoff has been away from everyone for one month only, so he’s been enjoying the other eight with you. Since you couldn’t use the school anymore, you worked out at the gym. You wouldn’t join him as often since you had this amazing training area. Kristoff was nowhere near the league you would train at, so he stayed away.

 

Even with his constant watch over Pabbie, he always thinks back to you guys. He genuinely feels bad for Anna that he hasn’t been with her for a while. He even told her he understood if she wanted to break up. Anna gave him a thirty minute lecture about how silly he was being and how much she loved him. You were there when he said that, and you couldn’t help but laugh during Anna’s speech. She hit you for laughing.

 

Kristoff leans over and turns on the radio. Some general news station starts playing.

“In other news, an ancient temple was found yesterday by architects. They say it was a temple for some sort of cult or clan. The location is by a small town called Toc-“

Kristoff switches it to a classic rock station. Anna pulls around a corner and parks on the side of the road.

“Alright, my clothes are first.”

They exit the car and walk into the store. The same lady is sitting at the counter, looking through things on her computer. She looks up and sees Anna.

 

“Oh, hello! I remember you. Where’s your boyfriend?”

Anna becomes flushed.

“This is my boyfriend!”

“Oh, my apologies. So are you here to pick up the clothes?”

Anna nods. The woman grabs two bags and hands it to her.

“What’s in this other bag?” Anna asks, looking through it.

“This is the other man’s bag. He bought something and left it here for pick up.”

 

“Okay, thank you,” Kristoff says.

They walk out of the store and enter their car. Anna takes out the jacket you bought. She looks at in and shrugs.

“I guess (Y/N) got it.”

“(Y/N)? When were you guys here?” Kristoff asks.

“Yesterday. Alright, now to the pub.”

 

Kristoff chuckles and looks out the window once more. He starts thinking and comes to a realization.

“Wait, did you go to a pub with (Y/N)?”

“Yeah. Well, here we are. Let’s find that waiter.”

“Why?”

Anna pauses for a moment.

“To… compliment him. Yes. Exactly.”

 

Anna quickly exits the car and walks into the pub before Kristoff can even move. He gets out of the car and rushes in after her. He finds Anna looking around, then walking up to the counter. He positions himself at her side.

 

“Excuse me, do you know where… Where… Steve! Can I talk to Steve?” She asks the bartender.

“You mean Steven? Yeah, he’s in the back. He’ll be out in a second.”

“Ok, thank you,”

Anna and Kristoff take a seat at the bar and wait for Steven. Kristoff is about to say something but someone cuts him off.

“Anna! You’re back!”

 

A man in a suit walks out from the back room with open arms.

“Um… I’m sorry, who are you?”

“Oh, I manage this store. The name’s Wesley. Hey, where’s your boyfriend?”

“I’m her boyfriend,” Kristoff says, standing up.

“Oh, well I’m sorry buddy but last night you weren’t. Wait a second… you’re the other Ice Harvester! I love you guys! The other one was here last night.”

 

Kristoff looks at Anna then back at Wesley.

“Yeah, I heard. Anyway, could you get Steven for us? He’s supposed to be in the back.”

“No problem, just sit tight.”

Wesley walks into the back. Kristoff sits beside Anna and looks at her.

“Two people who think (Y/N) was your boyfriend… Hm… maybe I have been gone for too long.”

“Who cares what they think? What matters is what we think!”

“Yeah… yeah I guess.”

 

Anna’s guilt is building fast. Her stomach is filled with butterflies and she feels like she’ll explode. She wouldn’t feel so bad if she hadn’t slept with you. But she did. She betrayed Kristoff and Elsa. She can barely take it.

 

“Kristoff listen I-“

“Hey, Anna! What are you doing here?” A voice questions.

Anna and Kristoff look to the source of the voice. Steven is walking towards them with a smile on his face.

“Hey, Steven. Listen, can I talk to you outside?”

“Oh, um… sure. Will it take a long time?”

“No, it shouldn’t,”

 

Anna gets up and walks next to Steven. Kristoff stands up as well.

“Kristoff, stay here. Please.”

Kristoff is about to object but he decides not to. He sits down and huffs.

Anna and Steven walk outside.

“What’s this about?” Steven asks.

“Listen, I need to ask you what we ordered last night. Did we drink or eat something out of the ordinary?”

 

Steven tenses up for a moment.

“Well… yes.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Listen, I’m very sorry. I won’t tell you a sob story, but I needed money,” Steven rapidly spews.

“Steven, calm down. What did you do?”

Steven takes a moment and frowns.

“A man came up to me while you were eating. He gave me these two drinks and paid me to serve them to you. Neither of you passed out or got sick, so I thought he was just being nice.”

 

Anna thinks back on the night. There is a blurry memory of a drink that was never ordered.

“What did he look like?”

“Well, he had slicked back brown hair. I never saw his eyes. But the most noticeable feature was his face. It seemed scarred, but only around the mouth. Almost in a handprint, if you can believe that. It seems like he had been caught in a fire.”

 

Anna’s mind swirls. She can only think of one person who fits that description. Her mind rushes back to nine months ago. Your power was unleashed and Hans was nothing to you. You burned his face and tossed him aside like nothing. He escaped that day, and now he is back.

 

“Ok, thank you,” Anna says, rushing inside.

She grabs Kristoff and drags him into the car.

“Whoa, hey. What’s going on?”

“Something very bad,” Anna states.

Kristoff’s expression changes instantly.

“What is it?”

“I’ll explain it later, we have to find Elsa and (Y/N)!”

 

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You and Elsa just arrive home. You still have the watch blueprints in your pockets, and you’re eager to see what you can build. Elsa pulls into the drive way and turns off the car. You kiss her real quick then run out of the car.

“Fun times Elsa, I’ll talk to you later.”

Elsa is stunned with confusion. She doesn’t move for a few seconds after you run away.

“I swear he never changes,” she giggles.

 

You sprint into your room and change clothes. You put on a simple white shirt and a pair of jeans. You grab the notes out of your dress pants and rush down to the lab. You open the elevator and tell it to go down. It responds and brings you down to the training area. You burst out of the elevator and into the lab. You find a large workbench and set down all the necessary notes.

 

You look at them closely, reading all the instructions, materials, and flaws.

“Hell, I’m not a scientist. How am I supposed to…? Wait a second.”

You turn to the computer and smile. You grab the blueprints and place it on one of the scanners.

“Computer, scan,” you command.

The computer begins scanning the blueprints. The screen lights up with the blueprints on it. The computer starts putting the pieces together on what could be used and how it could be perfected.

 

“Oh man, I love this thing.”

The computer places everything together then stops.

“Error, model is outdated.”

“Outdated? I just took this. How is it outdated?” You scratch your head and think. “Elaborate.”

“Most efficient model in storage. Opening now,” it says.

A small part of the wall opens up. There is a model hand with a gorgeous looking watch on it. It’s black with bits of red in the best spots. You grab it and place it on your wrist.

 

It’s an analog watch, which makes you tilt your head. There is one button on the side. You play with it but you only accomplish changing the time. You shrug and set it to the proper time. You look at it for a second, trying to figure out how to use it. You flick it. Nothing.

 

“You seriously thought flicking it would work?” Shadow asks.

“Well… maybe?”

You start poking the face of the clock.

“Fucking idiot,” Shadow remarks.

 

You keep poking the face until a hologram appears from the watch. There is a hologram of a key, a map, and a sheath. You are confused at what to do with it. You reach out for the key and grab it. It materializes in your hand and disappears from the hologram list.

“Oh. My. God. THIS IS AWESOME! WHY AM I SO AWESOME AT STUFF?” You yell.

“Calm down, jesus christ,” Shadow complains.

 

The hologram stays in there. You place the key on the base of the watch and it disappears. A hologram of the key appears. You smile. You swipe through the three objects until you get to the sheath. It seems to be somewhat curved, so a katana most like. You grab it and take it out. There is no sword, just the sheath. It’s pure black, with nothing special on it.

“Well this is… helpful?”

You place it on the face and it disappears into the hologram.

“Why would there be an empty sheath? Seems random.”

 

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Anna and Kristoff pull into the drive way. They both rush out of the car and into the house. Gerda and Kai see them barge in.

“Hello Kristoff, nice to see you aga-“

“Not now!” Anna cuts off.

She grabs Kristoff and drags him upstairs. The two barge into Elsa’s room. Elsa – who is reading on her bed – looks over at them with confusion.

“What are you tw-“

“Not now!” Anna cuts off. “Where’s (Y/N)?”

“In his ‘man cave’ thing. Why?” Elsa responds.

“Kristoff stay here, I’ll be right back.”

 

Anna bursts out of the room and into her parents’ room. Elsa and Kristoff look at each other, hoping one of them has the answer. They both shrug and take a position to wait until Anna comes back. Anna activates the elevator and speeds down to the training room.

 

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“And the map, what could this reveal?”

You are about to grab it when you hear a door open.

“(Y/N)!” Anna screams.

You deactivate the watch and sprint out of the lab. You look at the person and see Elsa.

“Elsa, are you okay?” You ask with genuine concern.

Anna looks at you for a moment. She heard you call her Elsa. This makes her smile, but also makes her frown with concern.

 

You keep looking at her until and aching pain shoots through your head. You grab your head and look around the room. Different colours are flashing all around the room. Things are moving around or bending in and out of reality. Anna rushes towards you to see if you’re okay. You look up at her and see something strange. Half her body is Elsa, and the other half is Anna.

“What the hell?” You mumble.

You grab your head once more. Suddenly the pain stops. You look up once more and see Anna.

“Anna? But… oh man my head,” you complain, grabbing it again.

 

“Come on (Y/N), this is exactly what we need right now.”

Anna helps you along to the elevator. You lean up against the wall, recovering.

“Up,” Anna commands.

The elevator door closes and it shoots up. You shake your head and blink a few times. The after effects are gone and you feel normal again.

“(Y/N), just keep calm and let me talk. I have to do something.”

You want to question her, but something tells you to let her be. You give her a nod and she smiles.

 

You both exit the elevator and walk into Elsa’s room. You see Kristoff sitting on Elsa’s bed. Elsa is beside him.

“Kristoff! Hey man!”

“Hey (Y/N).”

You and Anna stand directly in front of Kristoff and Elsa. They eagerly await an explanation.

 

 “Okay, Anna what’s going on?” Elsa asks.

Anna takes a deep breath.

“Elsa, Kristoff. I… we have something to tell you.”

 

 

You look over at Anna. You know what she’s talking about but you have no idea why she’s doing it.

“Last night (Y/N) and I… we had sex.”

Kristoff’s jaw drops. He looks at you with anger, but he doesn’t act on it. Elsa, on the other hand, has no reaction. This surprises you.

“I know,” Elsa says with sadness.

 

“Whoa, what? How?” You ask.

“I walked into your room to wake you up. I found you both lying there. Why do you think I was redoing my make-up?” She says, raising her voice. “I was hoping, so desperately hoping, that you just fell asleep in the same room because you were drunk. It was silly to think that.”

You look away in shame.

“Elsa, Kristoff listen. I know it sounds bad now but I think I have a reason for it! Please just listen.”

“A reason? Oh I can give you a reason!” Kristoff yells.

“Kristoff, calm down man. Listen to what Anna has to say,” you ease.

He looks at you for a moment then confronts you.

 

“No, I don’t have to ‘calm down’. You, my friend, slept with my girlfriend! The person I love! And you ask me to ‘calm down’,” he yells.

“Kristoff, please,” Anna begs.

“No, Anna! He’s not the only one I’m mad at. Everyone we talked to today said he was your boyfriend that night. How do you explain that? Huh?” He accuses.

“They what?” Elsa asks, standing up.

Kristoff turns towards Elsa.

“Everyone thought they were dating. The way they were acting and how they were so close. I talked to some of the people at the pub while you were away Anna. I know how you acted!”

 

Elsa stands up and looks towards you. You can see her start to tear up a little bit. You attempt to get closer to her but she moves away.

“Don’t… come close,” she whispers.

Your heart breaks right there. You start to feel the room go cold. You know what’s happening.

 

“Listen to me please, I can explain this!” Anna cries out, tears in her eyes too.

“No, Anna, you won’t,” Elsa declares.

Anna looks over at Elsa. Kristoff does as well.

“The facts are the facts. You two evidently care more about each other than us,” Elsa sobs.

“Elsa no! How could you think that?” You question.

“No, you can’t give me that! You who have spent so much time away. You who has thrown away what I gave you!”

 

That last part confused you. You had no idea what she was talking about. You’ve never thrown anything of hers away.

“Just go! Get out of here! Both of you!” Elsa shrieks.

“Elsa plea-“

“Go, Anna!”

 

“No! Listen to me you two! Anna has an explanation for all of this. Just let her speak!” You ask.

“Why don’t you explain it?” Elsa coldly questions.

“Because I don’t know what it is. I don’t have the answer.”

“So you’re gonna let Anna make up some ridiculous story so you can keep screwing around behind are backs? Fuck you (Y/N)!” Kristoff accuses.

He moves towards you and punches you in the cheek. You aren’t phased at all by it, and instead are simply disappointed.

 

“Oh yeah, I forgot. You’re Mr. Perfect,” Kristoff hisses, removing his fist from your face.

Anna is horrified by the situation and is in tears. She can’t believe all of this. She wanted it to go so much better.

“Just leave you two. Let us be alone,” Elsa requests.

You sigh and turn towards the door. Anna grabs your arm and looks into your eyes, questioning your actions. You simply shake your head slowly and walk out of the room.

 

Anna glances back at two people who she loves. Her tears continue to flow and she runs out of the room. Elsa freezes the door shut after she leaves and starts crying. Kristoff sits beside her and comforts her.

 

You walk away from Elsa’s room and intend on going back to the training room. Anna rushes beside in front of you.

“That’s it? You gave up like that?” She asks.

You don’t answer.

“(Y/N), we have to tell them. We could all be in danger right now.”

“Anna just… leave me alone right now.”

 

Anna stands in shock as you walk away. She can’t believe how badly this got, even though she has the answer. She wants to scream it out to everyone. She wants to rub it in Elsa and Kristoff’s face that neither of you did anything wrong. But something kept Anna silent. Tears flood her eyes and she runs to her room.

 

You slowly walk towards the elevator. You open it up and demand it to bring you down. It does, and you take a step out of the elevator and towards the laboratory. Something catches you eye and you stop. You see a shopping bag sitting outside of the elevator doors. You pick it up and take out the black jacket you bought the other day.

 

“What the..?”

You remember where you found this. Anna must have got it for you when she was out, and left it here for you. You smile and put the jacket on. It fits you perfectly. The sleeves end right at your wrists, giving your hands full mobility. Your white shirt is still visible right down the middle, as you haven’t zipped the jacket up. You look on the right shoulder and look at the dragon mark. You smile at how much you like it.

“Thanks Anna.”

 

You continue to the laboratory and take a seat. You have no idea what to do right now. An idea soon pops into your head. You can’t be here right now, and sulking isn’t the way to fix things. You might as well be productive with your time. You push off the chair and walk up to the computer. You input your code name and wait for the computer to bring something up. You stare at that code name. “Overlord”. Your face cringes and your fists tighten.

 

The computer starts bringing up small files to search through. You click the first one, which opens up the name and location of a facility. It’s on the outskirts of Arendelle, leading to Tocia city. You know where you’re going.

 

 

 


	22. Brothers Reunited

Chapter 22: Brothers Reunited

 

You take out your phone and take a picture of the location. You nod then run towards the exit. You enter the elevator and order it to take you back up. It does this. You leave the elevator and enter the halls. You can hear crying from two different directions.  No doubt it’s Anna and Elsa. You tighten your eyes then walk to your room.

 

You enter it and look at your watch. You click to open up the hologram. You didn’t notice this before, but there is a small button hologram that says “outfit”. You shrug and click on it.  A small message appears.

“Would you like to save the outfit you are currently wearing?” You read aloud. “What is this, a video game?”

You push yes and a glowing light surrounds you. Your clothes disappear from your body and materialize on a hologram mannequin.

 

You look down at your naked body. The only thing it didn’t remove was Elsa’s snowflake necklace she gave you all that time ago. You hold it for a moment and close your eyes. A minute later you return to reality and grab some new clothes. You grab another white t-shirt and put it on. You grab a V-neck long sleeved black shirt and throw it on top of the white one. The white shirt is still somewhat visible around your neck and a tiny part of your upper chest. You grab some undergarments and faded black jeans.

 

Before you leave you pull out Elsa’s necklace and leave it over all your clothes. You kept it under all your clothes for safety. Lots of people kept asking the materials it was made of, since it was the most beautiful thing they’ve ever seen. Some jewelers would even ask to inspect its craftsmanship. Since it was made of magical ice, showing it to people wasn’t the best idea. You always kept it with you, but never over your clothes. At least not until today.

 

You exit your room and start to walk down the hallway. Anna exits her room, drying some tears. You just pass by her, and fail to notice her. Something catches her eye. She notices Elsa’s necklace she made for you. She and Elsa thought you got rid of it months ago

“(Y/N)!” Anna calls out.

You slow down and turn around to see her. Her hands are at her chest and her eyes have remnants of tears.

“What are you doing?”

You stay silent for a moment before walking up to Anna. You embrace her in a hug and kiss her on the forehead.

 

“Tell Elsa and Kristoff that it was all me. Tell them I took advantage of you. Throw me under the bus so they’ll forgive you,” you advise.

“What? No!” She argues.

“Anna… I don’t know when I’ll be back, or if I’ll be back at all. Just… Be happy, alright. Don’t let me get in the way. I can take the pain better than you can,” you say, raising her head to meet eye to eye. “Just smile, Anna. Everything will be okay if you smile.”

You let out a smirk of your own and release her. You continue to walk down the hall and down the stairs. Anna watches until you leave her sight. She doesn’t know what to do now. Have you given up? You wouldn’t if you knew what really happened!

 

You walk down the stairs and see Kai fixing up the couch. He looks over and smiles at you.

“Hey (Y/N)! How are you?”

“I’m fine. Listen, I’ll be out for a bit. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. Don’t bother making food for me until I come back,” you explain.

“Oh… ok. Are you planning to come back tonight?”

You stay silent for a moment.

“I’m not sure.”

 

You walk past Kai and out the door. Gerda comes from the kitchen to watch the door close behind you.

“Where’s he going?” She asks.

“I don’t know. He said he’ll be back sometime soon.”

Anna walks down the stairs to find Kai and Gerda staring out the door. Gerda notices Anna and smiles at her.

 

“Hey Anna. Do you want dinner soon?”

Anna shrugs and walks back upstairs. Gerda and Kai look at each other with concern. They’ve never seen Anna so down before. Something has definitely happened that they are unaware of. Kai sends a look to Gerda and she nods. Gerda was always better with the girls than Kai was.

 

Gerda makes her way to Elsa’s room. She lightly puts her ear to the door and quickly backs off. The door was freezing cold. That was an easy indication that something was wrong. Gerda slowly attempts to open the door but it won’t budge. Gerda knows she isn’t going to get past the frozen door, so she walks over to Anna’s room. She lightly knocks on the door.

“Anna?”

 

Gerda can hear sniffling from the other side.

“What is it, Gerda?” Anna softly answers.

“Can I come in?”

There is an awkward silence for almost a minute.

“Fine…” Anna responds.

Gerda slowly opens the door and looks around. Anna’s head is buried in a damp pillow. Anna doesn’t even look over at Gerda. She remains in her position.

 

“Anna… what happened? Where is (Y/N) going?”

 

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You walk down the street with determination. Your mind is filled with guilt. You shake your head and clench your hands. Elsa’s broken face is all that sits in your mind.

“Goddamnit!” You shout out. “It’s never easy!”

You start walking in an angry manner down the street. You keep walking and hear someone call you.

“(Y/N)! What are you doing?” a voice calls out.

You stop moving and slowly turn your head behind you. You sigh and shake your head. It’s Matt. He pulls up beside you and rolls down the window.

“Need a ride big boy?” He jokes.

“Not in the mood, Matt,” you coldly state.

“Whoa, cat’s got claws. Come on in, I’ll drive you where you want to go.”

 

You debate it for a second before getting into his car. He smiles and starts driving.

“So where are you going?”

“The mall. My car is there,” you bluntly say.

“Okay, what is the matter? Something is obviously bothering you,” Matt presses.

“It’s just…” you let out a sigh. “Something happened between Elsa, Kristoff, Anna, and I. I just need to be out of the house for a bit.”

 

“What happened? You all seem so close.”

“I… I may have slept with Anna.”

Matt’s jaw drops. He pulls over to the side of the road and stares at you for a moment.

“I was drunk!” You say.

Matt shakes his head and gets the car moving again. He pulls around a corner and keeps driving.

“(Y/N), man. That’s something else. How did it happen?”

“I… don’t know. Anna said she has an explanation, but nobody actually heard it. I should have listened to her but… I don’t know.”

 

“Seems like you were the person who SHOULD have known,” Matt comments.

“Yeah… I should.”

Matt continues to drive towards the mall. He pulls into the parking lot. You point over to your car, telling him where to drop you off. He pulls up beside your car and unlocks the doors for you.

 

“Thanks Matt.” You start to walk away but turn back and lean over the window of his car. “Hey, what were you doing around our house, anyway?”

“I’m going to the airport. I’m visiting my boyfriend in Corona,” he happily states.

“Oh nice. Hey, maybe I’ll see you when you get back.”

“Oh most definitely,” he smiles.

 

You push off his car and wave as he drives off. Right as he pulls out of view it begins to rain. You stand in the rain for a moment before exhaling and heading to your car. You pull out your keys and unlock it. You see the lights flash, indicating it worked. You hop into the driver’s seat and rev up the engine. You smile, grip the wheel, and head out.

 

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Gerda sits beside a crying Anna. Anna lifts herself off the pillow and looks at Gerda.

“Please Anna… everyone seems so sad,” Gerda begs.

Anna wipes away a few tears and looks at Gerda.

“Have you ever had a way to fix everything… but nobody will listen to it?”

Gerda contemplates for a moment then shakes her head.

“Can’t say I have, dear. Why?”

 

“Gerda… Everyone is mad at (Y/N) and I. More (Y/N) though,” she sobs.

“Who is mad?”

“Elsa and Kristoff. (Y/N) and I… we were drugged.”

“Drugged? By who? What happened? Why would they be mad at that?” Gerda asks with concern and surprise.

“Hans… Hans drugged us. It made me see (Y/N) as Kristoff, and it made (Y/N) see me as Elsa. We… we slept together.”

 

Anna starts crying some more. Gerda pulls Anna closer to her and embraces her in a hug. Anna doesn’t reject it.

“So that’s why Elsa’s locked everyone out,” Gerda realizes.

“Everyone but Kristoff. They’re in there right now. But… Gerda I can fix this! I know what happened but nobody will listen to me! With all this… (Y/N) is going to be hit the hardest. I could tell by his voice…”

 

“Well, (Y/N) is one of those guys. They’re rare, but they’re alive.”

Anna’s face shows confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“Hm? Oh… well he just seems like one of those guys who keeps the mood up. Whenever anyone is feeling sad he generally cracks a joke, puts on a smile, and comforts everyone.”

Anna chuckles. “Yeah, that does sound like him.”

“The thing with those people is that you don’t know when they themselves are feeling sad. They feel like it’s an obligation to be the light in the darkness.”

 

Anna nods. That’s how she always thought of you. No matter what, you rarely let anyone know something was bothering you. You have done it in the past, but it was rare. But you were always that light. You always tried to stay positive through everything, and always succeeded in making everyone feel good. You’ve shown it countless times in the past ten months. Anna would never let that stop now. You may not be her boyfriend, but you’re her best friend. She knows you so well and won’t stand for change.

 

At the same time, Elsa and Kristoff were conversing. They had sat in silence for the past half an hour, but finally started to talk.

“Fucking (Y/N) man,” Kristoff snarls as he paces around Elsa’s room. “How could he do that to me? To you! How selfish can he be?”

“After everything we’ve been through… everything we’ve done…” Elsa whispers, beginning to cry once more.

Kristoff sees this and rushes to her side.

“Hey, come on. Don’t cry Elsa, please. It’s difficult to see you this way.”

 

Elsa smiles and hugs Kristoff. Even in his angered state he still cares for his friends. He’s a good guy, there is no denying that.

“Thanks Kristoff…” Elsa mumbles.

“We’ll get through this… We will.”

 

Kristoff lets Elsa lie on her bed. He stands up and starts pacing around the room once more.

Fucking (Y/N)… How could he do this to me? To her? I swore he loved Elsa more than anything and yet he betrays her like this. On top of that, he betrays her with Anna! My girlfriend and Elsa’s sister! What the fuck! What sort of game are you trying to play? I swear I would kill you if I could…

 

Kristoff is obviously mad, and he is showing it. Elsa on the other hand is not showing it. She has a burning hatred right now but it’s silent. She feels betrayed and used. But at the same time she can’t help but think. Elsa sighs and starts forming little snowflakes between her hands. She starts thinking about you. Your smile and your attitude. She finds it so hard to believe you would do something like this. It just didn’t add up in Elsa’s head. Why cheat on her? And if you would do it, then why Anna? And why would you tell her? If you really wanted to keep going with that then wouldn’t you have kept it a secret. Elsa just couldn’t piece it together. She wanted to be mad at you, but she couldn’t. It just didn’t add up.

 

Even with her being so mad, she wasn’t. Even Elsa couldn’t explain it. She was mad but she wasn’t. Most of all, she just wanted to know why. She could move on, maybe, but she would need to know why. Why cheat on her? She thought you two were golden.

 

Maybe it was me… I’ve been so caught up in this job thing and I haven’t been making an effort with him lately. No… that doesn’t excuse it! If there was a problem he would talk to me…. Wouldn’t he? Yes! He would! We trust each other. I trust him… He trusts me, right? Of course he does. But why do it then. Why can’t I figure this out? Aahhhhh, he’s infuriating!

Elsa shakes her head and lets out a few snowflakes. Kristoff turns around to see her. She looks over at him and sighs. She sits back on her bed and closes her eyes. She begins to think back on you again. Your smile…

 

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Alistair is looking out on the city. He is standing on top of the building with the wind blowing through his hair. His wife stands next to him, smiling.

“Enjoying the wind?” She asks.

“Of course. It makes me feel like some sort of hero,” he chuckles. “What about you, Juno? I’m surprised you’re letting your hair flow like this.”

Juno shrugs. “We all make sacrifices right?”

Alistair smiles and puts his arm over her shoulder. He pulls her closer to him. She embraces him and holds him close.

 

Two men in suits walk up to the two. The first man walks right beside Juno.

“Excuse me, I have so-“

In a flash Juno extends her arm through the man’s stomach. The man stutters and coughs up some blood. He looks down at the hand in his chest. Juno pulls her hand out and rubs the blood off on his suit. The man falls on the ground and dies.

“You know, killing our people isn’t the best for morale.” Alistair jokes.

“Since when did you care about morale?” Juno questions, raising her brow.

 

Alistair chuckles and lets go of his wife. He turns towards the remaining man and smiles.

“So, what did your friend have to say?”

The man is in total shock, but tries to ignore it so he won’t be killed as well. He looks over at Juno. Her eyes show a complete lack of care towards what she just did. The man – his friend – was nothing to her. He had a family and now he’s dead. And the way she killed him. She cut through his skin with her hand without any trouble at all.

 

“We-well sir… I have a report about Overlord. He’s going to Omega. There is no stopping him right now. He should be there soon,” the man informs.

“Hm… okay,” Alistair acknowledges. He turns towards Juno, “Honey, could you meet the scientists at Gamma base? I’ll send everyone from Omega there.”

Juno caresses Alistair’s chin.

“Of course. Let’s just hope Weselton can pack up fast and not make me snap his neck,” She smiles.

“Try not to. We need him for our plan. At least wait until he’s finished his work,” Alistair asks.

“Well, maybe just for you,” Juno winks.

 

Juno sleekly walks away and into the building. Right before she walks though the door she looks at Alistair. She blows a kiss and walks through the door. The other man looks where Juno left and shivers in fear. Alistair notices this and chuckles.

“Scared of my dear wife?”

“What? No, no of course not! She’s very pleasant.”

“Ha, just don’t get her angry. She’s scary when she’s angry,” Alistair says. “Anyway, do you have any information about Hunter?”

 

“Hunter?  Yes. He’s on his way to the same base as Overlord.”

“Oh really? Well, I have something to do today. Thanks for the information,” Alistair smiles, walking towards the edge of the building. “By the way, I would get back inside before I leave. I’m not keeping everything clean if I’m not here.”

The man’s face shows confusion. He starts looking around then looks up. Rain is building up above him. The man looks to the city and notices that it’s raining everywhere else.

 

The man rushes back into the building. Alistair chuckles at this. Alistair walks onto the edge of the building and allows himself to fall off. Right when he falls off the rain splashes on the roof, drenching everything. Alistair dives towards the ground, face first. He smiles as he flips around to his feet and lands on the ground. He uses air at the right time to break his fall. He puts his hands in his suit pockets and starts walking down the street, whistling Moonlight Sonata.

The rain never once touches him.

 

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You exit Arendelle’s borders and into a forest area. This road was a main road to get to Tocia, and also the town you came from. You have no intention of going to either of those places though. You don’t even intend to be far from Arendelle.

 

You start to think back to a few months ago. You once thought that you would never come back to Arendelle. Look at you now. Now you don’t want to be too far from Arendelle. How situations have changed. Then again, both times you were in some sort of situation with Elsa. She’s mad at you now as she was back then.

 

You shake your head and pull over to the side of the road. You look out into the forest. It’s dark and misty. The rain is adding a certain effect. You look up and see a few mountains looming over the forest. It cuts off the moon, causing the light to shine past it. The mountain looks beautiful right now. You look at your watch. 7:34.

 

You step out of your car and lock it. The rain spits down on you. It feels nice. It gives a nice cooling to your skin. You stretch your neck and start walking into the forest. The grass you step on is stable and clean. There aren’t any branches or leaves scattered across the ground to dirty it. You continue to walk and look around. Mist covers everything in the forest.

“I swear to god… if Slenderman shows up I will be sooo mad,” you rant to yourself.

“Yes. A fictional character is going to come and kill you.  Very logical,” Shadow comments.

 

You shake your head and keep walking. You can’t really see so you decide to gain some ground. You look around for a high tree. It doesn’t take long to find one. You walk up to the base of the tree and jump up. You jump to around a third of the tree then grab a branch. You swing and launch yourself to another branch, then – without taking a second – you jump backwards and land on a branch behind you. You climb through the thick branches for a minute before reaching the top of the tree. You look towards the mountains then bring out your phone.

 

You look for the pictures you took of the location. Obviously it has to be the tallest mountain. You throw your phone back in your pocket and look towards your destination. You shrug and jump off of the branch and back into the forest. You keep walking and start thinking about random stuff. If you try to think logically, it comes back to Elsa.

 

“You know… if you think about it nobody is ever single. Everyone is in a relationship with a human representation of Life… I bet Life is pretty hot. So… maybe that means every time someone has sex it’s actually a threesome with Life! But what about Death? Death would totally be Life’s hot sister who is always trying to tempt you into cheating. Once you cheat, you can never come back to Life. Well… what about the people who cheat Death? I guess Life just really cared for them. But… if Life was always with you then it’s never possible for a person to masturbate. Life is always there with them. There will always be one extra participant! Man… I would like to meet Life and Death…”

 

“What the actual fuck are you talking about?” Shadow asks. “Life and Death as women who you sleep with? Jesus Christ, I’m going to hit you. I’m honestly going to.”

“Lighten up, alright? I’m just trying to have a little fun. Life isn’t really showing me some good times lately,” you argue.

“You were just fine with Elsa a couple hours ago! You just slept with her a few days ago! Hell, if you want to look at it from a purely ‘good time’ stand point, you just slept with Anna!” Shadow yells. “You went out drinking and had fun. You discovered your new hologram watch. Just shut up. You’re having plenty of ‘good times’.”

“Yeah but…”

“I’ll give you that everything isn’t great right now.  But you were talking about a ‘good time’ stand point.”

You stay silent for a moment while walking.

“Shut up, Shadow.”

“That’s what I thought. Now come on! I want to see this place for myself.”

 

Your babbling got you a good distance through the forest. You finally reach the base of one of the mountains. However, you have no idea where the supposed entrance is. You walk along the base of the mountain wall for a bit before stopping.

“Ok… Where the hell is this supposed to be? Honestly!” You complain as you slide down the wall and onto your butt.

You let out a huff and stare into the mist for a little bit. No matter how much you try to distract yourself, Elsa is lingering on in your mind. It’s what you get for loving someone so much.

 

You push yourself off the wall, but something starts moving. You fall on your face but quickly get yourself on your feet and turn around. The rock face you were leaning on starts to raise itself. You keep yourself alert, just in case. The wall raises to its peak, revealing a corridor. You slowly enter the rock face. You look around to see what this place is. The first room is small and completely made of rocks. However the corridor farther down is obviously made of steel and other materials. It’s not natural, which means you just found what you were looking for.

 

As you walk farther in you fail to notice someone back in the forest. The figure watches you walk in and chuckles.

“Glad to see you made it. Can’t wait to see what stupid shit you run into.”

The figure rushes into the corridor before the rock face closes once again.

 

You walk up to the door and observe it. There are three locks: A numerical code, a fingerprint scanner, and a retinal scanner.

“Well that’s perfect. I didn’t know there was a going to be a code…”

You shrug and put your index finger on the fingerprint scanner. You can hear it scan your finger. A checkmark appears on its screen.

“No way…” You mutter.

You put your eyes against the retinal scanner. It scans your eyes, which bugs you a little bit. After pulling your eyes away another checkmark appears. You look at the numerical and sigh. That one you have no idea what to do.

 

You stand there for a minute, pondering what to do. You click a pattern.

“1. 2. 3. 4,” you say as you click it.

“I swear to god you’re stupid,” Shadow sighs.

Nothing happens with the code. You sigh and start to think once more.

 

“You want me to do it?” A voice asks from behind.

You turn around and get into a fighting position. You are surprised to see the person walking towards you.

“Hunter? What are you doing here?” You ask, relaxing your body.

He laughs and walks past you. He puts in a code and the door starts to open.

 

“I’m here to help you. I think it’s time I started assisting you,” he says, gesturing for you to enter the door in an over dramatic manner.

You don’t move. You have talked to Hunter before, but this is different. He knows the passcode and knows this place. He isn’t just some random guy anymore. He can easily tell you are confused and cautious. He sighs, shakes his head in a circle, and straightens his back.

 

“I guess it’s understandable to be suspicious. So how about I let you in on a little secret?”

“Oh, go right ahead. I’m waiting,” you say, crossing your arms and leaning onto one leg.

“Well, there is no real way to ease into it… so I’m going to be blunt about this,” he starts, taking in a deep breath. “I’m your brother.”

 

Your eyes widen at the statement. You never had a brother. Your parents told you that you were an only child.

“Our brother? That’s not possible,” Shadow remarks.

Hunter can see your surprise, and starts chuckling.

“Yeah, I didn’t think that would go over so smooth. Alright, ask away. But let’s get moving instead of standing around here like a couple morons.”

 

You both start walking through the next hallway. It seems to go on for a while, but you know how to pass the time.

“But… my parents sa-“

“And there is your first mistake,” Hunter interrupts. “Those aren’t your real parents. They never were. If my intel is good then you saw the video detailing you. They said in the video that you were being ‘sent to’ those people.”

“No… you can’t be my brother. Why didn’t you mention it earlier? Where were you?” You ask, raising your voice.

 

“Hey, calm down. I’ve been with you since I saw you in that school. Honestly, I couldn’t believe it. I thought I was losing it. But when I talked to you and saw your face. Saw how you spoke, I knew you were my brother. After I did a little digging, I knew for sure. Listen,” he says, moving in front of you and putting his arms on your shoulders. “I’m sorry about what happened with your old family. I really am. When I heard about it I… I wanted to tell you about me so long ago, but you met Elsa. I thought everything was done right there, but you made friends with her. Hell, you fell in love with her. Then with the elementals and the Duke and Duchess I… I thought it would have been better to let you be ignorant.”

 

“So you left me to fight all of them?” You angrily say.

“What, no! I was always there. How do you think you survived the frozen heart?”

You stop and think for a moment.

“You’re the one who brought me to the motel and gave me the money, aren’t you?”

Hunter smiles. “Of course I was. I was always there. Hell, if I knew you were alive sooner I would have got you…”

 

Hunter is cut off by a punch to the stomach. He smiles a little, but the pain is obvious. Your fist is jammed into his stomach. Hunter was about to pull back but you stop him from moving. You pull your fist back and embrace him in a hug.

 

“I don’t know whether I believe you or not but… I’m just happy to see my family,” you confess.

Hunter puts his hands around you and smiles. This went better than he expected.

“I’m happy to finally meet you as a brother, and not a stranger.”

You slowly push off from him and look into his eyes. There is a weird silence.

“We’re not going to kiss or anything, right?” Hunter chuckles.

You push off of him completely with a smile.

“What? No! God, you are so immature.”

“Oh and you're mature?” He redirects.

You can’t really argue that one. Your silence is all he needs.

 

He laughs as he walks beside you. You almost feel some odd type of comfort. You’re not sure whether he’s telling the truth, but you feel comfortable around him for some reason. But someone else has a few things to say. You feel yourself fall back and fall asleep.

 

“So, if those parents weren’t my actual parents, then who’s our parents?”

Hunter looks over at you. You’re staring at him with a serious face. Hunter is perplexed for a moment before shutting his eyes and smiling.

“I take it you’re my other brother.”

Shadow cocks a smirk but keeps still.

“Well, to answer your question, our parents are dead. Their work killed them.”

“Right… so do you know what this place will hold? You obviously know more than you’re telling us.”

 

Hunter shrugs and keeps walking.

“Well, I know this is where the elemental project took place all those years ago. They’re researching something else here, but I honestly don’t know what it is they’re doing.”

“How do you know so much?” Shadow asks.

“Well, I’ve had a lot of years to keep tabs on all of their operations. Plus I have a spy who feeds me info.”

“’Their’ operations? Whose operations?”

“The Hierarchy. That’s the one behind so much around here,” Hunter explains.

“And I’m guessing your informant is Alec Westergaard?” Shadow says with a smirk.

“What makes you think that?”

“He’s the one feeding us information. There’s no way it could be anyone else.”

 

Hunter shrugs and continues to walk. Shadow looks around the hallway. There are plenty of doors that he’s past. But something tells him there wasn’t anything important in any of them. After a few seconds Shadow pulls up to a door. Hunter stops and waits for him to finish. Shadow slowly opens the door and looks around. There is nothing. Sure, the walls are shiny, bright, and white, but there is nobody here and no technology to see.

 

Shadow keeps quiet for now and moves to another room. The same thing has happened there. The room is completely empty with nobody there. Shadow slams the door and put his hands against it. He starts thinking for a moment.

“What’s wrong?”

“Everything is empty!” Shadow snarls.

“What?” Hunter asks with concern.

 

Hunter opens three doors close to them. He finds nothing at all.

“What the…” Hunter pauses.

“We need to find something. I did not come here for nothing!” Shadow declares.

Shadow starts walking through a different corridor, looking through all the rooms. Almost all of them are empty except one. There are some simple notes scattered across a table. Shadow walks over to them and scans through them.

 

“Hey Hunter! Come here.”

Hunter comes through the door a few seconds later. He makes his way beside Shadow and looks at the notes.

“‘The Dragon’s Tear’? I’ve never heard of that,” Hunter rambles. “Does it say where they found it?”

Shadow looks through it once more.

“Yes, right here. Some temple around Tocia city. But the notes says it needs special blood to work. It doesn’t say what kind of blood though… perfect.”

“Always more questions, huh?” Hunter snickers.

 

“Seems to be that way. So why are they researching some ancient stone?” Shadow queries.

“I’m not sure… I haven’t come across anything regarding this stone before. Plus, I don’t even know what it has to do with their end goal,” Hunter answers.

Shadow turns his head to Hunter.

“What end goal?”

“Again, I’m not sure. You’d think I’d know more, huh? All I know is that it has something to do with the elementals.”

 

Shadow remembers what Alec told you. He told you to protect Elsa.

Maybe Alec knows more than he’s letting on. He’s someone I should talk to.

“So we should keep these. We can look over them some more when we get out of here.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Hunter agrees.

 

Shadow activates the watch and tosses the papers into it.

“You found the holowatch?” Hunter asks as he stares at it.

“(Y/N) did, yes.”

“Well, I’ll have to show you a few things with that. Anyway, let’s find some more information and get out of here,” Hunter concludes.

Shadow nods and deactivates the holowatch.

 

The two leave the room and look left and right. Hunter gestures Shadow to follow him and they start walking to the right.

“So why are you here right now? Why make (Y/N) take a back seat?” Hunter asks.

“Why? Don’t like me?” Shadow asks.

“Well, no.  You’re technically my brother too. I’m just curious.”

“Well, I don’t like being a back seat driver. Sure, I let (Y/N) do the everyday things but when it comes to stuff like this I want to be involved. Of course I don’t always make myself known, but the appearance of our so called brother has intrigued me,” Shadow indulges.

 

“Ah, well you were described as curious and serious. The two of you balance each other out quite well. What about the third one? The one who killed the elementals?”

“Carnage? He’s gone. He and (Y/N) are now one. At least, that’s what we know. I admit that I’m not an expert of this. He could still be around for all I know. I wouldn’t be surprised if remnants of him still existed in the brain,” Shadow says.

 

Hunter moves his eyes brows in acknowledgement and looks into another room. Empty again. Hunter stands tall and starts thinking. None of the bases were like this. Well, one was but only when…

“Shit! They’ve evacuated the base,” Hunter exclaims.

“What? When? No way could they have got everyone out that fast!” Shadow argues.

“Maybe… maybe they’re in the process of evacuation. We need to find the hanger!”

 

Shadow nods and starts running with Hunter. They pass through a few corridors before meeting a large set of double doors. Hunter and Shadow push through them and enter a large open area. There is an open hatch on the ceiling and one helicopter still on the ground. It’s active, and ready to take off. Shadow looks over and sees a short man with a big nose and grey hair. He is being brought to the plane by a slightly tall blond man with slicked back hair. He has a suit on. The man pushes the smaller one into the helicopter. The small man’s mouth is moving, so he is indeed talking. Shadow sees his eyes turn to himself and Hunter. The small man points towards the two with a frantic look on his face.

 

The man in the suit slowly turns his head to see the two young men. He smiles and backs away from the chopper. The chopper lifts off and leaves.

“Oh no…” Hunter whispers.

“What?” Shadow asks.

 

Shadow takes a good look at the man in the suit. His eyes are a nice beautiful green and sit in his head nicely. He looks like he’s in his early thirties. His face is fair and strong. He has a look in his eye that is calming. He looks familiar. The suited man pushes his suit sleeve back a little to expose a watch. He clicks on it and a hologram comes up.

 

He has one too…

The man clicks one of the holograms and his clothes change. He is wearing similar clothing to what the simulation version of you wore. Shadow looks at Hunter. Hunter’s face has a look of calm terror. Shadow didn’t understand what he was so worried about.

 

“I’m glad you both could make it. I was beginning to worry I wasn’t going to be able to meet the two of you,” he greets.

With the voice, Shadow finally remembers who that is. It’s the same man from W.A. Industries. The same man who sent chills through you and Shadow.

“It’s nice to see you Shadow. I’ve only been able to see (Y/N) so far.”

 

Shadow remains calm yet confused. Nobody can tell the difference between you two at first glance. Shadow hasn’t even said a word and this guy knows. Shadow starts to get a bad feeling.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Your eyes start to open and you see nothing but white. You grab your head and push yourself onto your feet. You look around and realize where you are.

“Sha-Shadow… What the hell?” You question. “What happened?”

“Well, I wanted to talk to Hunter and do something other than sit around in there.”

“So you drag me here and punch me in the face?” You yell into the sky.

 

“I did say I was going to hit you back in the forest.”

You want to argue some more but there isn’t a point. You lie down and stare up at the lights.

“So what’s happening?”

“See for yourself. I let you see the way I do.”

 

You close your eyes and start to see things through Shadow’s perspective. You can see a man in clothes that you recognize.

“Hey! That’s-“

“I know. Shut up,” Shadow demands.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Shadow is silent while he communicates with you. Hunter is bringing Shadow back from the other man.

“Hunter, what the hell?”

“Shadow, we can’t fight this guy. We have to leave.”

Shadow looks at Hunter. He can see the fear in his eyes. He’s not sure whether to trust Hunter’s decision or not. He looks back at the man, who has his hands wide open. He’s taunting the two of them.

 

“Hunter, who is that?”

“That… is the Monarch. One of them, anyway.”

“One of the Monarchs?” Shadow repeats, staring at the man.

 

“Well, come on then. I was looking forward to this fight,” Monarch taunts.

Shadow tenses up and breaks loose from Hunter’s grip.

“Shadow!” Hunter calls out, reaching for him again.

Shadow keeps out of Hunter’s reach and begins walking closer to the Monarch. He is keeping his cool and a brave swagger. Shadow usually has this swagger in his step.

 

The two men meet face to face. Shadow and the Monarch are almost the same height – Monarch being a little taller. The two stare at each other for a moment. It is complete silence. Monarch chuckles a little and becomes laid back.

“You are definitely Shadow, no doubt about that. I was expecting to see (Y/N), but this is a pleasant surprise.”

“I’m glad my presence amuses you,” Shadow sarcastically remarks.

Monarch smirks and looks over at Hunter, who has taken position a little bit behind you.

“Hunter, nice to see you again. I hope you don’t disappoint.

 

Hunter cringes. Shadow sizes the Monarch up and backs off a little bit. He takes place beside Hunter and leans in close.

“I can almost feel the strength coming off this guy. What do you recommend?”

“We fight. We have to now,” Hunter states.

“How about a game?” Monarch shouts. “If you can land some sort of wound on me, I won’t kill you. A scratch, a bruise, anything.”

“Cocky bastard,” Shadow snarls.

 

Monarch jumps into the air and flips backwards. He creates a large distance between him and the two young men. Shadow tenses his muscles and starts moving at an incredible speed. It seems like he vanished. Shadow rushes around the room at these speeds then comes in for an attack.

 

Monarch leans his head back to dodge Shadow’s punch. Shadow’s eyes widen in surprise. He was moving at a blinding fast pace. Nobody could keep up with that! Shadow passes by Monarch but quickly stops himself with his leg. He keeps his momentum going by pivoting his leg and spinning around for a kick. Monarch playfully ducks to dodge. Shadow continues to spin until he completes a 360 motion. He places his kicking leg on the ground and back kicks with the other. Monarch once again dodges with ease.

 

Shadow pulls in his kicking leg and throws an elbow at Monarch. He dodges to the left. Shadow throws an uppercut. Monarch moves to the right. Shadow cringes his face and lets out another attack. He throws his knee towards his opponent. Monarch sways past it and fluently positions himself behind Shadow. Shadow turns and punches, only to miss. He throws another coordinated punch then kick. Monarch makes child’s play of them both by dodging so effortlessly.

 

“What is this guy? You can’t even hit him,” you comment.

“Thank you. This is something I am acutely aware of,” Shadow says with irritation in his voice.

 

Shadow gets some space between him and Monarch before planning something new. He enters his blinding speed and starts moving around the entire room. He jumps and throws a kick at the back of Monarch’s head. Monarch yawns and moves his head to the side. Shadow regains his balance and continues to run. He comes back around and tries to sweep Monarch’s leg. He simply hops to avoid this. Shadow keeps running and tries to attack in a variety of different ways, however Monarch easily dodges every single attack.

 

Shadow stops running at one point. He stares at his enemy, breathing heavily.  He can’t understand how someone can have such a reaction time. It’s not possible. He looks over at Hunter, who is waiting.

“What the hell is he waiting for? Why isn’t he fighting?” Shadow mutters.

 

“(Y/N), I’m borrowing your move,” Shadow warns.

“Yeah, whatever you need. Just beat this guy.”

 

Shadow starts running and moves faster than he ever has before. He rushes around and around until he attacks from the front. There is a pause before he attacks. A pause where his eyes and Monarch’s meet. Monarch smiles and steps out of the way. He puts his arm in the air and reaches behind him. He grasps Shadow’s foot and tosses him away. The image of Shadow about to punch disappears.

 

Shadow tumbles across the ground before getting into a position to slow himself down. He looks up at Monarch with worry. He tightens his jaw and enters the speed once more. He appears in front of Monarch and starts throwing a flurry of punches and kicks. Monarch dodges every single one. Twenty four, to be precise.

 

“Alright… I’m going to show you how fast I really am!”

Shadow pushes down on his legs and starts throwing rapid punches at Monarch. Each punch is 0.17 seconds apart from each other. Monarch actually has to block these ones. However, he blocks them with one hand and two fingers.

 

Shadow notices how easily he is dodging this and starts to get frustrated he starts throwing even more punches. Monarch starts to chuckle.

“These attacks are barely worth avoiding.”

Monarch uses his one hand to push both of Shadow’s away. Shadow is left out of breath for a moment, and Monarch takes advantage of this. He places his index and middle finger on Shadow’s head. Shadow widens his eyes. He can’t defend right now. Monarch smirks and retracts his fingers from Shadow’s head. In less than a second, he jabs his fingers back into the same spot.

 

Shadow’s eyes go white and he is sent flying back.

“Shadow!” Hunter yells as he goes to catch his brother.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You blink twice to regain your own sight. You look around Limbo until you see Shadow flying down from a bright light. You sprint to a point before jumping into the air and catching him. You both roll across the floor for a moment but you are able to recover with him in your arms.

“Shadow! Are you okay?” You frantically ask.

 

You turn his face so you can see it. He’s completely out.

“With two fingers and one hit. He took Shadow out that easily.  Damn…”

You lay Shadow down on the floor then stand up.

“Well, I guess it’s my turn now!”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Hunter catches your body and lands on the ground. He looks at your eyes and shakes you.

“Come on… wake up,” he whispers.

You open your eyes to greet your brother. You smile and fidget until he puts you down.

“Don’t worry about me brother, I’m alright.”

 

“(Y/N), I presume? Good. I wanted to see how you would do,” Monarch remarks.

You stretch your neck, causing a few cracks. You smirk and get into a fighting stance.

“What you can do… It doesn’t seem normal.”

“Hey, it was a fair fight between two people,” Monarch defends.

“Well,” you say, walking up to him and cracking your knuckles. “You’ve got a jacked up notion of ‘fair play’ pal… and it’s beginning to piss me off.”

 

You dash towards Monarch.

“No, (Y/N)!” Hunter yells, running into the fight.

You jump, spin, and kick him. He dodges it. You land on your feet and quickly throw a punch at him. He pushes it out of the way and goes for a punch. Hunter comes in from behind and attempts to kick him. Monarch sees this and spins out of the way. You catch Hunter’s foot and smile at him. He nods. You start spinning around with him in your hand. You let him go, sending him zooming towards Monarch.

 

Hunter spins around, charging his punch. Monarch catches Hunter’s punch and readies one of his own. Before he can, you come up from beside him and deliver a solid punch to the face. You smile in victory, knowing that must have done something. Monarch, however, is unfazed by you punch. He kicks Hunter away, sending him crashing into the wall. Hunter lies on the floor, holding his stomach.

 

Monarch turns his head towards you, forcing your fist back.

“As I said, barely worth avoiding.”

He grabs your wrist and grips it tight. You almost feel like he could break it without even trying. He pulls your fist away from his face then smiles. You struggle to push your fist back in his face, but his strength is unbelievable.

“Allow me to return the favor. A punch for a punch, met with equal or greater force.”

 

Monarch charges a punch and hits you right in the gut. You feel your stomach curl and break at this attack. Your eyes lose some of their colour and you spit out a combination of blood and saliva. Monarch releases your hand when he punched you, making you fly back and smash against the wall. You fall on your knees and hold your stomach. This is more than just being winded. This is a pain you have never felt before, and that was just one punch from this guy.

 

You struggle to keep your eyes open as you lift your head to see Monarch. Hunter is engaging him once again, and it isn’t going well. Hunter is trying to get some hits in, but the most he can do is force Monarch to block.

 

Hunter spins around and kicks. Monarch catches it and throws his own punch. Hunter curves his head and throws a punch at his stomach. It connects! Monarch doesn’t flinch. He wraps his extended arm around Hunter’s neck and brings him in for an attack.

 

You use all your strength to ignore your own pain and help Hunter. You push yourself off your knee and glide across the ground. You throw a punch at Monarch. He sees this and jumps back, letting go of Hunter. Hunter falls on the ground and starts slowly getting back up. You help get him on his feet and start chuckling.

“Come on Hunter, what’re we gonna do with this guy? I’ve never seen someone like him. Even Elsa’s parents were easier than this.”

 

“Of course they were. The Monarchy is the most feared part of the Hierarchy. They didn’t get that label for nothing.”

You and Hunter stand side by side.

“We should attack at the same time,” you whisper.

“That’s what I was thinking,” Hunter snickers.

“Well, I guess we are brothers.”

“Yeah, I guess we ARE!” Hunter yells as you both rush in after him.

 

You throw punch at Monarch. Once again, he blocks it. Hunter thrusts a kick into his neck. Monarch chuckles. He grabs both of your heads and smash them together. You both grab your individual heads in pain. Monarch walks up and taps you both on the shoulder for comfort. You both look at his for a moment. He has a sarcastic smile on his face. Your face goes serious and you throw a punch. He slightly tilts his head to dodge it. The punch goes over his shoulder. Hunter throws his own punch. Monarch ducks, grabs both of your arms and crosses them. He spins around, placing both of you behind him, but your arms still in his grasp. He then throws you both against the wall across the room.

 

You both slam against the wall. You hit it straight on. Hunter spins around in the air and lands on the wall. He quickly bounces off the wall and goes in for another round. He sends a straight punch to Monarch’s face. Monarch head-butts the punch, overpowering it and forcing Hunter back. Hunter grabs his right arm in pain. He lets it hang for a moment as he stares at his opponent.

 

You lift yourself off the ground and shake your head. You look over and see your brother in a bad situation. You get up and sprint at Monarch from the side. You punch him, but he leans back to dodge it. You throw a hook, then and uppercut and another straight. He catches your last punch and moves himself in front of it. He elbows you in the stomach then lifts you into the air. He slams you on the ground, then drags you across it for a second before throwing you away. You are sent close to another wall. You can’t move. The pain is too much. You struggle to raise your head only to see Monarch walking towards you.

 

You try to move but he is on you too quickly. He picks you up by the throat and holds you in the air. He looks at you for a moment and notices your necklace.

“What a nice necklace. What’s it made of?” He politely asks.

“Bite me,” you snarl.

He grips your neck a little tighter, making you gargle in pain.

 

“That looks like ice. Now where could you have got something like that?”

You try to come up with a smart ass remark but you can’t even talk anymore. Monarch shrugs and sends a punch to your stomach. Your body tightens at the pain, but fails to do anything about it.

 

Hunter comes in from behind Monarch and roundhouse kicks his waist. Monarch shakes his head and grabs Hunter’s leg. He lifts him into the air then slams him on the ground. He puts his foot on Hunter’s head, pinning him to the ground.

“I was expecting more from the two of you. I honestly was. Not one scratch on my face. Well, I am a man of my word, so I’m going to have to kill you both.”

 

Monarch tosses you in the air a little bit. He pulls his leg back and slams it right in Hunter’s ribs. It causes Hunter to slide across the ground. He then puts his hand out, grabbing the collar of your shirt. He pulls you closer to him and crushes you with a heavy knee to the stomach. You cough up more blood. He bounces you off of his knee and grabs your throat once more. He lifts you up and crack his neck.

 

“Well, looks like we’re done here. I’ll take that necklace though. I’ll be sure to show it to Elsa when I meet here,” he smiles.

Your eyes widen at the sound of Elsa.

No way in hell is he getting close to her! Not in a million years!

You clench your fists and feel a power rush through you. It wasn’t what you used against the Andersons. This was pure rage. You bring up your hand and slash Monarch’s face. He is able to lean back, but he feels something on the edge of his cheek.

 

He releases you and chuckles. You are standing in front of him, slightly hunched over. Your hands are in an animal like state. Small bits of lighting start to form around you. You look up at him in anger.

“Hm… It’s like a combination of Carnage and his semi-perfect state. Interesting. I thought Carnage was gone,” Monarch whispers.

You continue to breathe heavily until the surge of power washes away. The lightening stops showing and your hands go back to normal. You look up at Monarch and put up your hands, ready to fight.

 

“Just like I wanted him. Ha, good,” Monarch whispers.

He is about to keep fighting but he feels something on his cheek. It’s blood. He feels his check and finds a cut that is indeed bleeding. He laughs and shrugs.

“Well, I am a man of my word. I said I would let you live if you put a scratch on me, and you did. Congrats,” he says, clapping his hands. “The biggest shame was that I wasn’t even trying. I have yet to use elemental powers OR my own power.”

 

He has a power I haven’t seen before? Fantastic.

“Well, I hope you’re both stronger when we next meet. I’m looking forward to the challenge,” he says.

A rope drops down from the ceiling. Monarch switches from his battle clothes to a suit once more. He grabs onto the rope and it pulls him up. He flies into the air and up to the helicopter that left not so long ago.

“See ya, kid!” He calls out to you.

 

The helicopter flies away. He’s gone. You look up at the opening in the roof then over to Hunter. He is on his hands and knees, recovering from the fight. You aren’t recovered yet. Not even close. You smile and fall on your face. Before you pass out you can only think of two things. One pleasant, and one scary.

 

You had Elsa on the mind, which was nice. However you were scared about what happened earlier. You don’t know if you’re right, but you swear you could feel Carnage’s presence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	23. Long Lost & Long Yearned For

#  **Chapter 23: Long Lost and Long Yearned For**

 

Hunter picks himself off the floor and looks over at his brother. You’re face first on the floor, not moving. He looks around and can’t seem to find Monarch. Hunter shakes his head and finally gets to his feet. Hunter holds his ribs and grunts a little bit. He holds his ribs tightly and changes the placement of them. He cringes at the pain, but the long-term pain is gone. Hunter stretches his neck and his arms while he walks over to you.

 

He leans close to you and shakes you a little bit.

“(Y/N), are you alright?”

“I’mma… I’d love some… steak…” You mumble in your sleep.

Hunter chuckles and shakes his head.

“Yeah, yeah I should expect as much.”

 

Hunter picks you up and tosses you over his shoulder.

“Jeez, you are heavier than you look,” he grunts.

Hunter starts slowly walking out of the facility. Every so often you would move a little, disrupting Hunter’s movement. Hunter is still hurting, and it’s difficult for him to walk. Walking with you over his shoulder makes it even worse.

 

“You know, we weren’t supposed to fight him. See what happens when you rush in without thinking?” He says to you.

You don’t respond. Hunter shakes his head and continues.

“Then again, it seems you do a lot of things without thinking it through. You’ve gotten this far, why not continue to do it, right?”

Hunter thinks back to your fight with the Duke and Duchess. He didn’t think you were going to win, but you proved him wrong. However, this was completely different. Hunter knew for a fact that you were nothing against Monarch – against Alistair.

 

“He’s going to have to get better… but what does he know? He hasn’t been doing this for as long as I have. Then again, I wasn’t always ready to bring the fight to the Hierarchy. It was forced upon me…”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Hunter thinks back to his childhood – a childhood that you weren’t around for, at least not for the most part.

 

“I remember mom and dad bringing you home for the first time. You were wrapped in this little green blanket…”

 

I ran up to my parents with a huge grin on my face. They looked down at me then back to the little blanket in my mother’s hand. She kneels in order to show me my new sibling. I looked at you and started laughing.

“He’s so small!”

“You were like that too, Hunter,” father responded.

“But now I’m big and strong!” I shouted, full of energy and enthusiasm.

 

“That you are Hunter, and now you can use your strength to help your brother,” mother chuckled.

I reached out for him. I wanted to hold him close. I wanted to hold my new baby brother. Mother let him to do this, then she snuggled up with dad. I saw the two of them stare at us.

“Hopefully they don’t take too much from you,” dad whispered.

“Because you’re a great role model,” she retorts.

 

While I held you I was curious about one thing.

“What did you name him?”

They looked at each other for a moment then turned back to me.

“(Y/N). (Y/N) Knight,” said.

“(Y/N) and Hunter Knight, together forever!”

 

I smiled and bounced him in my arms. I rubbed my nose against his, and he tried to grab it. He had no idea what he were doing, and it was so innocent to me. I laughed and held him tight.

“You’re my little brother. You’re under my protection!”

 

I was so happy to have a little brother. To be honest I was a little disappointed that his hair wasn’t white like mine, but it was still okay. I was sure to be the best for him, even though I was young. I would be the best big brother ever.

 

I always helped mother when it came to situations revolving you.  Fortunately he was a fantastic baby. He hardly ever cried or made a lot of noise. When he just sat on the couch staring at the ceiling, I would always imagine about what he was thinking. I never could though. His baby mind just amazed me.

 

“Mommy, how does (Y/N) not cry?” I asked.

“Well, he is strong! He gets that from you,” mother told me.

“Well, I’m not going to cry! If he won’t cry then I won’t!”

Mother smiled then took him away to be fed and put to bed. I was sad when he was put away but I had other people to play with. None of them were the same as him, though.

 

Three months after I turned seven, I was crushed. Mom and dad took him away and never brought him home again. I kept asking for days and days and they wouldn’t say anything.

“He can save the world Hunter. He just has to do it somewhere else,” father told me.

I hated them after that. I absolutely hated them. How could they take him away without a reason?  In an attempt to get him back I would bang things against the wall and wait for their reaction. At some point my parents just stopped reacting to me.

 

When I figured out that it wasn’t working I tried something new. I was the best in my class, prior to what I did. I would interrupt classes, make messes in the bathroom and try my best to be the most horrible child in that school. The teachers were so concerned since I was a ‘perfect student’. Mom and dad kept telling me to stop. I would never until they agreed to my demands.

“Bring (Y/N) back, and I’ll stop!”

 

This didn’t work. He was never brought back to me. I became depressed. Well, as depressed as I could be for a seven year old. I became less social and just grieved over your loss. But I refused to cry. I promised myself that I would never cry.

 

Life was never the same. My parents and I were never close after that. They became buried in their work and I hated it. When I was nine, I chose to run away. I explained everything to my most trusted friend and asked to stay at his house. I still went to school, and was always the top of the class. I thought it was going to be okay after that, but I was wrong. After a few months I was taken. I was walking back home and some men in suits grabbed me. I tried to struggle and fight back but there was no use. I was knocked unconscious and brought somewhere.

 

“Get up. Your new home is waiting for you,” a voice said over a loud speaker.

I slowly opened my eyes and started to feel my body again. It actually felt like I was on something comfortable. I rolled over and was woken up instantly when I fell on the floor. I quickly got to my feet and looked around the room. It was an all-white room. The walls were white. The ceiling was white. A desk and chair was white. The bed and sheets were white. Everything was white.

 

I ran around the room trying to find a way out. There wasn’t even a noticeable door I could bang on. I just started banging on all surfaces, hoping that something would happen. Nothing happened. I walked over to the bed and laid on it. I started to think about my parents. I thought how scared they must be right now. I began regretting running away. He was mad at them but he still loved his parents, and they must have loved him.

 

One of the walls suddenly raised up and a man in a suit and glasses walked in. He grabbed me and dragged me out the door and into a dark hallway. I was able to squirm enough to break free. I started to run as fast as I could. I didn’t care where I was going. My freedom was short lived when more men in suits appeared in front of me. One hit me right in the jaw to stop me. It was the first time I was hit there, and far from the last. I was then lead to a large white room. It was a weird room with not much in it. I was confused at first. Suddenly, a man in a mask, red robes, and golden armour walks in.

“I want you to fight me,” he demanded. “Hit me with everything you have. If you do, then I’ll let you go free.”

 

I was worried at first, but the offer of freedom was too good to pass up. I ran the man in the mask. I threw hand at the man, but he moved out of the way and tripped me. I fell flat on my face only to be picked up by the collar of my shirt. The man hit me in the stomach so hard. After I coughed up some saliva he tossed me to the side. I hit the ground hard and held my stomach in pain.

“Again!” The man yells.

 

I picked himself up and looked at the man blocking his freedom.  I ran in once more and went for a sloppy kick. The man used his own foot to block it, then spun around and smashed my cheek with his heel. Blood sprayed across the ground, and I followed suit.

“Again!”

 

I slowly got to my feet and stared at the man. He hit me so hard that my vision was blurry.  I tried to throw another punch but I passed out from a mix of pain and exhaustion. The masked man picked me up by the collar and held me there for a moment. Another suited man walks in from behind him.

“Monarch, sir. Should we throw the boy away and look for another?”

“No. Heal him up and give him a shot of B23Z10. Give him some school supplies for now. Tomorrow we’ll start his training.”

“Yes sir!”

 

When I was 10 I got finally got someone to talk to. While I was doing my math work someone walked into my room. I looked over to see a brown haired child. He looked at me and smiled.

“Hi! You’re Hunter Knight, right?” He asked.

I nodded, but stayed silent. He walked up to me and stood beside me. He looked at my work and pointed at the question I was on.

“The answer is 47,” he said.

I kept staring at him for a bit until he found it awkward.

“Sorry… I just know stuff like that. I suppose you do to, huh?” He smiled,” My name is Alec! Alec Westergaard!”

 

“Did they send you?” I quickly asked.

“No. I snuck in.”

“How?”

“You aren’t the only child genius around here.”

 

The two of us sat on my bed and started talking. He told me that he was the son of the men who owned this building. He was able to loop the video so it would look like I was still working. It was complicated for someone of his age, but I could have done it if given the opportunity. I suppose the work did help me in the long run. Alec also told me that other kids were around, but they were younger and in a different section of the building. They wouldn’t be as fun to talk to as me. We chatted for a little bit before he said he had to go. It would be suspicious if he was gone for too long. He promised that he’d come visit me again. I was happy about that. It’s been too long since I’ve talked to someone.

 

When I reached 15, I was more mature than ever. I also was at peace with the entire situation. Every week was the same routine. Once a week I would fight the same masked man – who was identified as Monarch, thanks to Alec. I fought him every week to try and escape, and every week I lost. The other days I would be put through mental and physical training. I was pushed to learn a large variety of different languages, maths, sciences, history, and everything else one could think of. After six years, it became natural for me. I suppose you could’ve called me a genius.

 

Alec visited as often as he could, which was about twice a week. As time when on it became easier to talk to him. We became best friends. We would talk about random things, but also some serious topics. He always kept me up with things that would happen around the facility. He kept trying to find out how to why I was here, but to no avail. Alec would also explain some other things to me about this place.

 

“My parents keep talking about something called the Hierarchy. I’m supposed to join them soon,” Alec lazily stated

I finished my set of one hundred push-ups and went to my bed.

“And where does that leave me?”

“It means I can find out what they plan to do with you. You seem to be somewhat important around here.”

“I’m honoured,” I chuckled.

 

 

The same question keeps running through my head.

“Why was I here?”

 It seems like a punishment, but also a blessing. I was getting a massive amount of education every single day. I am also building my body to be almost perfect. My strength, endurance, and flexibility were far beyond that of a normal person. Even at age 15, I was still a match for almost every guard in this place. The problem is Monarch. He always seems to be one step ahead, and I’m pretty sure he was getting even stronger. That or he’s been holding back and just releases a little more each time we fight.

 

The guards started to respect me as I grew older. I wasn’t some whiney kid that annoyed them anymore. Some of them even tried to stir up conversation with me when acceptable. However there are only two people that I respect in this place. Monarch, and my teacher, Miyamoto. Miyamoto taught me a large variety of different fighting techniques, and also how to use every type of weapon. However, guns were not among them. That confused me. The world we live in is all about guns. Why would we not use them?

 

“Guns are not honorable. They don’t prove who the better man is. Monarch understands this, and makes everyone learn all forms of martial arts.”

 

That made me respect Monarch. For him to see the world like that is something different. It’s a point of view that I’ve never seen before. Hunter kept that lesson. Even if the man if the man beats me senseless every week, there seemed to be more to learn when it came to his ideals and beliefs. I would be sure to ask him before I escape.

 

I finally attained freedom at 16. I fought Monarch. I fought him with everything I had in me. There is no way he wasn’t hurting after the beating I gave him. We collided punches and kicks for hours. After four hours of constant battle, I fell to my knee in exhaustion. Monarch stood across the room from me, panting heavily. He was tired, I could tell even with his mask on.

 

“Very good Hunter, you’ve done well.”

“Does…. That mean… I can leave now?” I slowly asked.

“Well, that depends on you. I have one more thing to offer you. Train under me,” Monarch offered

“What?” I questioned, positioning himself in a sitting position.

“You’ve become what I hoped you would be. I offer to train you personally. Learn everything I know.”

 

This surprised me. I wasn’t expecting to be let go so easily, but I didn’t think Monarch would offer to train me. I knew he was strong and could teach me so much more than I could have learned on my own. Accepting the offer was the best thing I could have done in this situation. Learning from him is probably the best thing he could do. I stuck my hand out to Monarch. Monarch walked over to me and shook my hand. After a second he pulled me to my feet and walked away.

“It was a good fight Hunter. We’ll start training tomorrow.”

 

I didn’t know whether I was free or not. I suppose I wasn’t since I agreed to this training. In a way, I was excited. I was ready to see how much stronger I could get.

 

I didn’t get any more injections after that fight. I didn’t need them, but it was just odd. I’ve gotten them for almost a decade now.  I wasn’t craving them, but it was just a little pattern that was off. I was 18 at this time. I’ve been training with Monarch for two years now, and I’ve learned so much. He taught me techniques – fighting styles I never would have learned without him. He taught me how to take a punch even better than I could. He taught me speed, agility, stamina that far exceeded my own. He was something much more than human, I had no doubt in my mind.

 

I had one problem with Monarch, however. His views on humanity were horrid. He would always talk about evolution and how humans can become more. He was working on something related to that, but I was left in the dark. He would sometimes talk about saving the world from itself. Changing it to fit his image. Manipulating it all. It was the goal of the Hierarchy, but mostly him. He spoke of it with such passion and motivation that it was difficult to see how crazy it was. Manipulation is not peace, its control.

 

I don’t know whether or not Monarch picked up on my lack of enthusiasm towards his dreams. I always stayed silent and listened to him, but I didn’t share his passion. People should be free. That’s part of what it is to be human. We fight to make sure people are free, but then again… I suppose the subject of ‘true freedom’ is very complicated. But Monarch had a plan for total control.

 

When I went to see him that day everything changed. Instead of fighting, he brought me into the room he always went to after our fights. I always wondered what was in that room, and I finally found out. It was just an empty room with an elevator. In that same room were two others. A woman who I didn’t recognize, and Alec. I didn’t want to compromise Alec, so I pretended I didn’t know him. He did the same for me.

 

Monarch walked beside the woman and took off his mask. It was the first time I’ve seen his face. It was just a face though. I was sort of hoping for some Phantom of the Opera type ordeal, but alas. He stood beside the woman. She slithered under his arm. Something about her eyes… something wasn’t right. She was off. She almost felt unstable.

 

“I offer you a place with us, Hunter. You can help change the world. Save the world,” Monarch offered.

“You can make this planet a place of peace and order. A place where everyone is equal, and respected,” the woman added.

“All we need is for you to say you’ll join us,” Alec finished.

 

I stood there for a moment. Only one sentence echoed through my head. “Save the world.”

That’s what I was told when (Y/N) was taken away. That was foolish of me to think. But I couldn’t take the offer. I didn’t believe in their cause, and they certainly wouldn’t have explained it without me agreeing to them. I simply refused to be part of something like this. Maybe if I voluntarily came here… maybe if things were different. I didn’t know. I was partly mad. After all this and still I didn’t have my freedom.

 

“And if I say no?” I questioned.

The woman chuckled. “That’s not an option.”

No freedom. That right there confirmed it for me. They never planned on giving me my freedom. I was a puppet from the beginning. Me and everyone else who they had here. Those children that Alec mentioned years ago. They’ll be puppets too!

 

I quickly dashed to the elevator, activated it, and clicked the “M” button. The elevator closed and started speeding to the main floor. I took a breath, thinking about what I just did. From what Alec told me, these guys have a huge reach. Escaping them may have been difficult if Monarch hadn’t taught me what he did. Maybe he knew I would escape… but that was just random thinking.

 

When I reached the floor there were guards waiting for me. Without a second thought I rushed them. I punched one straight in the jaw, sending him flying away. The others didn’t even have time to react before they were hit with my fists. I didn’t go through nine years of brutal training for nothing. The guards went down like nothing.

 

I looked for the nearest door and ran through it. The sunlight blinded me for a while. I hadn’t seen the sun in years. After the shock, I sprinted through the streets. I only knew one place I could go. I had to go home. After running for ten minutes I stopped and looked around me. I didn’t notice anyone suspicious, so I let my guard down a bit. There was no doubt they would be after me sooner or later.

 

I quickly got to my house and knocked on the door. My father’s old car was still in the driveway. I laughed that he still had the crappy old thing. I waited a minute before turning the handle. It was open. I quietly entered the house. It was furnished the exact same way I remembered it. It was weird. I was expecting something different.

 

I walked into the living room. Nothing. The kitchen had nothing. Their room had nothing. I walked up to my room and paused for a moment. I slowly opened the door to see a box on my old bed. I closed the door behind me and walked up to this box. I opened it up and found a note with a card inside.

 

I can’t remember exactly what the note said, but my parents said they weren’t sorry for what they did, but they were sorry for the fact that they couldn’t handle it better. The note described that the card has access to a bank account with almost one billion dollars within it. I didn’t believe it. My parents were not rich. We were middle class. Average. At least I thought we were.

 

But where were my parents? The letter didn’t say where they went or what happened to them. They were just gone. I had money, but no parents. I had strength, but no purpose. I had a life, but nobody to share it with. I started feeling regret. I felt like I should have taken the deal with the Monarchs.

 

“No… no that’s compromising! That’s giving in to something I don’t believe in. It’s almost like crying… (Y/N) never cried. He never gave into that. I won’t either!”

 

With nothing else to do I decided to check out this bank. I walked over to the bank and handed them the card. They confirmed the amount within. I was rich. But I had no purpose with this money. What did I need it for? I had nothing.

 

“Hey Hunter,” a voice said behind me.

I tilted my head to see Alec standing behind me. He had his signature smile on. I smiled at him and turned around.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Seeing you. You need help.”

“How so?”

 

Alec laughed and led me to a small table in the bank. We sat down and stared at each other for a moment.

“The Monarchy is not taking your resignation very well.”

“I never agreed to the job!” I snarled. “They tried to force it upon me!”

“Yes, I know. But you were one of their most valuable ‘projects’. You have to realize that they aren’t going to give up on you. They’ll keep hunting you. Hunting Hunter… Ha. Listen, I’m going to help you.”

 

“Help me with what?”

“You have to stop them! You have to end their plan!” Alec said.

“I… why?”

“I’ve known you for years, Hunter. You’re a fighter. They want you dead, and you want what’s right for the world. They aren’t what’s right for the world. I can help you stop them, but I can only operate from the shadows.”

 

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My best friend was telling me to fight back against these people. I didn’t even know what they wanted to do. What their end goal was.

 

“I can see the doubt in your eyes. Listen, you have to do this. They gave you the tools to fight them, all you have to do is use them.”

I sighed and stared at him.

“Alright, I’ll do this. But I want to know more about what they’re doing before I do anything drastic.”

“That’s fair. Ok, how about this. They have some children that they’re testing on. It’s supposed to be the second generation of some sort of advanced humans or something. I’ll tell you where it is and you can check it out for yourself.”

“Alright, that sounds good.”

 

Alec hands me a piece of paper and a small blank card. I grabbed both of them and took a look at them. I didn’t understand the use of the card, however.

“What’s this for?”

“Tap your bank card on it. It’ll take all the data from it without the tracing ability. You’ll be able to use it without the Hierarchy finding you.”

I smiled and gave Alec a light hug. Alec hugged me back.

“You’re not alone Hunter. I’ll do everything I can to help you, but I can’t compromise my position at W.A. Industries.”

 

I nodded in understanding. I read the address. It was a warehouse outside of Arendelle.

“How cliché. A warehouse?” I said to myself.

It took little time to reach the warehouse. I pushed open the large doors and walked in. It was dark, cold, and dusty. This definitely wasn’t the same as the place I was at. At least, the look wasn’t.

 

I was tempted to leave, but I knew Alec wouldn’t send me somewhere without having a reason to. I started to look around. There was one thing that came to my mind, and one thing that may help me. When I was in my room, the door was part of the wall. One wouldn’t even know there was a door at first glance. It blended so well. It might have been the same here. The door could be hidden.

 

It started to feel the walls around me. I felt every single wall and crack within the building. There was nothing. I stopped for a moment and started to think. There had to be something. Something that I was missing. Before I knew it there were spotlights shining on me. I instantly readied my body for anything that could come at me. It was the first lesson Monarch taught me.

 

“Hunter Knight. How did you find this place?” A weasel sounding voice asked over an intercom. “You are a wanted man. I could get in good with the Monarchy if I brought you to them.”

This idiot told me everything I needed to know. This was some sort of facility and I was being hunted. It didn’t matter though. I could take anything they threw at me.

 

“This seems to be the best time to see how well my projects are coming along. I can do better than the other Duke!”

When he finished talking the floor began to open up. I lightly hopped away from the middle and stared at what could be my opponent. To my surprise, it was little kids. Six of them, in fact. I was confused. Young children couldn’t stand up to me.

 

The kids looked over at me and extended their hands. Something amazing happened. Elements started bursting out from their hands. A combination of water, air, fire, lightning, earth, and ice. I quickly jumped out of the way and grabbed onto a loose piece of metal above me. I flipped myself on top of the bar and looked at the children. They saw me and shot their elements at me once more.

 

I jumped to the right and dodged them. Their attack blew a whole right through the warehouse. They continued to shoot elements at me and I just kept running circles around them. I tried calling out to them, but their eyes showed that they didn’t care. I don’t even think they were kids anymore. Their eyes said that they were lost. That who they were died a long time ago.

 

I knew that it wasn’t going to end unless I put a stop to it. I pushed off the wall and went directly at them. They didn’t have time to attack again. I easily took them all down with one hit. They were kids, what else would happen? But I was wrong. They stood back up and smiled at me. It was almost scary. They shot at me again but I rolled out of the way. There was only one way to finish this, but I didn’t want to do it.

 

I ran a few circles around them before attacking again. I slipped behind the green haired one.

“Sorry,” I whispered.

I grabbed her head and twisted it. His head spun around to face me. The lifeless child fell to the floor, and I was horrified. Without a second thought I elbowed the next one in the nose and threw him at the wall. The girl slammed against the wall and tried to accept the law of gravity. I didn’t allow it. I pushed off my leg and jumped at her. I shoved my fist in her face. She was stuck between my fist and the wall, except I kept pushing.

 

I didn’t stop until I heard a crack. The noise that confirmed they were dead. I don’t want to remember how, but I did kill them all. All those kids. I knelt in the center of that room and howled to the sky. I hated myself for killing these kids. It was horrifying. But I didn’t blame myself. I blamed them. The Hierarchy. I knew where the door was now. I walked over and shoved my hands into the cracks.

 

“What-what are you doing?” The voiced yelled.

I used all my strength to rip open the door and jump inside. The drop was longer than I expected, but I landed on an elevator quickly. After searching through the base – and fighting guards along the way – I found the central hub. It was like a mainframe.  I needed information on what was happening. I needed justification for killing those kids and going after the Hierarchy.

 

It was surprisingly easy to hack into the computer and download the files. To be honest, I didn’t even know what files I was downloading. I just grabbed what I could. After all the files downloaded I tried to find a way to destroy this place. It was a good thing that I learned what I did during my time in confinement, or else I wouldn’t have been able to reroute the power to overload the base and destroy it. I one-upped Alec.

 

What I learned from those files tore me apart. Those kids were kidnapped by their families to become test subjects. They were the second round of the “Elemental Project”, which meant there were more people like that. However the files told me they would be around thirteen to fifteen by now. It didn’t give me their names, so I had to ask Alec about it.

 

There was a mention of something, or someone, called “Project Overlord”, however the details were vague at best. One of the best parts of this information is that it labelled everyone in the Hierarchy by name. The whole Westergaard family was part of it. I didn’t know Alec had so many brothers. It also listed someone called Weselton, Adgar and Idun Anderson, and so many others. However, these names had the label “Duke” or “Duchess”. I assumed that made them important.

 

This started by battle against the Hierarchy. I originally just fought them for what they did to me. Then it was for kids that they would steal. Then it’s became for the safety of the planet. After I fought them for five years. I had my victories. I had my defeats. I had to fight the Monarchs a few times. That duo were two people I couldn’t beat. I asked Alec about them once. Even he didn’t know too much about them.

 

In those years of fighting I learned they had something big planned. Something to do with the elementals. I found out that they needed a girl named Elsa Anderson. Alec told me that she was a pure blood. She had the powers of ice since she was born. They needed her for something. She went to Arendelle’s School for the Gifted. I needed to get her before they could take her. I went on the first day of her last year. I came up from behind the corner to see her and another boy walking down the hall way.

 

He went in front of her and held her hands. She pulled away. I couldn’t believe his face. I swore it was my little brother. I swore it was (Y/N). But I didn’t think it was possible. My brother was gone. Dead. I stopped and stared at him as he walked away with her. He had such a happy face. Such energy. It was exactly like (Y/N).

 

I left the school after I saw him. I couldn’t keep the surprise off my face. It just didn’t seem possible. I quickly contacted Alec and told him to meet me. We met at his office. I don’t know how he got me in there without the Andersons knowing, but I trusted him. I knew I would be fine.

 

“What is it Hunter?” Alec asked as he poured a glass of whiskey for us.

I grabbed it and downed it in an instant. I could see the surprise on Alec’s face.

“I saw a ghost.  I saw a fucking ghost!” I shouted.

“Whoa, whoa, calm down. I’ve never seen you like this. What happened? Nobody should’ve been able to stop you.”

“Oh, but someone did. Alec, I need you to be completely honest with me right now. Do you swear?”

Alec sipped his whiskey and nodded.

 

“Is my brother alive? Is (Y/N) Knight alive?”

Alec stared at me for a second before drinking the rest of his whiskey.

“Project Overlord. Your brother is Project Overlord.”

I tightened my fists. My brother was alive for all these years and I had no idea. What happened to him? What has he been doing all these years? And he’s one of their puppets too? My brother was tortured like I was? It gave me more of a reason to fight these people, even though I’ve been doing it for so long.

 

I think Alec could tell my head was spinning. He sat me down and explained everything to me. He told me about what the project was. He told me about Shadow and Carnage. He told me how he murdered his old parents and friends in cold blood. Alec also told me how he was watching out for (Y/N) this whole time. Alec was the only reason (Y/N) wasn’t placed in some institution or another.

 

After a few days I knew I needed to talk to him. I needed to speak to my brother once more. I went to the school and found him staring at a wall. I knew that wall. I researched Elsa before coming to get her. She made this wall with her powers. Nothing said she actually used them, but I knew better.

 

I stared at him for a moment before taking in a deep breath. I walked over to him and started talking to him. It was great. I heard his voice. Saw his emotion. There was no doubt that he was my brother. My little brother was still alive. I shook his hand and walked away. I could feel his eyes staring at me, just like he did when he was younger.

 

I left the building and smiled. My brother was there. My brother was alive and talking. I wanted to jump in the air for joy. I wanted to shout aloud. I felt like I could take on the world at that moment. There was nothing that could’ve gotten in my way. My brother was alive.

 

I kept tabs on (Y/N) after that. It was a surprise when I saw him making friends with Elsa Anderson. This made it pretty clear that I couldn’t move on her. I wasn’t going to take her from him. When I saw the elementals go after Elsa I thought (Y/N) needed help. But I was wrong. He was able to defend himself from the elementals. The only time I had to help him was then his heart was frozen. Other than that, he was able to hold his own and defend his friends and loved ones. It’s exactly what I wanted to do, except I had nobody to protect.

 

After the Duke and Duchess were killed I knew I had to act. The Monarchs were coming and I needed to be ready. I spent nine months getting everything in order. I met with people and got things ready for (Y/N) and I. My only hope was that we’d be strong enough to fight Monarch. To fight Alistair and Juno. Alec informed me that they’re stronger than ever, which means that I have to be the best I can.

 

I found it funny when Alec told me that (Y/N) was on his way to the base near the North Mountain. It was where I was planning to go. It was the best time to introduce myself to my brother. I had to take it.

 

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Hunter shakes his head after his huge train of thought. He continues to carry you through the base and into the forest.

“In a way, you got more done than I did. You killed the Duke and Duchess. You put most of the elementals at ease. Hell, you didn’t even know about this whole thing and yet you still helped out. Now we’re together, and we can fight back. You can protect Elsa… and I can protect you.”

 


	24. Ain't No Rest for the Wicked

Chapter 24: Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked

 

Hunter finally exits the base and enters the forest. The mist is still present, making getting to your car a bit of a hassle. Hunter cracks his neck and jumps five meters in the air. He finds your car and registers where he has to go. He lands on the ground and starts walking towards your car. As he walks he feels his phone start to vibrate. He pulls out a small sphere and throws it directly in front of him. A hologram of Alec appears.

 

“Hunter, how’d it go?” Alec asks.

Hunter looks over at the unconscious you, then back at Alec.

“What do you think?”

Alec chuckles. “Fair enough. Did you find anything worth mentioning?”

“Yeah. Something about a ‘Dragon’s Tear’. I’m planning on taking us to Tocia city to investigate it.”

Alec nods and drinks a small glass of whiskey.

 

He downs it and fidgets his head. He pours another drink before facing Hunter once more.

“Alright then. I honestly don’t know anything about this so called ‘Dragon’s Tear’, so you’re on your own. I’ll try and keep them off your back, but I doubt I could actually dissuade Monarch from doing anything.”

“Yeah… well thanks anyway.”

 

The hologram disappears and the small sphere returns to Hunter’s hand. He places it back in his pocket and starts walking once more.

“I don’t… pancakes,” you mumble.

Hunter shakes his head and smiles. Even when you’re sleeping you’re still somewhat entertaining. He repositions you on his shoulder and keeps walking. You start to fidget even more than you were, which makes it harder for Hunter carry you.

 

Suddenly your eyes open. You get out of Hunter’s grasp and get right up close to him. You don’t even see who has you, but you send one solid punch into his stomach. His eyes widen from the pain of the hit. He is sent flying through the forest, busting through some trees. You stand there with your fist extended. Small bits of electricity are evident around you. Your eyes are different. You look up to where you punched. You start to breathe slower and the power slips away.

 

Hunter rubs his head and picks himself off of a tree. You sent him pretty far. Destroyed some poor trees too. Hunter holds his stomach and coughs up a little blood. He snickers and wipes the blood off on his jeans.

“That punch… that had the same impact as Monarch… how did he do that?” Hunter questions.

He starts walking towards you once more. You stand there looking into the mist until a figure appears. You get ready for a fight. However, you see Hunter walk out of the mist.

“Hunter? Oh crap! I’m sorry! I thought you were that other guy!” You apologize.

“No, no… it’s fine. Really.”

He walks towards you. In reality, Hunter is struggling to keep himself on his feet. You really did a number on him with that punch.

 

“Well… sorry, either way,” you repeat.

“Never mind that. Come on. We have to get to Tocia.”

Hunter walks past a perplexed you. You stare out into the mist for a moment, thinking.

“Tocia? Why?” You call out, catching up to him.

“You were the one who… oh right. Well, check your holowatch and find the documents. You’ll see exactly why.”

 

You look at Hunter for a moment then turn your attention to your watch. You click the face of the watch to open up its menu. You find a new item you’ve never seen before. It is a collection of papers. It has to be what Hunter was talking about. You grab the papers and start reading as you walk. Every so often you glance ahead of you, just to make sure.

 

“A Dragon’s Tear? What is that?” You ask aloud.

“That’s what we’re going to find out. We’re heading to the temple by Tocia. There may be some answers there,” Hunter responds.

“You haven’t been there? How long have you been fighting these guys?”

“Hey! I have stopped a lot of other things, brother. It’s hard for me to find every single detail.”

“Uh huh,” you mock.

 

Hunter shakes his head and continues to walk. You finish reading the files and throw them back into your holowatch. You put your hands back in your pocket and start whistling Moonlight Sonata.

“Moonlight Sonata?” Hunter questions.

“What? What’s wrong with the song?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” Hunter brushes away.

 

You both reach your car and enter it. Hunter takes the wheel and you sit in the passenger seat. He turns on the radio and starts driving down the road. It will take an hour to get there, so you get comfortable. You lie back against the chair and put your hands behind your head. You close your eyes and continue to whistle to yourself.

 

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Anna is still lying with Gerda. Gerda is caressing the young woman’s hair in comfort. Unknown to them, Olaf was listening to them talk the whole time. He heard about Hans and his scheme. However, Olaf isn’t old enough to understand it all, but he knows something is wrong. He also heard everyone yelling at you and Anna, and saw the sadness in your eyes. It made him sad to see you sad. Something was going on, and he was determined to find out what was happening.

 

Olaf runs up to Elsa’s door and listens in. There is barely any noise from the room, so he isn’t sure what to think. Olaf rushes into his own room and puts on a cape. He is going to do something as a super hero. He can now! He’s one year older. All that experience has made Olaf a wise child.

 

Olaf runs out of his room and downstairs. He looks around for his toy sword, but fails to find it. Olaf makes a funny face and runs around the house, attempting to find Kai.

“Kai! Where’s my sword?” Olaf yells.

“Which one?” Kai responds from a different room.

“My favourite one!”

“You have lots of favourite ones.”

 

Olaf pouts and starts to walk upstairs. However, he hears a door start to open. He looks up and finds Elsa. She is poking her head outside of her door, looking to see if anyone is around.

“I’ll be right back, Kristoff,” Elsa says.

She exits her room and makes her way towards the stairs. Olaf is there, and he cuts her off. He makes a heroic pose before Elsa, which startles her a little bit.

“Oh, Olaf. You scared me,” Elsa giggles.

“Elsa, can I ask you three questions?”

“That’s very specific Olaf. Sounds important,” Elsa responds in a tone that sounds like she’s simply playing along.

 

Olaf grabs her hand and runs down to the couch. He sits her on the couch and stands before her.

“Elsa… Who is Hans? Is he Anna’s old kissy friend?”

Elsa is shocked to hear about Hans from Olaf. She knows he’s met Hans, but never thought he would bring him up in a conversation.

“Well… yes, Olaf. But Hans is a bad man. He is not our friend.”

 

Olaf thinks on this for a second then proceeds to his second question.

“Elsa, what does dr-drugged mean?” He asks

Again, Elsa is shocked. Where is Olaf getting these questions from? It’s almost making Elsa uncomfortable. Olaf notices Elsa’s hesitance to ask.

“Don’t worry Elsa, I’m older now! I know things!”

Elsa chuckles and pats Olaf on the head. “That you are Olaf. Well… drugged is when someone else… someone else puts some sort of food or drink in your body, and it makes you do things you may not normally do.”

 

“Oh… so was Anna drugged when she kissed (Y/N) before?”

Elsa chuckles at the memory. It quickly fades and becomes a hated thought. It was too related to what just happened.

“Yes, but Anna did that to herself. She took the liquid.”

“Why would someone drug themselves? It sounds like a bad thing,” Olaf inquires.

Elsa chuckles once more. “Yes, that is a good question.”

 

“So… if a bad man drugged a good man, and the good man did a bad thing… then is the good man bad?” Olaf innocently asks.

“Well… It’s a little complicated Olaf. Sometimes good people do bad things even when they aren’t impaired.”

“Impaired?” Olaf asks.

“Drugged,” she clarifies. “Everyone is going to do something bad to another person. It just happens.”

 

Olaf tries to think for a moment then shakes his head and bounces.

“I have one more question!” Olaf enthusiastically reminds.

“Yes, you do. Go ahead,” Elsa allows.

“Why are you mad at (Y/N)?”

“Olaf… How did…”

Olaf heard the entire thing. He also heard a word that started with “F” that he would have to ask about. But it wasn’t the time for that. Older Olaf was on a mission right now. It was all a little game to him.

 

“Everyone seems sad. Especially you. I notice when you’re sad, big sister,” Olaf says, giving Elsa a hug.

Elsa warmly accepts his hug. Elsa starts to think about how to answer Olaf’s question. It isn’t something Olaf would understand.

“Thank you Olaf.”

“You haven’t answered my question,” he accuses.

“Yes… well, (Y/N) hurt me. He hurt me really bad, and I didn’t like it.”

“He hit you?”

“No, no. He would never. He hurt me on the inside, and I’m mad at him for it.”

 

“But… what if he was hurting too. Would you still be mad at him for it?” Olaf asks.

Elsa pauses for a moment.

“And… if you’re hurting so much… doesn’t that mean you really like (Y/N)?” He continues.

“Well yes but…”

“So why are you mad at him? It doesn’t make sense for you both to be like this. I can tell that (Y/N) is hurt too. He’s like my brother, and I know when he is hurt. It’s not like before.”

“Before?” Elsa interrupts.

 

Olaf nods.

“He told me something a few months back…”

 

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9 months ago

 

You’re taking off your clothes from the day. You look in the mirror and see all the scars and bruises that Adgar, Idun, and Hans gave you. You cringe at them but soon ignore it. You toss your pants and shirt aside, leaving you in your underwear. Olaf suddenly barges into the room with a confused look on his face. He looks at your body to see all the marks.

 

“Where did you get those?” He asks.

“It’s a long story,” you respond. “What are you even doing in my room?”

“Tell me! Tell me!” He bounces up and down.

You sigh and sit Olaf on the bed. You sit beside him and look into his young eyes.

“Well… I was keeping your sister safe. Bad people did this to me. They hurt Elsa and myself. That’s where I got these wounds. But… I think Elsa hurt me too.”

 

Olaf cocks his head to the side a little bit.

“What do you mean? Why would sis hurt you?”

“Oh, not on the outside. On the inside. Those are two different types of hurting.”

“I don’t get it,” Olaf pouts.

You chuckle. You know he isn’t going to get it, but you might as well explain a little bit.

 

“Well Olaf, your sister protected me. By doing that, she got hurt real bad. Even though she got hurt on the outside, I was really hurt on the inside. I was mad that I let Elsa get hurt. It’s like emotional pain.”

 

You pause for a moment.

 

“It’s a weird pain that I can’t describe. But I know it’s the hardest to deal with, and Elsa can so easily bring it out in me. I know people may not understand… but I really love her. It’s hard to see her hurting in anyway, and it makes me hurt even more. I hurt her once, and it almost killed me. Everyone should know that type of pain, because it’s that pain that makes you realize you truly care for somebody.”

 

You stare off into space as you speak, completely forgetting you’re talking to Olaf. Olaf sits on your bed and tries to make sense of what you’re saying.

“So… you really like my sister?”

You look down at him and smile at his innocence. You mess up his hair a little and smile.

“Yeah, you could say that.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“It doesn’t make sense to me. Why would you be mad and hurt, while he is just hurt?”

Elsa sits for a moment, trying to think of the words. Olaf really doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but his simplistic nature is making it hard for Elsa to respond. It’s the simplicity of the situation that is making Elsa question everything. When Olaf explains it, it’s silly for her to be mad. However when she thinks about it she knows exactly why she is mad.

 

Elsa is about to respond when she sees Anna walking down the stairs. Anna and Elsa lock eyes and tension fills the air. Anna doesn’t know whether to be angry or sad right now. Elsa feels the same. Even at a young age, Olaf can feel that something is wrong. Olaf quickly leans over to Elsa and whispers something to her.

 

“I don’t think (Y/N) is a bad man. I don’t think he would do bad things on purpose.”

Elsa looks down at Olaf. Olaf smiles and runs away to his room. He jumps on his bed and grabs a few action figures. He feels proud of his adventure today. The funny thing is, he has no idea what he’s actually done.

 

“Elsa… Can I talk with you? Please…” Anna whispers.

Elsa stares at Anna for a moment before letting out a sigh.

“Fine… just speak.”

Anna walks down the stairs but hears someone else on them. She turns her head to see Kristoff. He is keeping his distance from her. This hurts Anna. Anna is about to sink into herself but thinks about you. About how you’ve faced worse than this and kept smiling.

 

Anna takes in a deep breath and turns to Kristoff.

“You’re listening to this too!”

She drags Kristoff downstairs and puts him on the couch with Elsa. The two sit there and look at Anna, who is standing in front of them. Anna starts to get passionate, and is determined to let everything out.

 

Anna takes in one more breath and gets ready.

“What the hell are you two thinking?” She screams.

Elsa and Kristoff are taken aback by this.

“It pains me to think that both of you could think so little of me and (Y/N). It annoys me beyond belief that you’re both so… so… stupid! And the fact that you let neither of us explain is horrible! It wasn’t our fault guys!”

 

“Anna, please,” Elsa starts.

“No Elsa! No! You know who did this to us? It was Hans! Hans drugged us and made us do this! He manipulated us and broke the whole group apart!”

Elsa thinks on what Olaf said. He had more foresight than Elsa thought.

“Anna, wait,” Kristoff says.

 

“No! Both of you shut up! You know what, I should hit you both for what you’ve done. Not to me, but to (Y/N)! You both should know that he would never do anything to hurt any of us! He would never, and here you are making him feel horrible! And you, Elsa! You should feel the worst! Hans manipulated you before too!”

 

Elsa’s eyes widen at what Anna is saying. She remembers.

 

“And you know what (Y/N) did? Nothing! He didn’t blame you one bit! He knew you would never do that of your own volition, and yet you accuse him of something far worse! Everything he has done and you both make him feel like crap! I hope you’re both happy, because I don’t know if he’s ever coming back! And if he’s off fighting something, then he has no reason to live. He has nothing to fight for now that you both showed you hate him. Nothing!

 

“It was Hans! It was all Hans and it’s my fault that Hans is doing this to us,” Anna yells, tears coming down her face. “I brought him here and made him do this to us. So if you’re going to be mad at anyone, be mad at me! But let (Y/N) have the friends he deserves!”

 

Anna stops and starts crying. She vented everything. It was an accumulated amount of anger and stress over her life that she released right there. Kristoff wraps his arms around her and holds her close. Anna wants to push away, but she can’t. She doesn’t have the motivation. Elsa stands up and joins the hug. A few tears run down her face as well.

 

“Anna… I’m sorry,” Kristoff says. "I… I was so mad. I should have known… I’m sorry.”

Anna holds Kristoff close and buries her head into his chest. Kristoff looks over at Elsa. Elsa is hurt by what she just heard. Anna made one grand accusation that Elsa couldn’t escape, because she knew it was true.

 

Part of Elsa wanted to kiss Hans at that moment. She wanted him. If Anna was telling the truth, then you never had the thought in your mind. She always wondered why you never asked her about it. You just let it go.

“Maybe he’s just better than I am…” Elsa thinks. “Maybe he needs someone better than I.”

 

Elsa moves off of Anna and Kristoff. She takes a few steps back and watches them. They are still hugging, and Anna is still crying. Elsa turns around and walks to her back door. She slides it open and feels the refreshing night time air. She steps outside and closes the door behind her. She walks close to the pond near in the back and stares into the water. She sees the reflection of herself and smiles.

 

“It’s weird how much I’ve changed. How much he’s affected me. It’s not that I was bad before, but… I don’t know. I used to be more secluded. I felt like I didn’t need anyone. Heck, I thought I would hurt anyone who got close to me. But… now I rely on my friends. I rely on my sister. It’s so different from what I was and I don’t know whether it’s good or bad. I don’t need them… but nothing would be the same without them. I couldn’t go back to being on my own… I don’t think (Y/N) could, either.”

 

Elsa looks up into the sky.

 

“I don’t know where you are (Y/N), or what you’re doing. But I hope you realize that we still care for you. That we need you. That I love you, and that I’m sorry. If I find out you did something stupid because of me I’m going to slap you so hard.”

 

Elsa hears chuckling from behind her. She turns around to see Anna and Kristoff. Elsa starts blushing and turns back to the pond. Anna and Kristoff get on either side of her. Elsa turns to Anna and gives her sister a hug.

“Anna, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay Elsa, it’s okay. I’m sorry I yelled at you both. It seemed like the only way you would listen.”

Kristoff shrugs. “I think everyone needs to be yelled at once in a while. It’s a reality check. Even (Y/N) needed one.”

 

The three chuckle. They all sit in a comfortable position and look at the stars. They don’t even care about the light rain that falls on them.

“It’s weird to think that he’s only human. What, with the things he’s done. The things he can do,” Kristoff speaks aloud.

“Yeah… are you jealous?” Anna teases.

“Maybe a little.”

 

Elsa giggles. “And he’s all mine.”

“Of course he is. You’re the only one who can keep him in his place!” Kristoff says.

“What do you mean?” Elsa asks.

“It’s just a guy thing. We’re all scared of our girlfriends. It’s our weakness. I think that you’re the only person in the world that could really put (Y/N) down. Anyone else, he’ll just get right up and keep fighting.”

 

Anna starts laughing. “Yeah, that’s about right. Nobody is scarier to him than you, Elsa.”

“Shut up Anna!” Elsa giggles, nudging her sister.

“It’s true!”

The three start laughing. Gerda and Kai watch them from a window on the second floor. They smile.

 

“Nice to see they’re all friends again,” Gerda comments.

“Of course they are. How long were they mad, anyway? A couple hours? It’ll take more than that to break the type of bond that they have,” Kai adds.

“At least its back to the way it once was.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, I meant when Anna and Elsa were children,” Gerda clears up. “They were so close and played together all the time.”

“Ah, very true,” Kai agrees, nodding his head. “So do you think (Y/N) will be back anytime soon?”

Gerda begins to chuckle. “Who knows with that boy? He could be doing anything right now.”

 

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You and Hunter traverse through the misty roads. It’s actually nice, if you get over the mist. The temperature is that perfect mix of warm and cold. It sends shivers down your spine. You look out the window. It’s pointless since you can’t see anything, but it’s something to do. Hunter looks over at you and shakes his head. He turns on the radio. A song comes up that seems familiar to you. An Eminem song, if you recall correctly. You continue to look out the window until you hear Hunter start singing.

 

I’m just so fuckin’ depressed, I just can’t seem to get out of this slump

If I could just get over this hump

But I need something to pull me out this dump

You look over at him. He’s still singing and has a smile on his face. He looks over at you.

“Come on, sing.”

“What? No.”

“Come on! You can sing. Do you know the song?”

“I’ve heard it before,” you respond.

“So come on. Let loose a little bit.”

 

Hunter goes back to the song.

 

I’m starting to feel distant again

So I decided just to pick the pen

Up and try to make an attempt to vent

But I just can’t admit

“Are you seriously singing when we have stuff to do?”

Hunter stops and gives you a confused face.

“Sheesh, coming from the guy who was making jokes to his death, you’re a huge party pooper.”

You look at him for a moment. You know he’s right. Maybe you’re just a little tense from this Monarch guy and the fact that Shadow is still out of commission.

 

Hunter starts singing again and you follow suit. He smiles at the fact that you’re finally getting into it.

 

In my shoes, just to see

What it’s like, to be me

I’ll be you, let’s trade shoes

Just to see what it’d be like to

Feel your pain, you feel mine

Go inside each other’s minds

Just to see what we find

You both sing the song. You’re getting a little more into it. There’s something about singing with Hunter that gives the whole situation a little boost. You’re still wrapping your head around the fact that you have a brother, but at least you get to spend some time doing random stuff with him. It’s these little things that you always wanted a sibling for. You should try and convince Hunter to sing along with you when you and Kristoff play.

 

Your mind wanders back to the angry Elsa and Kristoff. You mentally kick yourself for killing the mood. You shake your head and continue to sing with Hunter. The song comes to a close, and you both start laughing. Hunter focuses his attention back to the road.

 

“See, it’s good to let loose a little bit,” he declares.

“Yeah, I know. Just a lot of stuff happening lately. It can get hard to keep optimistic sometimes.”

“But,” Hunter stretches the word out.

You give him a sarcastic look. “Yeah, yeah.”

He laughs and continues to drive.

 

It takes another hour before you see a sign telling you you’re approaching Tocia city. You smile at the news. It feels like you’ve been driving forever. You feel your muscles and stomach. You’ve pretty much recovered from your recent fight. It still annoys you that he beat you so badly. Nine months of training and you’re tossed aside like nothing. It aggravates you. It makes you want to be better, somehow.

 

Hunter looks around and notices a street full of buildings. He pulls down that street, looks around some more, and finds a spot to park.

“Come on. We’re checking in to a hotel.”

“A hotel? Bu-“

Hunter exits the car before you can say any more. You exit the car and continue.

“Why aren’t we going straight to this place? Why get a hotel?” You question.

“Because I want a break,” Hunter responds as he proceeds to walk towards the hotel.

 

You throw your hands on your face, look to the sky, and slightly spin around.

“Oh my gooood.”

Hunter turns around to watch you do this. He gives you a smirk and waves for you to follow.

“Come on. I think you need some sleep.”

“And I think you…” you pause for a moment. “Yeah. Yeah, alright. I’m good with that."

“I thought so.”

 

You both walk into the hotel. It’s not a five star luxury hotel, but it’s nice enough. Hunter walks up to the desk while you stroll around the lobby. There are a few people loitering around the lobby, conversing with each other. A group of four people look over at you. They’re teenagers, or so they look. Three boys and one girl. They all seem to be in that “popular” clique that is oh so important. You stare them down then chuckle at your success.

 

“Thanks gorgeous,” Hunter says as he winks at the receptionist.

She giggles and blushes as he walks away. You shake your head.

“A ladies man, are you?”

“Runs in the family,” he chuckles. “Anyway, let’s get moving. Our suite is on the top floor.”

You both walk towards the elevator.

“Hunter, what is our family name? I actually don’t know it.”

“Hm? Oh yeah, you wouldn’t. Well, our family name is Knight. So you are (Y/N) Knight. I am Hunter Knight. We’re the Knights of our age.”

“Knights of the modern age?” You say.

“Exactly.”

 

(Y/N) Knight, huh? It’s a weird feeling knowing my actual name. I don’t even know if that’s who I really am. I’m just… (Y/N). No last name will shape me. I didn’t let my last one define who I am, and I won’t let this one!

The elevator door opens and reveals a small hallway. There is only one door through the entire hallway. It has to be your room. You and Hunter walk down the hall. There is slight anticipation to see what this room will look like. It has to be some sort of amazing room, right? It’s the most expensive one on the top floor. Those are always awesome!

 

Hunter takes out the keycard and swipes it. After a second the card reader goes green and a beep emanates from it. Hunter opens the door and you both walk in. You look around to see a beautiful, large, room. It has a wide screen T.V, a large couch to watch it on. Fluffy pillows, expensive décor. It has everything. You smile as you walk around.

 

“Enjoying the view?” Hunter snickers.

“Yeah. I haven’t been to a hotel before. This is new.”

“Really? Huh, well at least it was with me and not some school party.”

“What’s wrong with school parties?” You inquire.

“Aside from a bunch of under aged idiots getting shit faced and having sex with total strangers, I’m all for them.”

 

You stare at Hunter for a moment before looking away and walking to the bedroom. There are three different bedrooms in this hotel suite, so you pick your favourite one. It has its own widescreen T.V, which is nice. You jump on the bed and grab the remote. You start flipping through a bunch of channels, but can’t find anything that interests you.

 

You toss the remote to the side and stretch your arms, letting out a yawn.

“I’m booooorrrreeeed,” you complain.

You hop to your feet and leave the room. You walk into the main room to find Hunter sitting on the couch.

“Hunter,” you start.

“Let me guess. You’re bored?”

“Yeah,” you sigh.

 

Hunter chuckles and waves you off.

“Go take a walk or something. Clear your head. Do something.”

“Gee, thanks for the concern ‘brother’,” you smirk.

“Hey, I am a great brother. I’m just a bad baby sitter.”

“I’m a baby now?” You ask.

“You said it, not me.”

 

You shake your head with a smile on your face. You leave the room and proceed down the hall and to the elevator. You click the button to head down to the lobby. The classic elevator music starts playing, which makes you smile. It’s just a topic that has so many jokes about it that you can’t help but muster up a smile. 

 

It takes about a minute to reach the ground floor. You exit the elevator and look around the lobby.

“Wow… It’s even more boring than before,” you say under your breath.

With nothing to do in the lobby you decide to take the stairs back up to your suite. Every floor you get to you walk through the hall.

 

Eventually you walk down a hall that has a loud sound coming from it. This peaks your interest, so you decide to pursue the noise. As you get closer it becomes evident that the loud sound is actually music. You turn the corner and find a few teenagers walking towards a room. You recognize them. They’re the same teens from the lobby earlier.

 

The single girl glances back at you. She stares at you for a moment before waving. You give a weak wave back which makes her giggle. She gestures for you to come closer. Her other friends have already entered the room where the music is coming from. You walk up to her and throw your hands in your pockets and smile.

 

“Hi! You’re the same guy from the lobby. I’d totally remember a cute face like yours.”

The girl has shorter hair. It was above her neck, but it seemed to suit her. Her hair is brown with small hints of red. She has a younger looking face, but she did look good. She looks like one of those popular girls you that walk around all the time. One of those ones who knows she’s attractive.

 

“Oh, well thanks. But I am that guy from the lobby. I remember you were with your couple friends,” you recall.

“Yeah, that was me. That was my brother and his friends. They weren’t really my friends,” she admits.

“Well, I’m sure you have your friends too. I don’t want to keep you from them…”

“That’s not true. I’m sure they could go without me for a minute. Hey! Why don’t you come party with us?”

 

You raise your brow.

“Party? What’s the party for?”

“Nothing in particular. Just a random hotel party! Come on! It’ll be fun!” She whines.

You roll your eyes and cock a smirk.

“Alright, fine. I’ll join your party.”

She giggles at your response. She grabs your hand and leads you to the party. The weird thing was, she didn’t let go of your hand.

 

She brings you into the room. There are flashing lights, loud music, stupid teenagers, and lots of booze. Then again, you’re a teenager still so there isn’t much room to judge the other ones. You aren’t at all surprised by the booze. What kind of teen party doesn’t have booze nowadays? It’s so common.

 

The music basically takes over your ears. You can see that the girl is trying to talk, but you can barely hear her. You focus for a moment to try and hear her.

“So, what’s your name?” She yells.

“(Y/N)! What’s yours?”

“Allison! Allison West! My brother is the one who rented this hotel!”

“How many people are here?” You ask.

“I dunno. I think around 40. We all just graduated high school!”

 

“Oh really? I graduated last year,” you reveal.

“Oh cool! So that makes you, like, a senior.”

“Yeah… yeah I guess.”

 

Allison walks over to the bar area and grabs drinks for herself and you. She reaches out to give you the drink. You pause for a moment. You aren’t sure whether you should actually drink right now or not. The small pause makes Allison raise her brow.

“Are you okay?”

You slightly shake your head and return to the real world.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine,” you assure, taking the drink. “Just started thinking.”

“My brother does that too. I should introduce you to him!”

 

Allison grabs your hand and drags you through the party. You bump into a few people because of Allison, but nobody seems to care. Allison brings you in front of three men. They look at you and Allison.

“Found a new boyfriend?” One asks.

 

He has brown hair that has a certain look to it. If you remember, it’s called “flow”. His brown hair is slicked back some but is also very thick and fluffy. He has a stubble, but it’s not enough to completely take over his face. The face itself looks rugged. Even at a young age, he seems hardened. You would definitely be placed under the same category.

 

The other two had black hair. One had a buzz cut while another had longer hair. He almost looked emo. They chuckle at the man’s remark.

“No idiot. Don’t you recognize him?”

The man looks at you for a moment before visually showing that he remembers.

“You were the same guy from the lobby. I remember,” he says, putting his hand out. “My name is Alex. I assume you already know my sister Allison?”

 

You smile and shake his hand.

“Yeah, I know her. She’s quite the girl.”

“Hey!” Allison cries.

“I meant it in a good way!” You defend.

 

The three men starts chuckling. They spread out a bit to allow you and Allison to join their conversation.

“So, I didn’t catch your name,” Alex points out.

“Oh, it’s (Y/N),” you answer, taking a drink.

“That’s a cool name. Do you live here? I haven’t seen you around before,” Alex asks.

“Nah. I live in Arendelle. I came out here with my brother to do some random stuff. Like a road trip,” you lie.

“A little brotherly bonding, huh? Me and my sis are doing the same thing. Well, I try anyway.”

 

You see Allison’s face change. Alex and his friends laugh. You finish your drink and look over at Allison.

“Hey Allison, where are the drinks?”

“You’re done already?” She giggles, “Just follow me.”

Allison leads you over to the bar and gets you another drink. You grab the drink and toast with Allison.

“To getting out of school,” she says.

 

You both down your drinks and grab another one. Allison introduces you to everyone at the party. They’re all really great people. All young and full of ideas and dreams. It’s like how you used to be. Now you’re some kid trying to stop a worldwide organization from doing something bad. Truth be told you aren’t sure what they even want to do. You’re kind of taking Hunter’s word on it. When you think about it, this isn’t such a bad goal to be pursuing after high school.

 

You find that all these people have some sort of dream to achieve, and they have their families backing them. You find it odd how such a topic comes up, but it doesn’t bother you. You are somewhat intoxicated at this point.

 

Even though you are slightly drunk, you hear something that raises your awareness.

“Yeah, thanks for coming Hans,” a voice says.

You turn around to find the source of the voice. You move through the crowd and closer to the door. The door is open and a person is leaving. The man turns around and locks eyes with you for a moment. There is no doubt in your mind. That is Hans. However, his face isn’t burned anymore. It’s normal. It’s how it used to be in school.

 

He smirks and winks at you in a cocky manner. He exits the room and closes the door behind him. You clench your teeth and rush out the door. Alex notices this and starts to follow you. You get out of the room and look around. There is no sign of Hans anywhere. You grab your head and shake it a little bit.

“It couldn’t be him. No way. I burned his face – I marked him as a punishment. There’s no way that was him,” you say, trying to convince yourself.

 

Alex walks up behind you. He is stumbling a little bit, but not as much as some other people at the party. He gets right behind you and puts his hand on your shoulder. You instinctively grab his hand and spin around, which causes him to spin around. You realize who you’re doing this to and quickly stop.

“Oh… Alex, man, I didn’t know it was you,” you apologize, letting his arm go.

“It’s fine. Jeez, you got quite the technique, don’t you?” He chuckles, holding his wrist.

“Yeah…”

 

Alex notices your uneasiness and throws a beer at you. You catch it and look at him with confusion.

“You look tense. You really have to chill some. It’s a party, and people are actually growing fond of you. Don’t freak out now.”

“I’m not freaking out. I just thought I saw someone,” you turn back towards the hall. You wait a moment before looking at Alex and smiling, “It was probably nothing. Let’s get back in there.”

Alex smiles, “Now there’s an idea I can drink to!”

 

You tap beers, take a drink, and head back inside. Allison walks up to the two of you to talk, however Alex is dragged away by his friends.

“Why does he always leave us?” She whines.

“It’s fine. You can’t be everywhere and with everyone.”

 

Your mind quickly shoots to your friends. Allison catches the change in your face.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Just thinking about my friends.”

“Why? Are they in trouble?”

“No… I’m the one in trouble. I messed up, and now they’re mad at me,” you vaguely explain.

“Well… *hic*… what happened?”

 

Normally you wouldn’t tell a random stranger, but the drinks have gotten to you. There wasn’t a reason not to tell her right now.

“Well… long story short I slept with my girlfriend’s sister. Her sister was the girlfriend of my best friend. You can see why everyone would be mad at me. The thing is… I don’t know why I did it. The circumstances were so strange… I didn’t think it was her. I hurt all of them, so I left. It’s part of the reason why I’m here.”

 

Allison nods her head and leans on your shoulder.

“Well, I think you’re a great guy (Y/N). So does everyone else here. I’m sure that if you didn’t mean to do it, then something must’ve happened. You seem too nice to do that.”

“Heh, yeah I guess. I don’t feel all that nice at times, but a little happiness never hurt anyone, right?”

“Right," she agrees.

 

You both down your drinks and grab another one. You enter a crowd of people and start talking to people. There is talking, dancing, and playing. A wide variety of games are present – ranging from beer pong to Just Dance 4. The wide variety of activities and games just fill the night with entertainment. You needed this. You needed a release from all the tension that happened with your friends. As long as you did nothing stupid, you were golden.

 

Then again, it’s you.

 


	25. Do you Consider yourself a Hero?

Chapter 25: Do You Consider Yourself A Hero?

 

Your eyes slowly open. You blink a few times before finally coming to. You slowly lift yourself up and rub your head. Thankfully there is no headache, which is surprising since you drank so much last night. You drank so much that you don’t even know where you are. Where are you? You look around to find yourself in a familiar bedroom. It’s the same one that you complained about being bored in.

 

You get out of bed and look around.

_How did I get here? I don’t remember coming back to the room._

You walk out of the room only to be met by a surprise. Hunter has two pans and is smashing them together. You stare at him for a moment, only showing slight disorientation. Even If it doesn’t have the same effect it would have if you were hung over, it’s still odd to have pans banging against each other.

 

Hunter can see you aren’t fazed by it and stops. He has a sad look on his face.

“You… you aren’t hung over, are you?”

“No… no, not really,” you say in victory.

“Well there goes my plan!” Hunter yells, spinning around and tossing the pans on the couch.

“Sorry to disappoint,” you snicker.

“I doubt you’re truly disappointed.”

“Yeah… I’m really not.”

 

Hunter turns to face you then chuckles.

“Sheesh, be sympathetic for your poor brother.”

“Oh please. You don’t need any sympathy.”

Hunter shrugs and goes to the couch. He sits on the couch and puts his feet on the coffee table. He grabs the remote and starts to flip through channels. You stare at him for a moment, expecting him to say what you’re going to do.

 

Hunter ignores you and continues to flip through the channels.

“Hunter!” You snap.

“What?” Hunter says with exaggeration.

“What are we going to do? You brought me out here to find something. We should go do what we have to do.”

“Calm down, (Y/N). We’ll get there. You were good last night,” Hunter complains.

 

“Wait… How did you even find me last night?” You ask, brow raised.

“The party was so loud I could have found you from 10 blocks away. But I honestly just walked in and found you talking with a bunch of people. You voluntarily followed me back to the room and passed out in front of the door. I tossed you in bed. Congrats, you know what happened.”

 

“Well… thanks. So are we going to go get the bad guys?”

“The bad guys? You seriously just called them that?” Hunter remarks.

“You know what,” you pause. “Shut up.”

Hunter laughs and gets up. He walks to the door and turns his head to face you.

“Stay here, alright. I’m gonna go check some things out. I’ll be back in a few hours.”

 

Before you can respond Hunter leaves the room. You stare at the door for a while before finally moving. You walk to the nearby fridge.

_There are fridges in these places? I really need to learn more about hotels, sheesh._

You grab a bottle of water and start drinking it. You walk around the room a couple times before you finish the bottle. You have no idea what to do. You check your pockets and realize you have your cell phone.

 

_Christ, I am bad at keeping track of this thing. I should keep it in the watch._

You unlock it and go through your contacts. You have a few numbers from school, but none that you actually want to call. You flip down to Elsa’s number and stare at it for a moment. You have a picture for her contact. She is giving you an extremely shy, but extremely cute, smile. You crack a smile as you look at the picture.

 

You debate whether or not to call her. Even though she is mad, you still want to hear her voice again. It feels like years since you last heard her laugh, even though it was a couple days ago. You click the call button.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Elsa is just waking up from last night. She feels so much lighter now. She doesn’t have weight of anger anchoring her down. She happily lifts herself up and stretches. She gets on her feet and makes her way to Anna’s room. Elsa lightly knocks on the door and opens it slightly. She sees Anna and Kristoff cuddling together. Elsa smiles and quietly shuts the door.

 

Elsa’s mind wonders to a possibility. She walks over to your room and softly opens the door. She looks around for any signs of you. Sadly, there are none. The room is perfectly clean. Untouched. Elsa frowns and leaves the room. She starts to fear for your safety. She knows you are fully capable of taking care of yourself, but she can’t help but worry. She loves you. It’s a condition.

 

Elsa walks back to her room and grabs her phone. She checks it for any messages or calls. There are none. Elsa brings her phone to the bathroom and puts it on the counter. She makes sure she has all her towels, then readies the shower. Elsa takes off her clothes and hops in the shower.

 

As soon as she does this her phone starts to go off. It is on vibrate, so Elsa doesn’t notice it. A picture of her and you is sitting on her phone as it rings. The phone goes off for a little bit before the call ends.

 

Elsa finishes her shower. She gets out and grabs her towel. She dries herself off and covers up. She opens the door to the hallway and checks if anyone is there. There is nobody, so Elsa safely makes it to her room. Elsa puts on one of her suits for the day. She has some business at W.A. Industries she needs to take care of. She really wants to wait for you at home, but she made a commitment to this job. She has to do it no matter what.

 

Elsa gets in a blue suit and white dress shirt. She takes some time to fix up her hair and put on some make-up. After making sure she is ready for the day, she leaves her room. As she exits she bumps into Anna.

 

“Oh, Elsa. You look ready for the day… already... How do you get up and ready so fast? It would take me at least 2 hours to look as gorgeous as you,” Anna compliments.

“Oh, well thank you. But that really isn’t necessary.”

“A compliment isn’t necessary? How long have you known me Elsa? You know I’m full of unnecessary!” Anna retorts.

Elsa giggles. “I suppose, yes.”

 

Elsa and Anna walk downstairs and to the kitchen.

“So where is Kristoff?” Elsa asks, taking a sip of tea.

“He’s sleeping in my room. I forgot that he likes to sleep in,” Anna chuckles.

“Yeah, (Y/N) is like that,” Elsa softly says.

Anna can see Elsa’s mood change after that sentence.

 

“He’s not back yet, is he?” Anna asks.

Elsa shakes her head. Anna moves to her sister and gives her a hug.

“He’ll be back soon, Elsa. He loves us all. We can explain what happened when he gets back,” Anna comforts.

Elsa smiles at her sister’s words. Anna releases Elsa, allowing her to leave.

 

“I’ll be home tonight. Try not to have too much fun with Kristoff, huh?” Elsa winks.

“Shut up!” Anna blushes.

Elsa laughs as she leaves the house. She gets in her car and drives out of the parking lot. She starts driving towards W.A. Industries.

 

Her mind keeps wandering back to you. She can’t get you off of her mind. Your location. Your condition. She hates herself for doing this to you. She knows you would tell her that it wasn’t her fault, but she still feels guilty. It was her fault, and nothing can change that. She realizes she’s thought about this so much, but she can’t help it.

 

She pulls into the parking lot of W.A. Industries and makes her way to the front. The secretary greets Elsa and allows her to pass. Elsa takes the elevator to her floor and exits. She sees everyone hard at work. She likes being in this kind of environment. She enters her office and takes a seat. She reaches into her pocket to check her phone but is cut off by a knock on the door.

 

“Ms. Anderson?” Alec queries.

“Oh, Alec. Come in,” Elsa offers.

“Actually I’m here to get you. There is a meeting and I assumed you want to participate.”

Elsa quickly gets out of her seat and makes her way towards Alec.

“Of course. Lead the way.”

 

Alec and Elsa make their way to the meeting room.

“Now, just keep in mind that my brothers… well they aren’t pleased that you took over the company. They expected one of us to take that role. I’m just warning you.”

“I can handle myself, Alec,” Elsa reassures.

 

The two enter a room with a large, glass, round table. There are 10 other men sitting at the table. They are all in black suits, and all have their hair slicked back. They look similar, but have distinct features. There is no doubt that there is a certain “Westergaard face”. They all look like Hans. This almost makes Elsa’s stomach churn. Elsa and Alec take a seat and the meeting begins.

 

“So, what is there to report?” Elsa asks.

“Nothing is going wrong. All projects are going according to plan. If anything, we are exceeding expectations,” one man reports.

“And what exactly are the projects that are going so well?” Elsa questions.

 

“Well, one of our more successful projects is our holowatch. A watch that has the capacity to hold objects, clothe an individual, link with phones, and more,” Alec explains.

“That seems like an excellent product. When will that be finished and distributed?” Elsa asks.

“A few more months. We just have to get everything perfect, so there are no accidents.”

Elsa nods in approval. “Anything else?”

 

And in her pocket sat her phone. The notification hidden under a black screen. One missed call.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

The phone keeps ringing until it hits the answering machine. You hang up and stare at your phone.

 

_She doesn’t want to talk to me. She’s still mad… Man did I mess up._

You close your eyes and exhale. You regret calling her. You never should have. You throw your phone in your watch and try to get your mind off of what just happened.

 

You leave the room and walk to the elevator. Some fresh air is all you need, you’re sure of it. You activate the elevator and lean against the walls. You stare at your feet, thinking.

“Shadow? You awake yet?” You speak aloud.

There is no response. He is still knocked out.

“Man,” you shake your head. “How did he get beaten that badly? It just doesn’t seem possible.”

 

The elevator suddenly stops and lets out a ding. The door opens to reveal a familiar face. Allison’s face lights up when she sees you in the elevator.

“Hey (Y/N)!” She happily greets.

You smile. “Hi Allison. How’re you doing?”

Allison walks into the elevator and stands beside you. The doors close behind her.

“I’m good. Better than most people. Everyone is feeling really sick. Are you?”

 

“Nah, I’m perfectly fine. I rarely get hangovers,” you say.

“That’s weird. You’re the only one who isn’t feeling a little sick. I’ll even admit that I’m not one hundred percent right now.”

“Well, it doesn’t show,” you smile.

Allison blushes. You realize that you technically flirted with her and mentally kick yourself.

“S-so even your brother is sick?” You ask, trying to change the topic.

“Yeah, he’s sick too. I’m getting some ice from the corner store. Do you want to come with me?” Allison requests.

 

You look at her for a second and smirk.

“Sure, why not. I wanted some fresh air anyway.”

Allison blushes some more and looks away, smiling. You raise a brow to her actions.

“You okay?”

“Hm? Yeah, I’m fine,” she reassures.

“Alrighty.”

 

The elevator lets you both off on the ground floor. You exit the hotel and start walking down the street. As you walk you fall into yourself once again. Your mind continues to wonder and explore different possibilities. Allison notices.

 

“Are you thinking again?” She asks.

You snap out of your little trance.

“What?”

She starts laughing. “Yeah, you were.”

You give her a fake smile before going back to what you were thinking. Allison quickly cuts you off.

“So you said you were from Arendelle, right? How is that?”

 

“It’s cool, I guess. I could probably blame that place for the person I am today. That city has changed me a lot,” you digress.

“The city, or the people?”

You snicker. “The people. Definitely the people.”

Allison nods in acknowledgement. She walks beside you, trying to think of something to say.

 

“Hey Allison, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Was there a man named Hans at the party?” You query.

“Hans? Hm… I’m not sure. My brother would probably know. Why?”

“Nothing. Just thought I saw someone I knew,” you huff.

“Like, a friend?”

“Yeah,” you pause. “Like a friend.”

 

Allison gives you a strange look then starts giggling. You turn to her with a questioning look on your face.

“What?”

“Nothing. You’re just a funny guy,” she laughs.

“Am I?” You ask in surprise.

“Yeah, you are. You were really funny last night, and now you have this funny charm about you. It’s great.”

 

You smile and look ahead. The corner store is just ahead. You both walk in and a bell dings. A man looks up from his newspaper and stares at the two of you.

“Ah, a couple. Haven’t seen those before,” he sarcastically remarks.

 

_Why is it that every time I am with a girl people think we are dating? Jesus._

 

“A couple? No, not us,” Allison quickly corrects.

“Wow, thanks,” you joke.

Allison gets flustered.

“What? No, I didn’t mean it like that! It’s just that we’re not and I didn’t want you to be uncomfortable,” Allison spews.

You laugh at her state of weakness. She pouts, then walks over to the ice. She grabs two bags and brings them to the cashier.

 

“$4.93,” he says.

You pull out your wallet and quickly toss a five dollar bill onto the counter. You grab the ice and start walking out of the store.

“Come on Allison. We don’t want the ice to melt,” you beckon.

Allison stands there dumbstruck for a moment before catching up with you. You didn’t stop to wait for her, and are a short distance away from the store.

 

Allison catches up to you.

“What was that?”

“I paid for your ice,” you respond.

“I noticed that, thank you. Why?”

“Why not? Random acts of kindness are nice.”

“And random,” she retorts.

“What can I say? I’m a good guy,” you snicker.

 

Allison chuckles with you. The two of you walk back to the hotel. You have to flash your little key chain to get back in. You and Allison ride the elevator to her floor and get off. You have small talk the entire way there. You both enter the room and what a sight it is. There are people passed out all over the place. You can’t help but chuckle at the sight.

 

“Everyone seems to have fallen asleep. Well… I guess the ice is useless right now. Sorry about that (Y/N).”

“Not a problem, really,” you say.

You turn around and leave the room. Allison quickly follows you out of the room. She rushes in front of you and puts her hands behind her back.

“So, are you going to come back? Going to talk to us again?”

 

This brings some surprise to you.

“Yes, of course. You guys were really fun to hang out with. I really hope your futures turn out the way you want them to. People need that hope,” you smile.

“What about you? Are you doing what you want to do?”

You pause for a second.

“I don’t know. I really don’t.”

“Oh, there it is! You’re thinking again!”

 

You shake your head slightly and smile.

“Yeah, I tend to do that.”

 

The small tension starts to rise between you two. You can both feel it. The door to her hotel opens and someone walks out. He lets out a yawn and rubs his eyes.

“Alex! You’re awake!” Allison comments.

Alex loses his balance a little and stumbles back.

“Geez, sis. I just woke up from my drunken stupor. Give me some time before you yell in my ear.”

“Well, I was drunk too! You don’t see me whining,” Allison declares with sass.

 

“That’s because I drink real drinks while you have your girly stuff.”

“What did you just say?”

You start chuckling and try to break up the sibling scuffle.

“Come now, let’s try not to wake up the other guys and girls,” you mention.

 

“Oh, yeah. Hey (Y/N). Good to see you up and active,” Alex greets.

“I’m always up and active. You should see me play dodgeball,” you joke.

Alex chuckles. “I’m sure you’re the prodigy of dodgeball. You’ll be in the hall of fame.”

“Of course. It’ll be the second thing I’ll be famous for.”

“What’s the first?” Allison asks.

“Oh, music. My friend and I are in a band. The Ice Harvesters.”

 

“Bullshit,” Alex calls out.

“You know us?”

“Yeah, the Ice Harvesters are pretty cool. Lots of cover stuff, right?” Allison agrees.

“Yeah. Wow, I just thought we were a local thing. I’ll have to tell Kristoff…” You end with sadness.

You shake your head and smile at your new friends.

 

Your smile fades a little when you look at the two. They are getting a little pale.

“Are you two okay?” You ask.

“Yeah… I’m… I’m fine,” they both say.

The two begin to fall to the floor. You quickly move between them and put your hands out to catch them. They fall in your arms. You lift them both to their feet and lean them against a wall.

 

“Alex. Allison. Are you two alright? What’s wrong?”

“Maybe, just a bit too much to drink last night,” Alex slowly states. “I’m gonna go take a nap. It was nice seeing you (Y/N). Drop by later today, alright?”

“Of course,” you nod.

 

Alex leans against the wall and goes back to his room. Allison is still in your arms. You look at her with concern.

“What about you Allison? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m better. Thanks.”

 

Allison pushes off the wall and balances herself. You are ready to help her if need be, but she seems fine on her own.

“So, where are you going to go? Doing anything today?” She asks.

“Yeah. I have something I need to go check out,” you say.

 

Allison seems a little disappointed.

“I’ll be back later, maybe. It depends on how it goes.”

“Well, I hope it goes well. I know everyone here would want to see you again.”

“Yeah, I’d like to see them again too,” you nod.

You tap Allison on the shoulder and turn around to leave. Allison grabs you for a moment.

“Wait.”

 

You turn around to face her.

“What is it?”

Allison smiles and leans in on you. She kisses your cheek and backs off. She is blushing immensely. You are without words at her action.

“I wish you luck. You seem like you need it.”

 

Allison runs inside and closes the door. You stand there for a moment, thinking.

 

_She didn’t kiss me on the lips. It’s not cheating. I’m fine. I’m fine. Hell, I don’t think it would make a difference at this point._

 

You walk away from the door, planning your next move. You know Hunter told you to stay put, but you can’t. You just can’t sit in one place and do nothing. You have information that you need to act upon.

 

You walk into the elevator and start it up. While the elevator descends you activate your holowatch. You pull out the documents and read them over. You want to make sure you know where you’re going. You nod and toss the notes back into the watch. There shouldn’t be too much in the way of getting to this temple. It would barely have anyone there, and that means you can explore all you like.

 

The elevator opens and lets you out. You head out from the hotel to the street. It isn’t too long of a walk to get to your intended location. At least, it shouldn’t be.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

The room is dark and misty. The air is so heavy it could drag you down. There is a single source of light within the room. A hologram of a woman, and a short man. The short man is older and has grey hair. He seems to be in a lab coat.

“Are you all settled in, dear?” The man asks.

“Of course, Alistair. Our little friend has been so cooperative with me,” she responds.

“Of-of course. Anything for the M-Monarchs,” the short man responds.

 

“Good, good. I’ll be there in a few days. I’m hoping everything goes smoothly. It seems that everything is going even better than anticipated. We may be able to launch within the month,” Alistair grins.

“All because of you,” Juno compliments.

“Us, dear. Now get a move on. Let’s keep our luck going.”

 

Juno nods and the hologram disappears. Alistair chuckles a bit and throws his hands in his pocket.

“I never would have imagined everything to go so smoothly. Hunter has been an annoyance, but he’s barely halted anything. As for (Y/N)… well, he is a wild card. I’m eager to see what he’ll have in store for me.”

 

Another figure walks in the room and turns on the lights. The lights reveal the man to be Hans. His face is indeed perfect. Fixed. Hans smirks and walks up to Alistair.

“I did what you asked. We’ll get to see if your little toys actually do their job,” Hans reports.

“Very good Hans. And what about the sword?”

“(Y/N) is on his way there. I am to test out our little toy on him,” Hans confirms.

“Perfect. We’ll see how he fairs against this. I really want to watch. I’ll follow your lead,” Alistair states.

 

“You-you’re coming? Why?”

“Are you questioning me?” Alistair asks with a raised brow.

“No. I just don’t understand. What would you gain by watching this?”

“It’s not what I would gain, per se. I just want him to experience something, and I have to be in a decent range for him to feel it.”

 

Hans raises his brow then shrugs. He pulls out a small device and clicks a few buttons. He smiles mischievously.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You approach a giant forest. You have no idea how deep it goes, but you know the temple is here. You exhale and start walking into the forest. You push some foliage out of the way to clear the path. It is surprisingly clear in the actual forest. You aren’t complaining one bit. You step over a few rocks and make your way down a path. It’s not an actual path, but it seems to have some sort of direction it’s going.

 

You walk down the path for ten minutes before you hear something. Groaning. You look around to find where the groaning is coming from. It sounds close, but it also sounds distant. It doesn’t make sense to you.

“(Y/N)? Are you there?” A voice asks.

 

You recognize the voice instantly.

“Shadow! You’re up! Hold on!”

You lay against a tree and close your eyes. You force yourself to Limbo.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You open your eyes and see the white canvas that is your mind. You look around for signs of Shadow. You see a suited figure getting to their feet, but failing and falling back to the floor. You start running towards it.

“Shadow!”

You get beside him and try to help him up. He surprisingly accepts your aid. That’s out of the ordinary for him.

 

“(Y/N)… what happened to Monarch?”

“We lost. I didn’t fare much better than you did. Hunter and I got destroyed,” you explain.

Shadow has a melancholy look on his face. You get him to his feet and release him. He is having some trouble keeping himself up.

 

“Hold on. I’ll search your mind,” he says, closing his eyes. “You went to a party? Allison, huh? Seems like we’re on our way to the temple.”

“Yeah.”

“And Hunter told us to stay at the hotel. Why the fuck are we here then?”

“Because-“

“Because you’re bored? You idiot. You’re lucky I don’t have the will to explain how stupid you are,” Shadow insults.

“Sheesh, you haven’t missed a beat. You’re right back to insulting me. Who’s the one who picked a fight with Monarch? Huh?” You counter.

 

“I thought we would do better. Nine months of training and we still couldn’t beat him. What was it all for? It was useless. Damn!”

“I know. I have no idea how to beat him. The only thing I can think of is that power I used against Elsa and Anna’s parents. But I still can’t use it,” you huff.

“Wait… What was that?” Shadow exclaims.

“What?”

“Carnage… There was definitely a hint of Carnage in you during your fight with Monarch,” Shadow says.

 

“Yeah, I felt it too. I don’t know what that was. He’s gone, isn’t he?”

“There’s no doubt that he’s dead… but maybe he’s just settling in,” Shadow mumbles.

“What? What do you mean?” You question.

“I always knew that he would never just disappear. He is part of you, and some of his traits will be there.”

“Which means I could go on a rampage like he did?”

“No. I think you can just be more ruthless than you normally are. That would explain the enhanced strength, speed, and the nails thing.”

 

You chuckle at the last part. Shadow smirks and turns his head away from you. He is obviously thinking.

“Look, you should get a move on. I’m going to recover a little more before becoming active. Go see what that temple holds.”

“Right,” you nod.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You open your eyes. You squint in order to adjust to the sunlight. You shake your head and lift yourself to your feet, ready to get moving once again.

“You still there?” You ask aloud.

“Yeah, I’m here,” Shadow responds.

“Good.”

 

You begin walking through the forest once again. Before long you stumble upon a few tents. This interests you. You slowly walk up to the campsite and look around. There are a few empty boxes around, but nothing too much on the outside.

“Hello? Is anyone here?” You call out.

Nobody responds. You walk up to one of the tents and slowly open it up. The tent has nothing special in it. A few sleeping bags and a lantern. You pout and walk to the next tent.

 

You open this one up. A raccoon ferociously jumps out of the tent and at your face. You move just in time for it to miss you. The raccoon quickly runs away. You are breathing a little heavier for a moment, but calm down soon.

“Jesus, that scared me.”

 

You watch the little critter run away before looking back at the tent. There is a cooler with some food in it. It’s likely the reason why the raccoon was in the tent. There is sleeping bag, and a little note pad. You raise your brow at the note pad. You lean into the tent and grab it. It’s a simple note pad, nothing more. About one hundred and sixty pages within it.  You open it up and start flipping through it. There are dates at the top of each page. It’s almost like a journal.

 

It dates back almost one year ago. You read the first page aloud.

 

“I can’t believe it! There is something here. Something under the dirt. We found the top of some sort of building! From the look of it, it seems to be ancient. Very ancient. Who knows what it could be, or what treasures it could hold! I need more manpower though, it’s only ten of us here. That’s not nearly enough to dig this up quickly. I hope someone will fund us, or help us do this. It could take years if not, and I don’t know if the others will go along with that.”

 

You flip through the pages, scanning each one to find something worth wile. Most of the early pages talk about the lack of support these people received. They went a total of seven months without anyone supporting them. One page catches your eye. It’s dated 2 months ago.

 

“Finally! After months of nothing, someone has put money into us. The weird part is, they aren’t telling us who they are. They call themselves our ‘benefactor’. They’re going to provide all the resources we need! This is great! My friends are finally happy! We’re going to discover what this place is! From what I’ve found, it used to be some sort of temple. There is more than one building too. It could have been some sort of religious temple or something. We’ll have to see when everything is dug up,” you read.

 

You lower the journal but keep it in your hand. You walk around the campsite for a moment before flipping through the journal once more. You pass the last entry and enter blank pages. You stop and flip back to the last entry. You start reading the entry while walking towards a clearing.

 

_This entry was made a week ago. Huh… Wait a second!_

You pull out the notes that Shadow grabbed at the last place. You look at the notes about the Dragon’s Tear. The notes and the journal entry were both made on the same day. You keep this in mind as you read the last page.

“My mysterious ‘benefactor’ came by today. He has a wife, and they scare me. I still don’t know their names, but they are referred to as ‘The Monarchs'. They have this really strange feel to them. It’s like despair is dripping off of them. I don’t know why they have an interest in this temple, though. I don’t like what they are doing. They won’t let us enter the temple after we fully uncovered it. When I asked them about it, they said they got what they wanted from the temple. The rest is ours! We’re going to scavenge some more, and get what we can.”

 

You lower the book from your view and toss it aside.

“So, I suppose these people are still at the temple. Maybe I can ask them a few questions,” you plan.

You trek your way through the forest and walk into the nearby clearing. You finally exit the forest and approach the edge of a small cliff. You look out at what has been unearthed. A large temple grounds stands tall. There are three buildings inside of a giant wall. The wall has deteriorated and is mostly destroyed. Two of the three buildings have some decay as well, but are still somewhat intact. The largest building is still intact and strong.

 

There are a few tents and some equipment scattered through the courtyard. You know that the excavators must be somewhere down there. You look down the steep hill and judge the distance. You nod and step back a little. You run forward and jump of the hill. You land on the ground and start sliding down the hill. Your feet start to overlap each other but you are able to regain control and get down the hill.

 

You reach the bottom, and your momentum stops. You regain your bearings and let out a smile. You look around to get an idea of your surroundings. You nod and make your way to the biggest temple. You pass by a few broken pieces of wall and such while walking to the entrance. You slide the door open and walk in. There are a few electronic lanterns and such spread around for light. There are large amounts of dust spread around the floor. Every step makes dust fly up

 

There are some decaying walls and wood chips lying around. A few small end tables are present as well. There seem to be some banners, but they are much too old to determine the original picture. It really is old, but in surprising condition. The journal was right.

 

“Hello?” You call out. “Anyone there?”

No response.

“I swear, if there is some monster then this is the worst cliché,” you complain.

You grab one of the lanterns and start walking through the rooms. You step over a fallen down door and into the next room. You notice something in the corner of your eye. You can’t tell what it is, as it’s clouded by darkness.

 

You walk over to it and kneel down. It’s a corpse. It’s not fresh, but not old. No more than a week, you’d say.

_That’s weird. There was no mention of a death in the journal._

You inspect the body to check for any signs of what killed him. You delicately lift up sleeves, move his head, and otherwise check for a cause of death. From what you can tell, there is no direct sign of what killed him. No puncture wounds, no bleeding. Nothing. You raise your eye in suspicion.

 

You stand up from the body and continue through the temple. There was nothing you could do for him anyway. You go through the next door and observe. There are a few weapon racks, you think. You honestly can’t tell by how old everything is. The wind blows through the room and gives you the chills. You shake a little bit, but keep going. You find another door that seems to lead to a basement.

 

“Grand Master,” a voice whispers.

You turn around and raise the lantern. Nothing is there.

“Grand Master,” a voice says a little louder.

You look around to try and find the source, but there is nothing. This is really making you question what’s left of your sanity.

 

You start to see slight apparitions of people, running around. They look like they have a purpose.

“Ghosts? What can I do against a ghost?” You question.

Two become much more distinct than the others. They are walking towards you and talking to each other.

 

“Grand Master, we’re under attack. They’re here for the artifacts,” the man on the left states.

“Then we beat them back. Tell everyone to hold their ground while I get all the children to safety,” the other commands.

“Yes, Grand Master.”

 

The apparitions pass right through you then disappear.

“What… what the fuck was that? Seriously,” you question. “You saw that too, right Shadow?”

“Yes. I did. Don’t ask me how though, I have no idea.”

You slap yourself and shake your head.

“It’s probably just my imagination. I hope it’s just that.”

 

You try to forget what you just saw and continue to walk to the basement. You walk down the steps. Each one lets out a loud noise. The same noise old stairs always like to make.

“Check the hallways! Secure all the exits!” A voice whispers.

You tighten your face and attempt to ignore that voice. You finally reach the bottom of the stairs. It is a long corridor that leads to a giant door.

 

You traverse through the hallway until you reach the door. There are a few more bodies sitting near the door. They look the exact same as the one you saw earlier. They all have no indication of what killed them. You sigh at the loss of life, but press on.

 

You walk up to the door and study it. It has an infinite amount of markings all throughout the stone. It’s like a giant rat’s maze you did as a child. You try to find a way to open it, but there is nothing. You start feeling the door to find any openings or secret spots. Once again, nothing.

 

“The door is impenetrable. There is no way anyone is getting the artifacts of our clan,” a voice whispers.

“If only we had more time”

“Time.”

“Time.”

“Time.”

 

You spin around, expecting to see some ghost face. You’re wrong though, there is nothing.

“Seriously, I would rather see something. There is too much nothing!” You moan.

You look over to the door one more time.

“Damnit!” You yell, punching the door.

The indents on the door effect your knuckles, and causes you to bleed. The blood drips down the wall and in to the little cracks.

 

You pull your hand back and shake it twice.

“I didn’t come here to end up with nothing. There’s got to be a way through the do-“

Before you finish you hear the door start to move. It slowly lowers itself, letting out dust and debris. You turn around to face the opening door.

“How the…”

You decide not to question it, as it’s doing you a favour. After the door finishes lowering you enter the room.

 

It still has some light, somehow. It is a very large open room with statues of people all around it. The statues aren’t extremely detailed, so you wouldn’t be able to tell who it is even if it wasn’t dusty and eroded. There is one chandelier hanging from the middle of the room. The candles are still lit. There is also some mannequins scattered all over the place. A few of them have very old armours on them. They all have some sort of dragon mark.

 

You notice that there is one sword in the middle of the room. It’s a katana. You make your way towards its pedestal. It is just a blade with no sheathe. You examine it. It has a black grip but red material covering it. There is a gold plate separating the hilt from the blade. The blade itself is a beautiful steel. To no surprise, it has a dragon slithering through the blade. You reach out and grab it. You hold it on the pedestal for a moment before pulling it off.

 

You wait for a moment and dart your eyes all over the room. You expect something to come and kill you for taking it. You wait for a moment before relaxing your body. You look at the sword a little more closely. You are amazed that it is in such good condition. Its state is a stark juxtaposition to the rest of the temple.

 

You give it a few lazy swings, just to test the weight of the sword. You smile. It feels great. Natural. It’s like the sword has been waiting for you. You get into an actual stance and start doing some practice swings. You slice with one hand before spinning around and grasping it with your other hand. You slice upwards then bring it down in front of you.

“Oooh, man. This is awesome. I wish it had a… wait a second.”

You open up your holowatch and flip through the contents. You find the sheath that you deemed useless before. You grab the sheath and bring it into reality. You look at the sword, then the sheath. You take the sword and attempt to sheath it.

 

The sword fits perfectly within the black sheath. You smile in amazement.

“So… was I supposed to come here and get the sword then? I know this is awesome, but this is also really suspicious. Well, I can deal with whatever they throw at me.

 

You place sword into the holowatch. A little options menu pops up before you. It is displaying options of how you would like the sword to be on your body. There is one picture with it in your side. One on your entire back. One hanging sideways off the bottom of your back. Those are the only options. You shrug and pick the option of it being on your back. The sword appears on your back, sticking to your clothing.

 

You look back at it and smirk. You click the holowatch and the sword disappears. You click it again and the sword reappears on your back. You smile once more.

“So I did get this cool sword… but I still have no idea what a Dragon’s Tear is or where I can find it,” you say to yourself.

You leave the sword on your back and start walking around, looking for any clues to what the Dragon’s Tear is.

 

You walk up to a few more places but nothing indicates what the Dragon’s Tear could be. You stand still for a moment and start thinking.

_It has to be somewhere. I know it’s here, the pages said… Oh christ, I’m an idiot. The journal said that the Monarchs were here, and there are notes about the Tear at that lab. The Monarchs already took the damn thing. This whole trip was pointless. I’m such an idiot._

You angrily walk out of the room and head for the surface. You remember how to exit the building, so it doesn’t take too long. You are greeted by one more apparition before you exit the building. Your head starts pounding. It’s like it’s going to rip itself apart right then and there. You grab your head and fall to one knee. This makes dust shoot out from under you.

 

You look up at the apparition.

“We fight to the end.”

“We fight to the end,” younger voices repeat.

“Until our dying breath.”

“Until our dying breath.”

 

Fire start forming all around the apparition and yourself. You tighten the grip on your head and look around at the flames. You try and look for a way out but there isn’t one.

“And upon our dying breath.”

“And upon our dying breath.”

 

The fire gets closer and closer. It start warming you up. You can feel sweat start to appear. You use everything in you to stand up and look around. The pain in your head masks the pain of the heat. You look at the apparition as it finishes its chant.

 

“We will be born again. Everlasting.”

“We will be born again. Everlasting.”

 

The fire makes its way to you. It swirls through the ground and reaches your leg. You sweep your leg away but this hurts your head even more. You fall to your knee, and the fire attempts to take its victim. It swirls in around you and tries to capture you inside of it. Making you one with the flame.

 

“It is not your time,” a groggy voice calls out.

The fire parts and allows someone to walk closer to you. By the look in their eye, they don’t notice you. They are wearing a grey coat that end close to their feet. There is a small split at the rear end of the coat, allowing for more movement. The coat is lightly detailed, but it is an apparition, so details are lost. There is obviously some clothes under this coat, but you can’t make them out.

 

You stand up and face the apparition. You look to his side and see something familiar. A sword is attached to his left hip. His face is blank. There is no face, but his hair seems to resemble yours. He passes through and stops right behind you. You don’t know what to do, so you stand still. You and the apparition stand the exact same way for a moment. At the same time he and the fire disappear. You didn’t notice his face though. For a moment his face was revealed, but you did not see it.

 

With the fire gone and your head returning to normal you start to question your mental state. Something is wrong, and you need to find out what it is.

 

_Who would even know how to deal with my mental…? Wait! Pabbie! He was able to find Shadow and Carnage just by touching my head, no doubt he’ll be able to tell me what’s going on. At least with my head, anyway._

You give yourself a moment to recover before exiting the building. The natural light blinds you for a moment. You put your hand up to block it, and notice something. Two people are standing in the same plane you are. You lower your hand and allow your eyes to adjust. You squint a little bit to see who it is. When you see their face you chuckle a little bit.

 

You start walking towards the two men, and they begin walking towards you.

“Hans! You’re face doesn’t look like shit anymore!” You point out.

“No thanks to you,” he replies.

“Do I not get a greeting? You think you’d respect me a little more,” Alistair asks.

“Yeah, I really respect you. Definitely.”

 

Alistair notices the sword on your back.

“Ah, I see you got the sword. Very nice, you made it past the lock. Ancient stuff you know. It’s a better security system then we have in the modern times.”

_What is he talking about? All I had to do was punch it._

 

The three of you stop a few feet away from each other.

“So I’m assuming you have the Dragon’s Tear?” You ask.

“I don’t have it on me. I did acquire it not too long ago.”

“But let’s get on with it, shall we? We know this won’t remain civil for long,” Hans determines.

You raise your arms and shrug.

“Whatever you say Hans. I just hope I get to ruin that pretty face one more time.”

 

Hans chuckles and snaps his fingers. A large amount of soldiers step out from the surrounding area. They are in all back, clothes with body armour on. They have helmets and balaclavas to cover their face. They all take out batons and surround you. You take a few steps to see them all, but you don’t the small circle where you were standing. You smirk as you see the 30 or so soldiers.

 

“How petty. You’re hiding behind these people. Well, they chose to do this,” you say, taking out your sword. “And I really want to test out this new sword.”

Alistair and Hans move back to allow your fight to commence. Three of the 34 rush at you. You smile and prepare for the battle.

_Let’s see how that swordsman training paid off._

You grip your sword and wait for their attack. Two go for your head while one goes for your stomach. You lift your sword to block the upper two, and raise your foot to catch the last one. The sword clashes with the batons, and you are smiling. You push back all the attacks and start your own. In one swift movement you spin around and slice all three of their throats. They hold their throat as blood spews out of them. The three fall to the ground and bleed out.

 

Hans and Alistair laugh, and you have no idea why.

 

All of the soldiers rush at you now. You decide not to wait for them and run into one section. You jump over them and move your body so your head is parallel to theirs, and your feet are high in the air. You ready your sword and decapitate one person. Their body keeps running for a second before falling to the ground. You land in the middle of a few soldiers, and they are ready. They go for some swings which you dodge easily. They are way too slow for you. You block one attack from your right. You lock the sword behind the baton and force the soldier into his friends. You move your sword to your back to block another attack.

 

You push the baton away and then spin around, slicing through their stomach. You kick him into his buddies then stab one right through the stomach. You run forward with the soldier still on your sword. You impale two other soldiers before stabbing your sword into the ground and letting the bodies fall off. You stand back up and rotate your shoulders. You stare at the other ones and point your sword at them with your dominant hand.

 

You spin it in your hands once before grazing it across the ground and running towards them. You then fall to your knees and slide across the ground. You sever one’s knees from their body. You get up with haste and kick the upper body off of their lower legs. The legs balance for a moment before falling off.

 

“(Y/N)… are you okay?”

You smile at the question as you slash through another ones torso.

“Never better, why?”

“It’s just… I’m feeling Carnage pulsing through the body right now. You need to balance this out.”

You block two more attacks then incise their chests.

“What are you talking about? I’m all me right now.”

“No you’re not! You’re enjoying this way too much!”

 

You spin past an attack and shove your sword right into their neck. You twist it a little before pulling the sword out.

“Because this is fun!”

“You idiot! I know fighting is fun for you, but this isn’t fighting! This is killing! You aren’t a killer.”

You kick one away then flip into the air to dodge another attack. You land a few feet away from the remaining five and listen to what Shadow is saying.

 

“What are you talking about?” You ask.

“Remember when I told you that you and Carnage are now one now? Well, I did say you could be more ruthless. Look what you’re doing now!”

“There is a difference though. Carnage murdered people who didn’t deserve it. He just attacked whoever was closest. I’m fighting people who want to kill me. This isn’t for the sake of killing, Shadow. This is because I have to.”

 

You rush at the remaining five and start twirling your sword in your hands. You jump in the air, twirl your entire body to gain momentum, then cut clean through one of the soldiers. His body falls apart in two separate parts. You continue on by stabbing one of them and bringing the blade out of their side. One tries to attack but you slice their arm off and easily stab them.

 

The three soldiers that remain run at you. Each of them try to hit you and keep running past you. You block each attack and allow them to get by. You drop your sword and put your foot on the hilt. You toss it backwards and right into one of their stomachs. You turn around and kick the stabbed one into his friend. You land on the ground, pull the sword out and push them on the ground. The last one stands firm against you. They try to hit you five times but you easily sway out of the way. You catch the baton and shake your head. You stab the last one in the heart then pull out the blade. They fall to the ground.

 

You breathe heavily for a moment before swinging your blade close to the ground in order to get the blood off the sword. After the blood is removed you place the sword back into the sheathe. You turn to Alistair and Hans.

 

“Well, looks like it’s just you two now.”

“Yes, seems that way,” Hans agrees.

Alistair shakes his head and starts whistling something. He’s too quiet for you to hear what it is.

 

“Can I ask you a simple question?” Hans asks.

“Sure,” you suspiciously agree.

“Why are you fighting us?”

“What?”

“Why. Are. You. Fighting. Us? What is your purpose right now?”

 

“I…”

“Is it because we attacked Elsa once? The people who did that are dead. Is it because you hate me? Is it because you are bored? Why fight us when you have no purpose to?”

“No purpose?” You question.

 

“You can’t even come up with a reason to fight us. Is it because Hunter said we were bad? You’re blindly following his orders because he’s so trust worthy, right? Where is he now, huh? Not here. There is no other reason you are against us. We aren’t even after Elsa right now. You have no reason to fight or kill. You killed these people for no reason. You’ve done all these things for no reason.”

 

“They were part of your twisted group! They’re no better than you are!”

“Really? But does that make them evil? Look them in the eyes – see their face – and tell me they are evil. They’re just men and women.”

You walk over to one of the bodies and kneel beside it.

“Being a simple man or woman doesn’t change what you are. You’re both just men, but you manipulate.”

“We do not manipulate,” Hans starts.

You lift the mask of the soldier and stare into his eyes. Your eyes widen at his face. You know this person. You know their eyes, face, mouth, and nose. You’ve talked to them before.

“We control,” Hans finishes.

 

You shake your head and back away from the body. You back into one and decide to look at that face too. You lift the mask off and recognize that person as well.

“No… no,” you weakly state. “You… you were there.”

 

“Amazing what technology can bring, huh? At least we are honest in what we do. If you’re not with us, we forcibly control you. If we really don’t want you, then you die. We don’t put false causes and hopes like countries do. We don’t tell people a fake reason why they are fighting just so they’ll fight for us. We are blunt. We do what we need to.”

 

You rush over to another body and see the face. Tears are present, but you aren’t crying.

“Alex… No… I didn’t…”

 

Sorrow fills your entire body. Your stomach twists and mangles itself into a knot to compensate. Your brain doesn’t know what to think. It’s swirling with emotions of guilt, agony, sadness. Your whole body is reacting to this, but you still can’t comprehend it.

 

“And sometimes people just don’t want to fight for us. Thankfully nano-bots are very helpful. They make you fight. They control you without resistance. They also make you skilled, and lethal. But how is someone supposed to be deadlier than you?”

 

You stand up slowly and stare at Hans. He has a grand smile on his face. You see another body close to Alex’s. You take off their mask and your horror comes to life. Allison’s lifeless eyes are staring back at you. You drop to your knees and hold the siblings close. Two people who you considered to be your friends… and you cut them down.

 

“All the people from your party… Hans controlled them all,” Shadow states. “(Y/N)… keep level headed right now. Don’t fall into rage or sadness.”

“How can I not Shadow,” you say, still holding Allison. “You were right… I’m no better than Carnage. I killed with… with no thought. I’m a monster.”

“You didn’t know! It’s not your fault!”

 

“How could you… use these people?” You question.

 

“Well, we wouldn’t have had to if it wasn’t for you. Take a step back and see what I’m saying. You decided to fight us for no true reason. You don’t have a cause pushing you forward. You fight because you’re told to. You could have stayed in Arendelle with Elsa and none of this would have happened. But YOU decided to do this. We never would have needed these people if YOU did not pursue us. YOU forced our hand. YOU killed them with YOUR own hands. YOU are the one who took away their futures. Their families will never see their children again because. Of. You. You have to live with consequences (Y/N). You have to learn that you aren’t the ‘hero’ you make yourself out to be. To us, you are just a child who put on a cape and is trying to stop the ‘bad guys’. You have no idea what we even do, what we even plan to do. You don’t know the sacrifices we make to keep everything balanced. It’s pathetic, really. You hate us so much because of what we did to Elsa that you’re willing to condemn everything and everyone. Look at the people you killed right here. Stare into their eyes. They were people who had futures, and you showed them no mercy. Tell me. Do you feel like a hero yet?” Hans chuckles.

 

You hear his words and stare at the bodies. Your person is crumbling under the weight of guilt. You can barely breathe. Your body doesn’t want to go on anymore. You knew these people. You made bonds with them and learned about them. They learned about you. You said you were going to come back to see them, and you did. You did, but you killed them all. Every last one of them. You allowed your ruthlessness to cloud your judgment and you have paid for it.

 

Alistair and Hans stare at you. You are broken and they can see it. Hans smiles in victory. He broke you. He destroyed who you are. Alistair is still whistling as he stares at you. He shrugs and starts walking away.

“Come Hans. Let’s leave him be.”

“What? Let me kill him here and now!” Hans argues.

“No. He is already dead on the inside. Killing him now would prove no satisfaction. You’ve already killed him.”

 

Hans sighs and follows Alistair. A helicopter comes over the trees and drops a ladder for the two. Hans begins to climb up first. Alistair waits and stares at you. You haven’t moved. You haven’t changed. He frowns and shakes his head. He grabs the ladder and starts climbing up.

 

You stare at the dead siblings. You can’t stop looking at them. Everywhere around you is death you caused. Unnecessary death.

 

_I lost everyone. I’ve lost Elsa, Kristoff, and Anna. Now I’ve lost these people too. I’ve lost Kat. I lost my old friends. I’ve lost everyone I ever cared for. I push them away. I kill them. There is no point in my life… I bring nothing but carnage. Sorrow. Death. But…_

The sky becomes dark. Clouds form all around, releasing a mix of snow, rain, and lightning. The grounds starts shaking. Fire begins appearing out of nowhere, colliding with the rain and snow. Roots of trees begin sprouting, then get engulfed in the flames. The world around you is changing.

 

Alistair sees this and looks at you. He knows what’s happening. He releases himself from the ladder and lands on the ground.

“What are you doing?” Hans yells.

“I’m going to have fun. Go on. Get out of here. You’ll all die if you stay.”

 

Hans nods and yells at the helicopter pilot. The helicopter begins to fly away, but is having trouble due to the massive gusts of wind surrounding the area. Alistair smiles and clicks his holowatch. He is transformed into his fighting robes. The same he wore when you fought last.

 

_I still care for these people. I still want to do everything in my power to help them. Allison, Alex, Kyle, Cassie, everyone. I’m sorry I killed you all… Elsa, Kristoff… I’m sorry about what I did to you two. But I swear I’m going to kill all of them! I have nothing to lose! No one to go back to! I have nothing to live for!_

You let out a howling scream at the sky. The elements swirl around you and shoot up into the sky. A beam of colour and power takes up the area around you. The elements create this beam, causing the colour to change between blue, red, green, brown, and yellow. It’s able to be seen for miles. You don’t see it, but your holowatch shows a notification. A call. A call from Elsa.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

A few hours earlier.

 

“No offense Ms. Anderson, but we have more important things to discuss. We can send you a list of our projects if you want to check over them all,” one person offers.

“That sounds fine. So what else would we have to talk about?” Elsa asks.

 

The meeting goes on for an hour. It consisted mostly of possible new projects they could start and how to advertise their upcoming ones. Elsa had to decide which products would be distributed this month, and what they would hold back in the coming months.

 

Even though most people would find this line of work boring, Elsa genuinely enjoys it. She is happy to have a job in such high standing, and is able to build off of what her parents created. Even if they weren’t themselves when she saw them, she felt it was up to her to rebuild the Anderson name.

 

The meeting ends and everyone leaves the room. Everyone except Elsa and Alec. The two await the rest to leave before departing themselves.

“Well, I have some things to take care of. I will make sure the list of our current projects is sent to your office within ten minutes,” Alec says.

Elsa nods and allows Alec to leave. Elsa gets up and heads back to her office. She sits in her chair for a moment and waits for the papers Alec promised.

 

Before they arrive, her desk phone rings. She picks it up.

“Hello?”

“Ms. Anderson? I have an Anna Anderson on the line for you,” the secretary informs.

“Oh, yes. That’s just my sister.”

“Alright, connecting you both.”

 

Elsa hears a small beeping, signaling that Anna is on the other line.

“Anna?” Elsa greets.

“Oh, hey sis! How’s your big day at work going?”

“It’s fine, I suppose. What about you?”

“It’s great! Me and Kristoff have been spending the whole day together. We just checked up on Pabbie and were wondering if we could come see you at work!”

“At my work?” Elsa repeats, “I suppose. Just for a few minutes though.”

“Okie dokie! We’ll be there in a few. See ya sis!”

 

Elsa hangs up the phone and lets out some air. Someone knocks on her door and brings in a massive stack of papers.

“This is the list of what we are producing. It is a long list.”

“Thank you for bringing them to me,” Elsa nods.

The man smiles and leaves the room. Elsa begins looking through the papers. She carefully reads each one to get every detail about it.

 

The first page is about the holowatch. Elsa reads every detail about what it can do and what it’s going to be used for. She nods in agreement of the product and goes to the next one. She finds some interesting products during her search. There are some weird cell phones she’s never seen before. A new super suit idea. One that would enhance a person’s strength, speed, and endurance. Gloves that have nano-bots keeping them eternally warm. They were all interesting, and Elsa wanted to know more.

 

She was especially curious about the nano-bots. If the company has them, they must be using it for more than gloves. Elsa looks up at the clock and realizes an hour and a half has passed. She gets up with the intention to talk to Alec but is cut off by her sister. Anna walks into her office. Kristoff comes in a second after.

 

“Elsa!” Anna shouts. She looks over and sees the massive pile of paper work, “My goodness Elsa, that’s so much work!”

Elsa looks at the pile and smiles.

“Yeah, it may be a little more than I thought it was.”

“You really are a worker, aren’t you?” Kristoff laughs.

 

The three chuckle for a moment before Elsa goes to check her phone. She turns on the screen and sees one notification. Her eyes widen at the words. Anna and Kristoff see this.

“Elsa, what’s wrong?” Anna asks.

“(Y/N)… (Y/N) called me hours ago! I have to call him right now!”

Elsa redials the number. As soon as she clicks it a flash of light shines in the distance. The three look out the window at the giant beam of light coming from kilometers away.

 

Elsa lowers the phone and puts her hand on the window.

“20 bucks says that’s where (Y/N) is,” Kristoff jokes.

Anna elbows Kristoff in the stomach. Elsa ignores everything and just stares at this beam of light. Her hand goes limp, making her phone drop to the floor.

“(Y/N)…”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You continue to scream as the power overwhelms you. The elements fly into your body and fills you with the power. Your eyes go completely white. Your physique increases significantly. The air swirls around you, then shoots out to blow everything around you to smithereens. Alistair puts his hand in front of his face to keep the shrapnel out of his eyes. He lets a smile out as he watches your power explode.

 

You stop yelling and return to a normal position. The beam of elements circle around you, then enter your body. You start glowing with elemental radiance. The various elements continue to be apparent around you. You grab your katana and slowly pull it off your back. Before you even get it out you dash at Alistair. In a second your sword is ready to chop his head off. He ducks under the slice then uppercuts you into the sky. He notices something different about your sword. The steel has changed. It is no longer a grey steel. It is black.

 

You flip through the air for a moment before getting your bearings. You throw your hand forward and shoot a combination of fire and lightning at him. Alistair jumps far to the side to avoid the attack. You use the wind to change your course. You knew he would land around there. As soon as his feet land on the ground, you are right there with him. You go for another cut, which he barely dodges.

 

You are prepared for this and have a fist ready to hit him. He sees it, but knows there’s nothing he can do. You hit him right in the face. It plants into his face for a moment before you extend your arm and send him flying. He bounces off the ground once, then recovers. He materializes a katana of his own in his hand. He knows you are attacking again, and he’s ready. He puts his own katana in a position to block yours. The two swords clash. Your katana slashes right through Alistair’s. He widens his eyes at this fact. He knew what this was, he just wasn’t expecting it.

 

Your katana goes past Alistair, and you do as well. You quickly spin around and throw your fist at him. He catches it, but his arm is pushed back a bit. You both lock eyes. He sees the anger inside you. The desire to kill.

 

You clench your teeth and attempt to stab Alistair. Alistair moves his head out of the way then head-butts you. You barely flinch. The two of you smile at each other before breaking off. You both land eight feet from one another. You put your hand out and summon earth. Five giant walls rise from the ground and move towards Alistair. He runs around, dodging all the walls.

 

The five walls collide together and create one giant wall, separating you and Alistair. Alistair takes a second to breathe. He can hear you doing something on the other side of the wall. In an instant he feels something on his lower chest. He feels something he hasn’t felt in years. He feels pain. He looks down to see a gash on his stomach. Some blood is dripping out of it. He looks at the wall to see the slightest cut through the entire thing.

 

Alistair knows what’s coming. He materializes one more sword. It’s a broadsword. As soon as he grips it you crash through the wall. You bring your sword down upon him. He blocks it with his own. This time, his defense doesn’t crumble. You are slightly above him, and he is obviously below you. Gravity pulls you to the ground. The fight begins.

 

Alistair glides a foot away from you but you jump towards him. You tuck your feet close to your body as you attack from the air. You throw three slashes at him, which he blocks. You land on the ground and prepare your defense. Alistair spins his blade around his body then slashes at you. You block his attack and push him back a little. He doesn’t give up. Once he gets a good footing, he rushes you once more. Your swords are colliding so fast that the rain around you is forming around you. You’re so fast that you’re keeping the rain away.

 

You both push off each other and slide across the ground. The water in that area finally falls to the ground. You and Alistair are breathing a little heavy.

“(Y/N), what the hell happened?” Shadow asks.

“I don’t care anymore Shadow. I’m fighting with no concern for my wellbeing. Nobody is waiting for me, so I can go full out. Push my body to the limit,” you smile.

“The control you have right now… It’s unbelievable. I thought you were letting Carnage back in but… you had this all under control.”

“You underestimate me Shadow. That’s something you shouldn’t do.”

 

You sheathe your sword and get into a fighting stance. You put your dominant goot farther than your other one. You put your hands in a fighting position. You gesture Alistair to come at you. You’re ready. Alistair smiles at the challenge. The sword disappears out of his hands and he gets in his own stance.

 

“You’re the biggest challenge I’ve ever had. I respect you for that (Y/N).”

“I’m honoured.”

The two of you disappear in an instance. A shock wave occurs in the middle of where you both were. Your forearms are struggling to see who is stronger. You throw your other hand and punch Alistair in the face. Alistair recoils a bit, then throws his leg into your ribs. Your feet are planted firmly in the ground, but you still slide across the ground a bit.

 

“Tell me, why aren’t you taunting me with the death of Allison and them?” You question.

Alistair brings his leg back, then spins around and kicks you in the face. You stumble back. Alistair jumps in the air and brings his fist down on your face. You lower to the ground.

“Because I’m not petty like Hans. He didn’t beat you. He manipulated you. Anyone can manipulate. I want to beat you with my fists, feet, and blade. That’s how we’ll know whose better.”

You bring your fist up to his jaw. He tries to hold it down, but you beat him. You grab the collar of his armour piece and smash your forehead against his. You continue the assault by throwing your arms at him. You hit him four times then bring him down on your knee.

 

He doesn’t lay back and let you hit him. After the knee, he throws his fist in your stomach. You back up a bit, then shoot some air at Alistair. He puts his hands up to block it, but he is thrown back. While Alistair flies through the air he starts tossing fire balls at you. You flip to avoid them, but one does get you in the stomach. You fall on to the ground and hold your stomach. The black and white shirt you are wearing has a giant whole in it now. You snarl and rip off the shirt, leaving your upper body completely visible. There are a few burn marks.

 

Alistair looks at you and smiles. You smile back. The two of you rush at each other one more time. You collide fists, then feet, then elbows, then heads. Your attacks are even. You strength is equal. Neither of you want to lose ground. You catch his fist, the he catches yours. You start colliding knees with each other. You use your arms to throw Alistair around you for a moment then send him flying in the air.

 

Alistair recovers in the air and smiles.

“Do you think you have control over the elements? I’ll show you control!”

Alistair conjures small fire balls in his hand you chuckle at how petty they are. Alistair throws them and they expand. They grow larger than the city or Arendelle. Your eyes widen and look around. There are only three, but there is no way you’re going to out run it. You try to think of some way for you to get out of this mess.

 

The fire balls come down upon the ground. The three hit, then explode. They create a similar beam to what you did with your power. However, this is destructive. The fire destroys the entire area surrounding the temple. Even the temple is destroyed. The flames and shock wave decimate everything. Nothing survives. Alistair lands in the aftermath of his attack. He is drawing a few breaths before standing straight. He looks around to see if there are any signs of you. There aren’t. There aren’t any signs of anything. It’s all desolate now.

 

Alistair closes his eyes and focuses for a moment. He opens his eyes and smiles.

“You clever bastard.”

Alistair stays in his battle clothes and starts walking away. He looks down at the large gash in his stomach. He puts his hand over it to try and keep some blood in. He’ll survive. No doubt about that.

 

He jumps out of the crater and walks through the destroyed forest. He starts whistling Carol of the Bells as he departs. He found what he wanted to. He found someone who could hurt him. He leaves the battlefield, leaving it empty. The explosion could be seen for miles. The whole world will know about it. But there are some very specific people who witnessed it.

 

Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff watched the explosion happen. They are worried. Worried for their friend. Worried for the person they all love.

 

 

 


	26. Finding a Purpose

Chapter 26: Finding a Purpose

 

 

The area continues to burn, due to Monarch’s attack. It’s empty. Desolate. Any life that was once there is now gone, there's no doubt about that. From the burned ground of the temple, a hand rises up. It reaches around and grabs hold of something. It pulls up your upper body. You start coughing as you rise from the ground. Your physique has returned to normal, and your powers are gone. That isn’t even on your mind right now.

 

You continue to cough as you get your entire body out of the hole you created. You lie on the ground and think about what just happened. The lingering memory of your new friends haunts you. You tighten your fights and close your eyes. The pain is still there. The guilt is still there. You may have been able to vent the rage out in that fight, but the guilt was not so easily dismissed.

 

You flip onto your back and stare up at the sky. You are half laughing, half crying. Your mind can barely comprehend what just happened. Then there’s also the lingering thought of what Hans said.

 

What is my purpose? I don’t know. I don’t know why I’m fighting them. Hans is right. They aren’t after Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, or me. There isn’t any reason to continue fighting them. No… no there is! I have to find the truth! I have to learn what happened to me! But… is that worth the lives I’ve taken? Is that worth the pain I put myself through? The pain I put my friends through? I lived my whole life in blissful ignorance, and nothing happened. It’s when I started to learn, started to become curious. That’s when things started happening to me. That’s when things got out of hand. I should be the dead one here, not Allison. Not Alex. Not any of them.

You turn your head to see dust all around you. The heat from Monarch’s attack turned their bodies and bones to dust. There’s no way to even give them all a proper burial. You shake your head and try to think of something else. A goal. A plan. You don’t even know what to do right now. You couldn’t even do anything if you wanted to. Your body is on the fritz. It’s exhausted.

 

“(Y/N)!” A voice screams. “(Y/N)! Where are you? Don’t tell me you’ve died!”

You turn your head to the source of the voice. A young man with long white hair spots you.

“Hunter…” you mumble.

“(Y/N)… What. The. Fuck? What did you do?” He asks, running towards you.

You chuckle. You’re happy to see your brother is so concerned about your well-being.

“Oh, you know. The usual,” you jokingly remark.

 

Hunter reaches you and tries to lift you up. You groan in pain, making him release you.

“Come on, we have to get going. Everyone is going to be here soon. The police, fire department, fucking every secret organization in the world is on their way here!”

You flip onto your stomach and extend your arm out. You squeeze the dirt under your hand as you gather the strength to push yourself up. You lift your other hand beside you and slowly push yourself off the ground.

“Hardest… push up of… my life,” you snicker.

“Yeah, whatever,” Hunter smiles.

 

Hunter puts your right arm over his neck and shoulder. He allows you to lean on him for support as the two of you walk out of the crater. You take a few steps then stumble and fall to your knees.

“Man… what happened?” Hunter asks.

“I’ll explain it when we’re out of here. Will you… will you piggy back me?” You request.

“What?”

“Will you give me a piggy back? It’ll get me out of here,” you repeat.

“Well you don’t have to ask it like a three year old!” He yells.

“You don’t have to be a douche about saying no!” You counter.

 

Hunter huffs in anger.

“I swear, if you weren’t on the brink of death I would hit you so hard.”

“Ha… You sound like Elsa and Anna.”

“Are you calling me girly?”

You just laugh.  Hunter shakes his head and moves you to his back. He gets you in the piggy back position. You smile and rest your head against his back. He looks back at you for a moment and smiles. Even in this desperate situation, there is still a little reminder that you’re just his little brother.

 

Hunter starts sprinting out of the area. He jumps out of the crater and lands on the ground. He pushes off his heel immediately to keep his momentum. He speeds through the burning roots and dead trees that were once a beautiful forest. It’s sad, but nothing to wait up for.

 

Hunter brings you to your white sports car. You question how he has it, but that isn’t too important right now. Hunter sits you in the passenger seat then rushes to the driver’s seat. Hunter pushes on the gas and sends you both speeding down the road.

 

“When did you get my car?” You ask.

“When I left, I needed something to get me around faster,” Hunter responds, spastically looking around for anyone following you both. “The real question is, what the fuck were you thinking coming out here without me? What happened?”

 

You sigh and lean back in your seat.

“I messed up, big time.”

“No shit, kilometers of land have been destroyed! Hell, Tocia was almost hit by that!”

“That’s not what I meant!” You snap.

Hunter is a little taken back by your reaction.

“What are you talking about?”

 

“I killed people, Hunter. I killed people I shouldn’t have.”

“Who did you kill?”

“People… innocent people… You remember the people from the other floor of the hotel? The people having the party?”

“Yeees,” Hunter slowly states.

“Hans… he did something to them. He put them in suits and sent them after me. I was an idiot, and simply slaughtered them all. I didn’t know it was them until it was too late. I killed all those people…”

 

Hunter pulls the car over and grabs your shoulders.

“(Y/N), listen to me-“

“No! You listen!” You scream. “Why did you drag me into this? I don’t know why I’m fighting these people! I have no justification for murdering my friends!”

Hunter sighs. “Well, now you do.”

“What?” You recoil.

 

“Did Hans mention anything about nanobots?”

You think for a moment then nod.

“They’re planning on infecting people with them. That way they can control the important figures in the world. If anything, they used them as a test. Use this as your motivator! Get revenge for all your friends!”

 

You stare into Hunter’s eyes for a moment, processing what he just said. You turn away and lean back in your chair. Hunter sighs and grabs the wheel.

 

“(Y/N), I’ve made a lot of mistakes while fighting the Hierarchy. I’ve gotten innocent people hurt. I know how you feel. I questioned myself once too. They only did this to me. Why should all these people get hurt for some personal vendetta? I doubted what I was doing. But then I saw what they did to you. I saw what they did to hundreds of children all over the world. I saw the way they torture people for information, and how they manipulate to further their own goals. It can be hard to accept your failures, hard to accept the bad things you’ve done. But (Y/N), you need to trust in me. If not me, trust in yourself. You wouldn’t have kept following these people if your heart didn’t tell you to.”

 

You look at Hunter. He has a straight face, and isn’t looking at you. You lower your head and think about what he’s saying. Hunter notices a few black helicopters fly over you both and towards the crater. Hunter pushes on the gas and sends you both zooming. You hold on to your seat for safety.

 

“Hunter… I’m sorry,” you say.

“Don’t apologize to me. You have nothing to apologize for. It’s human to feel regret and remorse. I would be worried if you DIDN’T feel bad. I just don’t want you wrapped up in failure.”

You smile. “Yeah, I understand. But listen, I couldn’t find the Dragon’s Tear. The Hierarchy already took it. However, I got something else.”

 

You click your watch. Hunter looks over at what you’re doing. You summon the sword. It materializes in your hands. You pull it out of the sheath and display it to Hunter.

“It didn’t have the sheath when I found it, but there was one that perfectly matched with the sword in my watch. I was able to break one of Monarch’s swords with it.”

“Whoa, whoa, wait. Monarch was there? Which one?” Hunter urgently asks.

“Which one? I thought there was only one.”

“No. There is a man and a woman.”

“The man, then. The same one who whooped us earlier,” you confirm.

 

“And you fought him?”

You nod. “I was able to use that weird power up mode. We fought quite evenly. It was fun until he sent those giant fireballs at me.”

“I’m assuming that’s what destroyed the area?”

“Yes. I used my powers to hide under the ground. I put up four layers of earth, water, and fire to protect me. I think that’s what saved me, as the blast still did a number on me.”

 

“Ah yes,” Hunter chuckles. “That’s how you’re so beat up. You look ever so manly like that.”

You give him a look, then laugh. “Just… shut up.”

You stare out the window for some of the drive. You realize that Hunter passes by Tocia city.

 

“Hunter, where are we going? The hotel is that way.”

“We aren’t going to the hotel. It’s too close to the crater site. We have to go to Arendelle,” he says.

Your heart stops for a moment. Hunter looks at you and gives you an uplifting smile.

“We have to go to Elsa’s.”

 

You slam your head against the head rest and sigh.

This is not going to go over well.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Anna rushes beside Elsa. She gives her sister a hug from behind, trying to snap her out of her trance.

“Elsa, talk to me. Elsa…”

“That… did you see the explosion? What if he’s there? We have to get him!” Elsa declares.

Elsa pushes Anna off of her and walks to the door. Kristoff blocks her way.

“Elsa, let’s calm down for a second,” Kristoff warns.

 

“I can’t calm down! He could be in trouble! He could be dying right now and I’m not there!”

Anna puts her shoulder on Elsa’s. Elsa turns her head to see her sister.

“Elsa, please. Let’s go home and think for a little. Please.”

Elsa stares into Anna’s eyes for a moment. Elsa’s brain finally kicks in and realizes that Kristoff and Anna are right. Elsa nods and takes a deep breath.

 

“Let’s head home for now. We need to think of something to do, but I’m not just waiting around,” Elsa states.

Anna and Kristoff nod.

“Of course not. We’re going to go find him, but we need to give it some thought,” Kristoff concurs.

 

Anna and Kristoff leave the building first. Elsa walks to Alec’s office. Elsa looks in to the office and notices Alec is talking to a hologram. The person on the hologram almost looks like you, but there are differences. She brushes it off since she doesn’t have the best angle.

 

“Yes, I saw it too. You better get over there. Every single company with power is going to be swarming that place within minutes. However, did you get the schematics?” Alec asks.

“Yes, I did. I’ll show them to you later, I need to get him.”

 

The hologram disappears and Alec sighs. He grabs his glass and takes a drink. He turns around and notices Elsa. Luckily, Elsa starts to walk in at that point.

“Elsa, pleasure to see you. What do you need?” Alec asks, putting his drink down.

“I’m going home. I apologize, but I think my friend is hurt.”

 

Alec knows exactly why Elsa is leaving and who this “friend” is. It doesn’t bother him though. It’s a legitimate concern.

“Not a problem. I suppose I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yes, thank you Alec.”

Elsa rushes out of the room and to the elevator. She meets Anna and Kristoff in the lobby.

 

“Come on, let’s head home.”

Elsa sadly nods. Anna and Kristoff give each other a look. They know she is somewhat broken right now. The three walk to Anna’s car and drive home. Elsa is staring in the direction of the explosion. Anna sees this and turns to face her sister.

 

“It might not have been him, you know,” Anna comforts.

“Who else could that have been? I know it was him. I know it,” Elsa says with conviction.

Anna frowns and turns back to see what’s ahead of them. Kristoff stays silent as he drives. He breaks his silence three quarters of the way there.

“Anna, I’m going to have to visit Pabbie soon. He’s been getting worse.”

“I remember, and I understand. But do you have to leave as soon as we get back?” Anna asks.

“No. Tomorrow. I’ll be here to help.”

 

Anna smiles and kisses Kristoff on the cheek.

“I’m driving, Anna,” he playfully complains.

Anna giggles. “That’s never bothered you before.”

Kristoff blushes a little bit then clears his throat.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Uh huh,” Anna sarcastically agrees.

 

Kristoff sees the Anderson household down the road and smiles. He pulls into the drive way and parks. The three get out of the car and enter the house. Elsa immediately starts pacing back and forth in the middle of the room. Anna and Kristoff remove their coats and watch Elsa think. Anna chuckles and walks over to her sister. She puts her hands on Elsa’s shoulders and sit her down.

 

“Take a breath, Elsa. Relax. Take a nap.”

“A nap? This isn’t the time for a nap Anna!” Elsa argues.

Anna pushes Elsa over, causing her to lie down on the couch. Kristoff comes up from behind the couch and tosses a blanket on her.

“Hey! What are you guys-"

“Trust me Elsa, just a quick nap. You’ve been working and thinking non-stop for days,” Kristoff says.

 

Elsa pouts then tries to close her eyes. As soon as her eyes close, she falls asleep. Kai comes out from the kitchen.

“Anna, Kristoff. Good to see you both. Where is Elsa?”

Anna puts her finger over her lips and points to the couch. Kai gets the message. He bows and heads upstairs. Anna and Kristoff walk to the kitchen. Anna prepares some hot chocolate for the two of them.

 

Kristoff leans against the counter and crosses his arms. Anna notices his uneasiness.

“Kristoff, are you okay?”

“No… Anna I know that was him. There’s nobody else that could have been.”

Anna’s face saddens.

“I know.”

“It’s just… I know that we have to stay strong for Elsa, but I want to go out there right now and find him! He’d do the same for any of us.”

 

Anna gets close to Kristoff and snuggles up to him.

“Don’t worry. If there’s one thing that (Y/N) doesn’t do, it’s let us down.”

“And die. He doesn’t really die,” Kristoff chuckles.

Anna giggles with him. She breathes out and enjoys the moment with the man she loves. Kristoff kisses her hair and rubs her forehead. Anna squeezes him a little tighter.

 

Anna notices the milk start to bubble. She breaks out of Kristoff’s arms and rushes over to the milk. Kristoff laughs at Anna’s silliness. Anna sticks her tongue out at Kristoff and goes back to her milk. She pours the milk into two cups and mixes the chocolate with them. She overflows them with mini marshmallows then hands one over to Kristoff. He happily accepts it and gives Anna a kiss.

 

The two walk into the living room and sit In the love seat. They both take a sip of their drinks and stare at Elsa.

“She looks peaceful,” Kristoff points out.

“She isn’t worried about anything right now. It’s good to see her this way,” Anna whispers.

“You know, it’s funny to see how much he changes her. (Y/N) can make Elsa so happy and cheerful, and yet so worried. It’s nothing like the Elsa I remember in school.”

 

Anna giggles. “Yes, that’s true. He was able to get to her better than I could.”

“But she was trying to protect you. That’s not your fault.”

Anna cozies in to Kristoff even more and takes a sip from her drink. She looks up at him and smiles.

“I must have been lucky to get a guy like you.”

Kristoff blushes and chuckles.

“Yeah, you must have been.”

 

Anna gives him a playful frown as Kristoff continues to laugh. He looks over at Elsa and ponders something.

“So which one is lucky one between Elsa and (Y/N)?”

“(Y/N), definitely. Nobody caught Elsa’s attention like he did. That makes him the lucky one.”

 

Kristoff and Anna doze off while snuggling.

 

The three sleep for an hour. Elsa is the first to start to open her eyes. Her eyes slowly adjust to the room. She sits up and rubs her eyes. In an instant, she remembers you. Elsa jumps off the couch and rushes to the door. The commotion wakes up Anna and Kristoff.

“Elsa..? What are you doing?” Anna softly asks.

 

“You guys can sleep if you want, but I’m going after (Y/N)!”

Elsa reaches for the door.

“Elsa, wait!”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Your eyes slowly open. You look around to see where you are. You’re still in the car, but it’s not moving. You turn your head over to see Hunter, sitting quietly. Hunter looks over to you and smiles.

“Finally. I was wondering when you were going to wake up.”

You look outside to see a house. You know that house. You quickly push back and flip over your seat.

 

“Why the hell are we here?” You scream.

You uncomfortably land with your head stuck between the front and back seat while your legs dangle in the air. Hunter sighs with disappointment. He gets out of the car and walks over to the door you’re beside. He opens it looks down at you. You look up at him and smile. You give a small wave. Hunter grabs your leg and pulls you out of the car. He lifts you high enough to allow your arms to dangle without touching the ground.

 

You try to lift yourself up to Hunter’s hands, but fail. You let your body go limp and hang in the air.

“You know, if I wasn’t wounded I would kick your ass right now,” you threaten.

Hunter laughs. “So you want me to let you go?”

“Yes, that would be pr-“

Hunter lets you go. You fall on your shoulders and flop onto your stomach. Hunter can’t help but laugh even harder at you.

 

You slowly pick yourself up and give him a death stare. Hunter stops laughing and flicks his head towards the door. You turn around and sigh.

“Listen, last time I was here everyone was mad at me,” you explain as you both walk up to the door. “So don’t be surprised if there’s some yelling or… I don’t know… the heavens raining down on me in the form of ice. And hell. Oh the hell that will rise. All from Elsa. Just be prepared to pull someone off me.”

 

You reach for the door when it suddenly opens. Elsa is standing in front of you, dumbfounded. You don’t have time to say anything before she pushes her lips against yours. You don’t kiss back, as you are utterly confused. Elsa wraps her hands around your neck to bring her in closer. You look over at Anna and Kristoff, who are simply smiling. Hunter is chuckling behind you.

 

“Oh yes, heaven and hell are giving you their all right now. Mmhm, indeed. Do you still want me to pull her off?” Hunter mocks.

You ignore him and kiss Elsa back. Elsa breaks off and pushes her forehead against yours.

“(Y/N), I’m so sorry. My god am I sorry. I should have known you would never do anything to hurt me. I should have known!”

“Elsa… what are you talking about?”

 

Elsa looks into your eyes, tears of joy filling them.

“Anna told us what happened.”

You look over at Anna.

“To be honest, I’d like to know myself.”

Elsa has a questioning look on her face. She notices you have some burn marks and scratches. She looks down your body and backs off.

 

“(Y/N)! What happened to you? Were you in the middle of that explosion we saw? And who is that?” Elsa asks, pointing at Hunter.

You pass Elsa and spin her around with you. Your arm is around her shoulders as you walk into the house.

“I’ll explain all that in a minute. But I would like to know what Anna find out. To be honest, I’m a little clueless right now,” you smile.

 

Hunter walks in after you and closes the door behind him. He takes off his shoes and leans against the wall. You and Elsa sit on the couch. Anna and Kristoff retake their love seat. Anna clears her throat and begins.

 

“You know, I wanted to tell you this before you ran away. Hans was the one who did this to us. He drugged us both. The waiter at the bar confirmed it.”

Your eyes widen and your fists tighten. That name simply causes your blood to boil now. Elsa notices your reaction and places her hand over yours. You relax a little.

 

“He… he manipulated me twice now…” You mumble.

“What do you mean?” Elsa asks.

You look at Elsa and all her beauty. Her pure eyes staring back at yours. You lower your head.

“I’m going to tell you guys something, and I beg you not to judge me.”

The three nod. Hunter closes his eyes. He doesn’t really want to hear this.

 

You tell them everything. You tell them about meeting all the teenagers at the hotel. You tell them about how you got to know them. You explained your journey to the temple, how you found a sword, and how Hans manipulated you into murdering the people you called friend. You tell them about the attack Monarch used and how it destroyed everything around you.

 

During your story Anna ran beside you and hugged you tight. Elsa kept hold of your hand. You finish your story and let your head hang low. Kristoff slams his hand against the couch.

“Damn that Hans! He thinks he can get away with this?” Kristoff snarls.

Anna and Elsa stay beside you through the whole thing. You can feel Elsa’s grip getting colder. You look over at her. Her eyes are fueled with rage against Hans. She wants to make him pay.

 

“But… they’re gone. I’ll have to find them, somehow. For now, I’d appreciate a little R&R,” you smile.

“You can relax. I’ll find out where they went. As soon as I know we’ll head out,” Hunter plans.

Elsa and Anna turn to face Hunter. Anna squints while scanning him.

“I’ve seen you before… you were at our school,” Anna remembers. “Who is this, (Y/N)?”

You give a sheepish smile and rub the back of your head. You stand up and take position beside Hunter.

 

“Well… he’s my brother,” you reveal.

Everyone’s jaw drops.

“Yo-you’re brother? I thought you were an only child,” Elsa recollects.

“So did I. But, we’re brothers,” you say, weakly chuckling.

“You know, you look alike, sort of,” Kristoff admits.

 

Hunter smiles and pushes you back to the couch.

“Yes that we do. But I think it would be better if I left you all alone for now. As I said, I have things I should be doing and I’m sure you’d rather spend time with (Y/N).”

Hunter begins to walk out but stops in his tracks. He turns around and approaches Elsa.

“Try to keep him out of trouble. Other than me, I think you’re the only one that can,” he chuckles.

Elsa nods.

 

Hunter waves goodbye and leaves the house. You look at your friends and smile.

“It’s nice to be back. I really did miss you guys.”

“I know. What would you ever do without us?” Anna teases.

“Hey! I found other people!” You retort.

“But they’ll never be as cool as us,” Anna grins, waving her finger at you.

“Yeah, sure. You guys are the epitome of awesome.”

“Damn right we are,” Kristoff agrees.

 

You all laugh. You stand up and walk towards the stairs.

“I’m gonna go have a shower. As you can tell, I’m in need of one.”

They all nod in agreement almost instantly.

“Well don’t be so quick to agree! Sheesh.”

 

You walk up the stairs and to the bathroom. You grab a random towel and set it on the counter to use after. You strip down and turn the water on. You adjust the temperature to your liking before getting in.

 

Elsa twiddles her thumbs on the couch. Anna and Kristoff turn their attention towards her. They walk over and sit on either side of her.

“Are you okay Elsa?” Anna asks.

“I’m fine. I’m just thinking.”

“What about?”

 

Elsa looks at both Anna and Kristoff before sighing.

“It’s just… the only reason he went through all that is because of what I did. If I hadn’t of gotten mad at him then he wouldn’t have gone through the hell he just explained.”

Before Anna or Kristoff can respond, the door opens. Hunter walks back in with a disappointed look on his face. He makes his way in front of the three.

 

“No, I didn’t leave yet and yes, I heard what you said. Look. I’m probably not the person you want comforting you or whatever, but just listen. It’s better that you did what you did. It’s better that (Y/N) had to go through that. The bad things that happen to us make us stronger. That goes for me, him, and even all of you. Elsa, do you think everything would be the same if you didn’t fear your powers for all your life? Yes, it may have been nicer for you then but you wouldn’t be the same person you are now. You may not even be dating (Y/N). Hell, Anna might not be dating Kristoff. I know that this sucks right now, but it makes everyone stronger. You don’t have to listen to me, but I hope you do. I may not know you personally, but I know how much (Y/N) cares about you. That means I care about you too. All of you. It’s best just to look forward and face what comes at you. You’re all stronger than this. I know it.”

 

Hunter stares at the three for a moment before leaving. Elsa takes in what Hunter says. Anna and Kristoff watch Hunter leave then turn to Elsa. She has a smile on her face.

“Elsa?” Anna whispers.

“He’s right. He. Is. Right.”

Elsa gets up and goes upstairs. Anna and Kristoff watch her go then look at each other. They shrug.

 

“There’s no point in blaming myself, and he can’t blame himself either. All we have is the joy we make ourselves, so I think it’s time for a little joy.”

 

Elsa quietly enters the bathroom.

“Well, things went better than expected. I thought Elsa was going to rip my head off. But hey, I appreciate the greeting,” you chuckle.

You rub your face with water then exhale. All of a sudden the curtain moves. You look over to see Elsa with a distinct lack of clothes. You raise your brow at her actions.

 

“Hello,” you stretch out the word.

“May I join you?” Elsa seductively says.

“Well when you ask like that, of course.”

Elsa slips into the shower with you. She takes position in front of the water. You wrap your hands around her waist and rest your head beside hers. She smiles and pushes her cheek against yours.

 

“So, just to be clear… we’re okay, right?” You ask.

“Well, I don’t know. I think you have to prove how sorry you are,” Elsa smiles.

You grin with her and shake your head.

“You’re so bad.”

Elsa turns around and presses her body against yours. She places her arms around your neck and pulls you closer.

“You have no idea,” she whispers.

 

After a more than satisfying shower, you and Elsa exit. You both dry yourselves off.

“That was… unexpected. Very good. VERY good. But very unexpected,” you admit.

Elsa giggles. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. I’m just happy you’re back. Truly.”

Elsa moves close and kisses you.

“I love you,” she whispers.

“I love you too, Elsa. More than anything.”

 

“More than steak?”

You pause for a moment. Your mind is swirling with what to say. Elsa’s jaw drops in a joking way.

“You can’t decide!”

“It’s a tough choice,” you admit.

Elsa smacks you with the towel.

“Hey, I’m sick and wounded! Sick and wounded!” You cry out.

 

Anna and Kristoff can hear you two from downstairs. They start laughing uncontrollably.

“See, that’s what I’ve been missing,” Anna laughs.

Kristoff nods in agreement.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You wake up the next morning in a room that is not your own. You start feeling your body once more and realize that there is an unfamiliar feeling. You look at your chest to see a small, pale arm lying on it. The arm leads to Elsa, who is sleeping beside you. Her hair is a little messy but she still manages to look beautiful. You move some of her hair out of her face and stare at her.

 

You can see her chest moving each time she breathes. You can see her nostrils extend and retract. You can hear her little snore. You always found her snore to be adorable. You always found Elsa to be adorable. You smile and give her a quick kiss on the nose before attempting to escape her grasp.

 

You slowly lift her arm off you and roll of her bed. You land softly on the ground and look to see if Elsa woke up. She hasn’t. You smile in victory then sneak out of her room. You close her door then walk to your room to grab some clothes. You put on some simple attire then lay on your bed. You stretch your arms out and put the behind your head as a rest.

 

You start to think about Monarch and Hans. There they could have run off to and what their plan is. You clench your fist at the fact that Hans manipulated you so easily and effectively. If Hans is anything, he is a manipulator. You could crush him in with your bare hands if you fought, and you think he knows that. He’s scared of you.

 

You’re starting to turn your sorrow into a purpose. He chanted on and on about how you have no reason to fight him. Now you have one. A stronger purpose. You’re going to take him down, not matter what. The next time you face Hans, he’s going down.

 

But that’s another time. Another person floats into your mind. Elsa. Even though it was a result of Hans, you still hurt her. She has forgiven you, no doubt about that. You start chuckling at the way she forgave you. But you really want to prove to her that she is your one and only.

 

If only I could show her. I know I can tell her all I want, but actions speak louder than words. Ha, imagine if I never talked and only acted. Man, people would just get mixed signals. But… Wait! I got it! I know how I can prove it to her! I have to get everything ready right now!

You jump out of your bed and head for the door.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Shadow rapidly says. “Are you sure? That’s a different kind of plan.”

You stop and think for a moment.

“Ok… if I can’t get exactly what I’m looking for then I won’t, sound fair?”

“And what are you… oh, alright. That seems fair. Go ahead.”

 

You smile and burst out of the room. You rush downstairs to see Kristoff and Anna. Anna is lying on the couch and looks wrong. You walk up to them.

“Hey guys!” You greet. You get a better look at Anna, “Oh man… what’s wrong with Anna?”

“She’s sick. Has the flu or something. You have to look after her,” Kristoff says.

“Get Gerda and Kai to do it! I have to go.”

 

“They are sick too! You have to stay here.”

“Why can’t you?” You ask.

“I have to check up on Pabbie. Why can’t you stay?” Kristoff queries.

You make a few weird gestures then whisper something in his ear. Kristoff’s eyes widen.

“What? Really?” He exclaims.

You nod.

“Wow… Never thought I’d see that day. Well… Fine then, but could you check on Pabbie while you’re out? Please?”

 

“Of course! Anything for a pal,” you smile.

You pat Kristoff on the shoulder and rush out the door. You jump in your car and fire it up. You back out of the drive way and speed down the road. You pull over a after a few seconds and get your phone out of the holowatch. You look up a certain store’s phone number.

“Aha!”

 

You dial it in and put the phone against your head. A man answers.

“Hi! Listen, I need a very specific one. One with a snowflake on it. Do you have any?”

The man asks a question.

“Yes, one of those. I don’t care how expensive it is.”

You wait a moment for him to check.

“Perfect! Thank you! I’ll be there soon to pick it up!”

 

You hang up the phone. You can’t contain your excitement.

“YES!”

You throw yours hands in the hair and almost punch a hole through your car. You chuckle at your action and grab the wheel. You speed down the road and to your intended destination.

 

You pull into the parking lot of the mall and park your car. You get out and look around. There are a variety of people. Some couples, singles, and children. You walk into the mall and head towards your intended destination. You pass by a few people before seeing the store you want. You smile and walk in.

 

It takes you 10 minutes to get what you want. You toss the small object in your pocket and smile. You’re ecstatic right now. You can barely believe what you’re about to do. You walk to one of the variety stores and buy a drink and your favourite junk food to munch on. You get in your car and start driving. You remember that Kristoff asked you to check up on Pabbie for him, so that’s your next stop.

 

You drive through the city until you reach Kristoff’s house. You park in the drive way and walk up to the house. You knock on the door and wait for a moment. One of Kristoff’s “siblings” opens the door.

“Hello! You’re Kristoff’s friend, right? The one who is with Elsa?” She asks.

“Yes that I am.”

“What’re you doing here? Isn’t Kristoff at your house?”

“Well it’s not MY house, but yeah he is. He just asked me to check up on Pabbie. May I come in?”

 

The little girl nods and allows you to walk in. The points towards Pabbie’s room then runs off to do her own thing. You smile at her energy and walk to Pabbie. You knock on the door before entering.

“Pabbie, it’s (Y/N),” you inform.

“Ah, (Y/N). Come in.”

 

You open the door to find Pabbie on his bed. He looks horrible. You walk towards him.

“Ah, it’s good to see you strong and healthy. How are you these days?” Pabbie asks.

“I’m fine, I guess.”

You kneel down beside him. Pabbie moves his hand on your head and focuses. His eyes widen and he backs his hand off you.

“I wouldn’t use the word fine, dear boy,” Pabbie chuckles.

You shrug in your own awkward way.

 

Pabbie sighs and looks at you.

“(Y/N), I think I need to tell you something. After seeing what you’ve seen, I need to tell you.”

You raise your brow in curiosity. “What are you talking about?”

“Not too long ago an old friend came to see me. His name is Alistair. He’s a scientist, like I used to be.”

 

“You were a scientist?” You ask with surprise.

“Yes. I was obsessed with expanding what a human could do. Decades of research into what could make people better. Alistair, came into the picture and helped me a great deal. We found a way to give people psychic abilities.”

You tilt your head. “So that’s how you can read minds…”

 

Pabbie nods. “Alistair wasn’t content with just psychic ability, however. He wanted more. He continued on with my research and expanded it two fold. I heard he met a woman. They were madly in love, even though she was a little unstable.”

 

“Pabbie, what does this have to do with anything?”

Pabbie sighs. “Alistair married a woman named Juno. They became Mr. and Ms. Knight.”

“Knight?” You mutter, trying to think of where you heard that name before.

The two made breakthroughs with my research. They shared it with a secret group called the Hierarchy and took on the mantle of Monarch. Months after, they had a son. Years after that came their second one.”

 

Your eyes widen when you piece it all together.

“Two sons. Hunter and (Y/N) Knight,” Pabbie reveals.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! You mean to tell me that the man I just fought – the one who beat me and my brother into pulp – is my father?” You yell.

Pabbie nods. You stumble back. You grab your hair and start walking around the room, trying to cope with this.

 

“He visited me not long ago, I was hoping that you two would avoid each other but I was wrong,” Pabbie explains.

“Why didn’t Hunter tell me? Why was I never told this! My parents are the fucking illuminati!”

“That’s a little extreme. But I assumed you should be told this.”

“Assumed? Yeah! I should have been told! I guess that basically explains why I am the way I am. The reason I have this strength… the reason everything has happened because of them…”

 

You think back to Elsa’s parents. They knew all along. It was laid out for you months ago. You told them that your parents would never put you in a program like theirs. They laughed, and you see why. Your parents led the program they put you in. Not only you, but Elsa, Rain, Gaia, Pyro, and Tempest. Who knows how many others? Your parents did all this. Looks like you’re really going to prove Hans wrong with your purpose.

 

You sigh and sit beside Pabbie. Pabbie stares at you.

“Are you calm now?”

You look over at Pabbie.

“Yeah… yeah, I guess.”

“I’m sorry, maybe I should have been less blunt about that,” Pabbie apologizes.

“No, no. It’s fine. I just… I was happy with my parents being dead. Not happy, but… I was in blissful ignorance, you know?”

 

Pabbie nods. “I understand. I will stand by my decision. You needed to know that, and maybe you see where you get some of your alters from.”

Your face changes to a questioning one.

“What do you mean?”

“Your mother, Juno, she’s… mentally unstable. I truly have no idea what makes her love Alistair. He’s the only one she cares about. Anyone else is dead to her. She’s insane, (Y/N). That’s where Carnage comes from. Her.”

 

Carnage was insane… if he gets that from Jun- my mother, then what kind of crazy could she possibly be?

Pabbie starts coughing roughly. You can hear the crackling and pain in his cough.

“Listen, (Y/N). Alistair wants control. He wants everything to be in order because of his past. He experienced a point in his life where he lost all control and he hated it. He wants to make sure the world is stable, and will never waver. Juno just wants whatever Alistair wants. You have to stop them for me. I’m the one who introduced him to this research. I’m the reason all this has happened. You and Elsa have to stop him.”

 

You nod then realize what he said.

Elsa and I? Why not Hunter and I? Why Elsa?

Pabbie starts coughing some more then grabs some water. He lays on his back and takes in some air.

“Thank you for checking up on me (Y/N). Please, honour an old man’s last request.”

 

You look at him and nod. You walk out of the room with more information than you ever thought possible. You want to ask Hunter about this, but now isn’t the time. You aren’t letting anything get in the way of your plan for tonight. You can focus on that later.

 

You drive back to the Anderson household with your mind on the fritz. You’re surprised Shadow hasn’t chimed in at any point. You decide to check on him later. You arrive at your house and enter. Kristoff is still with Anna, however he has fallen asleep with her. You raise your brow and check out your holowatch.

“This thing can tell time, right?”

 

You look at the face of the watch and realize you’ve actually been gone for a few hours. It certainly didn’t feel like it to you. You go to the kitchen to find Elsa making some food for herself. She doesn’t notice you come in. You smile and sneak up behind her. You grab her by the waist and twirl around.

“Hey, what the!” Elsa squeals.

 

Elsa starts giggling when she realizes it’s you. You put her on her feet then spin her around to face her. You quickly kiss her before she can say anything. Elsa is pleasantly surprised by this. You back off and smile.

“Hello little lady.”

“Little lady?” Elsa giggles.

“Yeah, I’d say you’re little. I mean, look at the difference between us,” you say, aligning your arm with hers and flexing.

“That’s not fair! You’re some super human!”

“Yeah, that’s true. Plus you’re a very slender young woman, so I’ll win no matter what,” you smile.

Elsa raises her brow and smirks. “What is with you today?”

“Oh nothing. Nothing at all. Hey, you’re free today. No matter what,” you state.

 

“What? No, I have to go to work,” Elsa says.

“Nope. You’re free. Trust me, you’ll want to be wide open today!”

“But I-“

“We’re going out at 9. Make sure to wear something fancy!” You tell her as you leave the kitchen.

 

Elsa stands there dumbfounded. She has no idea what just happened. You obviously have something planned, or you wouldn’t be this way. She shrugs and looks at the clock. It’s 3:48. She still has time to do whatever she wants to do.

 

You hop into the living room and sit beside Kristoff. You shake him a bit, attempting to wake him up.

“Hmm, yeah?” Kristoff moans.

“Hey, Kristoff. Come on, you should wake up.”

Kristoff slips away from Anna and stretches in front of you.

“Have a good sleep?” You smile.

 

“No. Anna kept sneezing and coughing,” Kristoff complains.

“Well, she looks better than when I saw her,” you point out.

“Yeah, she’s hopped up and cold medication and such. She should be out for a while.”

You throw your arm up and use your thumb to point to the door.

“You wanna walk around? Talk a bit?”

Kristoff looks at Anna then back at you. He nods.

 

The two of you walk out the door and start strolling down the road.

“So you’re really going to go through with this, huh?” Kristoff asks with a smile.

You nod. “Yep. Got it in my pocket and everything. Let’s just hope it goes well.”

“It will.”

 

You both continue to walk.

“Hey Kristoff, can I tell you something?”

“Of course.”

“You’re my best friend, so I feel like I should tell you. I went to check up on Pabbie, and he told me something. He told me that someone visited him a bit ago. A man named Alistair.”

“I remember! He let him into my house. He talked to Pabbie for a little then left. He was sketchy.”

You laugh at his statement.

“What?” he questions.

 

“That man was Monarch. The one behind everything.”

“What?” Kristoff yells.

“That man… is also my father.”

Kristoff gets in front of you and grabs your shoulders. He has a concerned look on his face.

“WHAT? Who told you that?”

“Pabbie,” you reply.  


Kristoff lets go of you and starts to think.

“Man… so that was your dad… I thought he looked somewhat familiar. Are you okay with that?”

“I assume you mean am I coping well? And yeah, I’m fine. It’s just… weird. He almost killed me twice with no mercy. It doesn’t seem very fatherly,” you say.

“Well, Elsa’s father wasn’t very fatherly either. He tried to kill his daughter’s boyfriend and ended up killing his daughter. Seems you and Elsa have even more in common,” Kristoff snickers.

 

You chuckle. “Yeah, I suppose. I don’t think that’s something that will cause more of a bond though.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You and Kristoff spent the majority of the day together. You talked, ate, and went to the arcade. It was close to 9, and you knew of your date with Elsa. You change into a suit and place your surprise in one of the pockets. You leave your room and wait by the door. You rest up against the wall and close your eyes.

 

What feels like three seconds passes and Elsa pokes you. You quickly open your eyes and admire Elsa. She has her hair hung down her left shoulder. She is wearing a blue dress made of ice. It looks like the same dress she wore for prom, except better. Whatever it is, she looks drop dead gorgeous. Your mouth drops. You have no words.

 

Elsa puts her hand over her mouth and giggles. You shake your head and smile at her.

“You look… really nice. Extremely nice.”

“Thank you. You look great as well.”

“Shall we?” You ask as you extend your hand towards Elsa.

She grabs it and walks outside with you. There is a limo parked on the road for you both. Elsa looks at you with a surprised smile. You smirk and gesture for her to go on. You both walk to the limo. You open the door for Elsa, and she enters. You take a seat beside her and smile.

 

“A limo, huh? Must be a special occasion,” she mentions.

“It is, trust me. Nothing could be more special.”

Elsa gives you an odd look but trusts that she’ll realize what you mean in time. You and Elsa have one drink while the limo takes you to your next location.

 

The limo pulls up in front of the fanciest restaurant in Arendelle. You and Elsa exit and stare at the location.

“Here? Well, I won’t argue,” Elsa smiles.

You both walk in and approach the greeter.

“Hi. Reservation for… for Knight.”

Elsa raises her brow.

 

The greeter checks the list and nods.

“Yes. Two for Knight. Right this way.”

The greeter takes you to a table and leaves. You smile and look at Elsa. She takes a regal position and waits for the waiter.

“So, may I ask why the reservation was under the name ‘Knight’?” Elsa asks.

“Oh, well I learned my last name while I was gone. I’m Knight. (Y/N) Knight. My brother is Hunter Knight… and…”

 

Elsa can see your hesitation to continue.

“What’s wrong?”

“Elsa… how hard was it for you when you found out your parents were… well evil?”

Elsa thinks for a moment.

“I’m not sure. I was so used to them being gone and didn’t rely on them as much as I did when I was younger. I was more worried about your safety than the fact that they were malicious.”

 

You nod in understanding. Elsa tilts her head a bit.

“Why do you ask?”

You sigh. “Pabbie told me about the man I’m after. The man who is the reason for all of this. The reason I’m the way I am. The reason you have the powers over ice.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“He… his name is Alistair Knight.”

“Alistair Knight… like your name. He’s your father?”

 

You nod. Elsa looks at the table then to you. She puts her hand on yours then gives you a comforting smile. You look up at her.

“Take it from me, your parents are not what defines you. It’s possible that you could dwell on that information, but it really shouldn’t change you.”

“Yeah, but-“

“No matter what you’re the same (Y/N) I know and love. Knowing who your father is shouldn’t change you. I won’t let it change you.”

 

You smile and intertwine your fingers with hers.

“You’re right, as always. But how about we focus on us tonight.”

“Agreed.”

 

You and Elsa have a wonderful dinner. She tells you about what she’s doing at work, and how Hans’ brothers are somewhat annoying. You laugh at that. After the dinner you and Elsa go back to the limo. It starts driving you through Arendelle.

 

“So we’re going home now?” Elsa asks.

“Almost. We have one more place to go,” you grin.

The limo stops, signaling you’ve arrived at your destination. You smile at the success of you plan. You and Elsa exit the limo. Elsa looks around and realizes where you both are.

 

“The field?” Elsa giggles.

You lead Elsa down to the middle of the field and let out a huff.

“Lots of stuff has happened here, huh? Lots of bad things.”

“Not all bad,” Elsa reminds. “There was your one date idea with the fireworks. This was also the place where our relationship truly started.”

You nod and go to hold her hand. She gladly accepts. You move in front of her and grab both of her hands.

 

“Elsa, just listen to me right now. I know that we’re okay, but I want you to know that I’m always yours. I want you to know that no matter what happens you are the only one who has my heart. I know I can say it over and over, and I think we both understand that we love each other… but…”

 

You grab one of her hands on get down on one knee. You pull out a small box from your pocket and hold it out in front of you. Elsa pulls her hands back and covers her mouth in surprise.

“I want to show you that you’re the only person I want to be with. You’re the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. So…”

 

You open the box, revealing a ring with a snowflake shaped diamond on it.

 

“Elsa Anderson, will you marry me?”


	27. Progress

Chapter 27: Progress

 

Elsa stares at you in shock for a minute. She can’t believe what she is seeing – what you just asked. A plethora of emotions flow through her, tears begin streaming down her eyes.

“Ma-marriage? Me… married… to you?”

She slowly falls to her knees and leans her head against yours.

“Why? Why would you want to marry me? I’m… so different,” she asks.

You laugh. “You? Different? Elsa have you seen me? I love you. I love you so much, and I want to spend every moment of my life with you. You’re my everything, and I just thought this would be a good way to finalize it. If you don’t want to yet, I understand.”

 

Elsa smiles and looks up at you. Her make-up is running a bit, as a side effect of her tears. She grabs your cheeks and kisses you passionately.

“So, is that a yes?” You joke.

“(Y/N), it’s a yes. It’s a yes. Of course I will,” she chuckles.

Your whole body lights up with excitement. You’ve never been so happy in your entire life. You grab her waist and stand up, spinning around. Elsa’s dress dangles in the air and she starts laughing. You cut her off with a kiss then put her down.

 

She keeps her hands around you and kisses you once more.

“I can’t even believe it. I never would have thought… but you did,” she utters happily.

“It’ll look nice on you,” you determine. “I made sure it was a snowflake one. It matches the necklace you made me. Of course I didn’t use magic,” you finish jokingly.

Elsa reaches inside your shirt and grabs the necklace. She pulls it out and compares the two.

“They are almost similar, aren’t they?”

 

You nod, holding Elsa close. She looks over at you and raises her brow.

“How did you pay for all this?”

“Oh, you know. I have my ways,” you smirk.

Technically Hunter paid for all of this. When he was holding you by the foot and you attempted to free yourself you actually took his bank card. You have full intention to give it back, but you really needed it.

 

You grab the ring and lift Elsa’s hand to greet it. You slide it onto her ring finger with a smile. She looks at it for a moment then back at you. Her eyes still have tears of joy. She hugs you tightly with the intention of never letting you go.

“I love you (Y/N),” she whispers.

“I love you too. Now, how about we finish up our night and go break the news to Anna and Kristoff?”

 

“Oh goodness, I can just imagine Anna’s reaction. There’s going to be a lot of squealing and giggling,” Elsa laughs.

You shake your head. “Yeah, that definitely sounds like Anna.”

Elsa holds onto your hand as you both walk to the limo. You enter the back of the limo and make your space a little more private. Elsa isn’t leaving you alone right now, and you’re perfectly fine with that.

 

The time seems to fly for you and Elsa. The limo stops and the driver taps on the shaded glass.

“Ok, thank you!” You call out.

You look at Elsa, who is basically straddling your lower body. She’s still kissing your neck.

“We have to get out of the car now, Elsa,” you chuckle.

“Can’t we have a few more minutes to ourselves,” she moans.

You laugh. “Oh, we’ll have some time when we get in the house. Trust me.”

Elsa gives you a seductive smile and taps your nose.

 

“You are so dirty,” she jokes, getting off you.

“Oh me? And who was doing what to who?” You question.

She looks at you for a moment before smiling and shaking her head. She opens the door and steps out of the car. You follow her. The two of you walk into your house and see Anna shaking Kristoff.

 

“Come on Kristoff! I want to go have some food! Like chocolate. Can we go get chocolate?” She quickly asks.

You shake your head and walk into the house.

“Hey Anna. Kristoff,” you greet.

Anna sees the two of you and runs up to give greet you both. She notices something on her sister’s hand.

 

Anna grabs Elsa’s hand and looks at her ring finger.

“Elsa, what is this? This seems like a big ring… and is that a diamond?” She asks.

Jesus Kristoff, what drugs did you give her? This is Anna augmented by twenty.

“Well,” Elsa smiles, grabbing hold of your arm. “(Y/N) asked me to marry him… and I said yes!”

Anna squeals. She grabs Elsa’s hands and starts hopping around in a circle.

 

“Oh my gosh! Elsa that’s amazing! You’re getting married! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! My big sister is getting married! To you!” Anna says, moving towards you. “You’re marrying my sister! You better have the biggest bestest wedding ever!”

 

You don’t say a word. You tighten your mouth and nod. Anna nods with confidence then starts to walk away. She quickly turns back to Elsa and hugs her.

“YOU’RE GETTING MARRIED!!!!” She yells, jumping around some more.

Elsa looks at you and mouths the word “help”. You laugh and walk over to Anna. You place her hand on her shoulder and look her in the eye.

 

“So, what have you been doing? Last I saw you, you were sleeping,” you ask.

“I woke up and I’m just full of energy! It’s great! I don’t even feel sick anymore!”

“That… doesn’t answer my question,” you mumble.

Elsa leans in to your ear.

“I think it’s best if we leave her with Kristoff.”

You look over at her and smile.

“You just want to get me alone, don’t you,” you taunt.

“Maybe a little bit,” she smiles.

 

You kiss her on the forehead and walk over to Kristoff, who is still sleeping on the couch. You kneel down and shake him a bit. He snores and rolls over. You frown. You begin to walk over to the kitchen. You look back at Elsa to see Anna continuing to be hyper. You chuckle and walk to the kitchen.

 

You open the fridge and look for a bottle of water.

“So, congratulations on your successful proposal,” Shadow states.

“Thanks, I guess. Weren’t you against it?”

“No, not necessarily. I just think you’re in the middle of something a little too big to be worrying about a wedding.”

 

You realize what he’s talking about, and he does have a point. But when have you ever listened to Shadow’s advice? You brush it off and begin to walk over to the main room.

“That’s true Shadow, but…” You start. You lean over Kristoff and poor the cold bottle of water on his head. He screams like a girl and jumps to his feet. “I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.”

 

Kristoff brushes some water off his face and looks at you – standing with a big smile and a quarter full bottle of water. He frowns and curls up his hands.

“I’m going to kill you!” He yells, jumping over the couch.

You move out of the way, laughing. Kristoff falls on the ground but quickly recovers and chases you. You run around the house with a wet, angry Kristoff after you.

 

Elsa and Anna watch as you both act like children and they both burst out laughing. Both you and Kristoff stop for a moment and look at the two girls. You both blink twice before looking at each other and realizing how silly you’re both being. Kristoff then shakes in remembrance.

“Oh, how did your thing go?” He asks.

 

You cock your head over to Elsa, and Kristoff follows. He looks over at Elsa, then to her hand. He sees a snowflake shaped diamond ring on her finger. He looks back atyou and smiles.

“She said yes?” He asks, knowing the answer.

You nod. “She said yes.”

 

Kristoff grabs you and gives you a big bear hug. You cough at the lack of air.

“Kristoff… Kristoff you’re chocking me… and you’re wet,” you wheeze.

“I know. This is half payback,” he smiles.

He squeezes you harder and lets you down.

“In all honesty, nice job man. I’m really happy for you. Both of you,” he finishes, turning to Elsa.

Elsa smiles. “Thank you.”

 

“So, when is the wedding? Where’s it going to be?” Anna asks Elsa.

Elsa is a little taken back by the question.

“Well, we haven’t gotten that all figured out yet. He just asked me to marry him.”

“Oh, yeah. Well we have to tell people! Gerda and Kai would be happy to know! And Olaf… well he wouldn’t know what marriage is, but still!” Anna happily says.

“Don’t worry Anna. Elsa and I can deal with all that. I’m sure we’ll be asking for help too.”

 

You and Elsa share a quick look and nod. You yawn and stretch your arms out.

“Well, it’s been a long day. I think I’m going to hit the hay.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” Elsa agrees.

The two of you stroll up the stairs. Anna and Kristoff share a look and a smile.

“You think they’re actually going to sleep?” Anna asks.

“Nope. Not right now, anyway.”

 

Anna giggles some more.

“Hey… if (Y/N) asked Elsa to marry him then why haven’t you asked me?” Anna asks with a devious smile.

Kristoff pauses and struggles to respond.

“Well… you know… I have… I just…”

Anna laughs and walks towards the kitchen.

“Relax, I was just kidding Kristoff. You’re so easy sometimes.”

 

Kristoff frowns and lays back on the couch.

“Sheesh, a wedding. That’ll be something to see.”

 

You and Elsa watch Anna walk away and Kristoff lay on the couch. You smile and wrap your arm around her shoulder. You both leave the top of the stairs and go to her room. You close the door behind you and let out a large sigh. You let the collar of your dress shirt loose and take off your blazer. You toss it on the ground and stretch once more. You don’t notice that Elsa froze the door shut.

 

You turn around only to be met by Elsa’s lips. She kisses you with such passion, such romance. It seemed to be more than just a kiss to her. Was it a kiss of love? No, you’ve had those with her before. What is driving her so wild right now? Is there a higher form of love? True love? Ultra love? Hardcore shave your head love? Join a cult and give up blood to summon a spiritual monster love? Ha, no. Elsa would be horrible in a cult like that. She would just make sure the uniforms are clean and proper, while everyone has to follow her strict rule set for the ritual. Maybe not, though. She has loosened up so much after all this time. Maybe it is true love then. Not only is it driving her to do what she’s doing now, but also what changed her into a more open person. Whatever it is, you’re thoroughly enjoying it. Maybe she just happens to love you more than you love her. Is that possible? Who knows.

 

You wrap your arms around her and kiss back. She isn’t holding back at all. Her tongue invades your mouth and challenges yours. You can’t help but laugh a little. Elsa moves back a little and starts unbuttoning your shirt. You reach around to her dress and try and find a zipper or something. You get nothing done other than caressing her back. She smiles at your attempt, but knows you can’t do anything. She made this dress out of ice, so there is no normal way to take it off.

 

She takes your shirt off and rubs her hands across your chest. She feels every muscle that you’ve worked so hard on these past months. Elsa still doesn’t allow you to break off from her lips, which means you still haven’t taken off her dress. You decide to take a more straightforward approach and just pull the dress off. You push the shoulder parts down, causing it to slip right off her body. She giggles a little bit at your action.

 

“You’re quite persistent,” she says while kissing you.

“Of course I am.”

You wrap your hands around her slender waist. Your previous action has left Elsa only in her undergarments. Now you have the advantage, since you still have pants on. Elsa rectifies this by flicking her wrist and surrounding your lower body with ice. The ice melts off, along with your pants.

 

Did… did she just melt my pants? Did she actually do that? She can do that? I paid for those!

 

You decide to ignore what just happened and focus on Elsa. You grab her legs and bring her to the bed. You lay her down gently. You’re still not on the bed. She doesn’t seem to like this and flips you onto the bed, taking position on top of you.

 

Yeah, she is a dominator. No doubt about that.

Elsa flicks her hands once more and does the same thing she did to your pants to your boxers. You smile at the fact that she’s ruining all your clothes. It’s not fair.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Hunter approaches W.A. Industries. He places his hands in his pockets and strolls inside. The receptionist sees him and says nothing. She clicks a button and allows him through. Hunter smiles and winks. He takes the elevator all the way to the top floor. The elevator opens, revealing the floor. Hunter walks through the halls and into Alec’s room.

 

Alec is pouring himself the last of his whiskey. He looks at the empty bottle and sighs. He picks up the glass and turns around. He sees Hunter and smiles.

“Hunter, good to see you. Come in. Take a seat.”

Hunter nods and takes a seat. Alec takes a gulp of his drink and cringes a little bit.

“That’s the good stuff. Alright, let’s get down to it. So what happened with (Y/N)?”

 

“Why do I have feeling you already know?” Hunter smirks.

Alec does a sarcastic shrug. “You got me. So what about you? Where are the schematics?”

Hunter reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a piece of paper.

“It’s what we thought. This is some sort of distribution device, but I can’t really tell. They tried to destroy it when I got there, so the data is somewhat corrupted.”

 

Hunter hands over the schematics to Alec. He grabs them and looks it over.

“Hm… I think they’re developing something like this over in the Corona base. That could be where they’re making whatever it is they plan to load it with.”

“Seems like I have to go to Corona,” Hunter smiles.

Alec nods and takes another drink. He looks out to the hallway and sighs.

“That’s true. But you should take precautions if you’re going there. Both Monarchs are there, you know.”

 

Hunter lays back in the chair and places his hands behind his head.

“Yeah, I know. I do have some people in Corona, though. It can work.”

“Then by all means, go right ahead. I’ll keep my ear to the ground as I’ve always done,” Alec snickers. “My job has become two fold since Elsa started working here.”

“Why is that?”

“I have to keep her away from the Hierarchy’s projects. Who knows what could happen if she finds them.”

 

“I thought you moved all that shit out of here?” Hunter brings up.

“Most of it, yes. We still have the nano-bots, Power Man, and a couple other projects,” Alec mentions.

“Power Man? What is that?”

“Some robot they thought would be useful for training purposes. I’ve never seen them actually use it though. It may not even work. Who knows?” Alec shrugs.

“Isn’t it your job to know?” Hunter asks with a brow raised.

 

Alec stares at Hunter with a condescending look. He takes a drink and reacts accordingly.

“Don’t be a smart ass.”

“I have to be since you’re a smart alec,” Hunter laughs.

Alec shakes his head with a smile.

“By the way, I found news on the Dragon’s Tear. Turns out that the Monarchs are having one of the Dukes work on it. Lucky for you, that is also in Corona.”

 

“Which Duke? Please tell me it’s the little one. I really want to call him weasleton again,” Hunter laughs to himself.

“Yes, it is indeed Duke Weselton. Try not to rough him up too much. You know how petty he can be,” Alec smirks.

Hunter laughs at memories and nods. He hops out of his chair and walks towards the door. Before he leaves he turns back to see Alec.

“Alec, listen. You need to take care of Elsa while (Y/N) and I are gone. If something happens to her then you’ll have to face HIS wrath. Just… do it for me, alright?”

 

Alec takes another drink and shakes his head in agreement.

“I’ll do my best.”

“I don’t want your word, Alec,” Hunter barks. “I want you to promise that nothing will happen to Elsa while we’re gone.”

 

Alec stares at Hunter for a moment. Hunter is deadly serious in his statement, and Alec can see that. Alec lets out a small smirk. He is envious of Hunter’s concern for his family. Alec has never experienced something like that, so seeing it is something of a rarity. If anything, Hunter has been the closest family that Alec has ever known. That makes you a sort of brother to him. That means you’re Alec’s responsibility, and if he follows the chain that means Elsa is his responsibility.

 

“I promise you, Hunter. I’ll keep Elsa safe.”

Hunter smiles. He places his pointer and middle fingers against his head then moves them towards Alec. Hunter exits the room and walks through the hall. He looks over and notices a little piece of paper with a tag. Hunter raises his brow and smiles. Maybe there’s a little more he can find out.

 

Hunter walks into the room nonchalantly and grabs the tag. He grins. He tosses it into the air then catches it on the way down. He walks over to the elevator and swipes the card. The elevator beeps in rejection.

“What?”

 

Hunter swipes the card once more only to meet the same rejection. The reason it won’t work remains ever elusive to him. Maybe it’ll do something else helpful. He knows better than to throw away anything that could possibly be helpful. Hunter tosses it in his pocket and clicks the regular elevator. It instantly opens and lets him inside. Hunter hits the button and waits for the elevator to reach the bottom floor. Hunter looks up in the camera and waves his hand.

“Hi ma, hi pa! Great to be at your place of work,” he mocks.

 

Hunter shakes his head at his own silliness. The door opens and Hunter strolls right out of the building. He pulls out his phone and clicks a button. He puts it up to his head and waits. The phone rings for a moment before someone picks up.

“Yeah, it’s Hunter. Listen, (Y/N) and I are coming to Corona soon. Are you both ready for some action?”

The person responds.

“I know, but we may need you. Just be ready, please.”

 

He hangs up the phone and walks through the city. He looks over at a few people who are also standing around. He looks over to a bar and shrugs. He has some time. He walks over to the bar and enters the place. There are some rough looking guys playing pool at the three tables.

“Better watch out for the badass bikers,” Hunter jokes.

 

He sits down at the bar and looks over at the waitress. She nods and walks over to him.

“What can I get for you, hun?”

“Snakebite,” he answers.

She looks at him for a moment before walking away and preparing it. Hunter looks around the bar, getting a feel for the place.

 

The waitress sits the drink down on the counter and looks Hunter dead in the eye.

“I got to make you pay before you drink. We have bad experience with people who drink this.”

Hunter shrugs and grabs his wallet. He opens it up and goes for his card. He only feels the fabric of his wallet. He looks at it and thinks for a moment.

“You little shit,” he whispers.

Hunter grabs a hundred dollar bill and puts it down. The waitress nods and walks away.

 

Hunter grabs the glass and takes a drink. Someone sits down beside him.

“Whiskey,” he states.

Hunter looks over to see Alec. He looks over at Hunter and gives him a small smirk.

“Wow, you’re walking around? I thought you only get around by helicopter,” he chuckles.

 

The woman puts down a small glass of whiskey for Alec. Hunter shakes his head and chuckles.

“Always with the whiskey, huh? Do you ever drink anything else?”

“Orange juice,” he bluntly states, taking a drink. “You know, I got hooked on this when I was fifteen.”

“Really? I never saw you drink it.”

“You were locked up in a room all the time.”

 

Hunter slightly nods and drinks a quarter of his beverage. He looks over at Alec and raises his glass to eye level. Alec looks over and grabs his. They bang cups and take one more drink. Alec laughs a bit.

 

“My father was a big whiskey drinker too. I guess he’s the one who got me hooked on it.”

“My father got me hooked on fighting,” Hunter relates.

“Yeah… I wonder who’ll die first. Me from my whiskey, or you from your fighting,” Alec jokes.

“I don’t know man, I do have (Y/N) now. He’s quite the help; and it’s not like you can share your addiction with your brothers the same way I can share mine.”

“Very true. You know,” Alec starts, staring at Hunter’s drink. “That was my father’s second favourite drink.”

 

Alec sinks into himself and taking another gulp. He finishes the cup, flips it over, and slams it on the counter. The waitress walks over and grabs the cup.

“Another,” Alec tells her.

She nods and walks away.

 

Hunter finishes his drink and sets it down.

“Listen, I’m gonna head out. I want to get (Y/N) ready for the trip to Corona. You can use the rest of my hundred for yourself.”

Alec pats Hunter’s back.

“Good luck Hunter. Try not to do anything stupid, huh.”

“Alec, come on. It’s me,” Hunter smiles.

“Yeah, I know. That’s why I’m concerned.”

 

Hunter retains his smile and shakes his head. He leaves the bar and head towards your house. He looks in the general direction of where you are. He looks around the streets.

“Maybe there are some things I can do before I get back.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A small, old man sits at a desk. He is frantically looking over notes and trying to figure something out. He is sweating. He wipes away some of the sweat from his forehead. His slicked back grey hair is glossy. His large moustache seems damp. A woman strolls in behind him and taps him on the shoulder. The man jumps in his seat and looks over at the woman.

 

“J-J-Juno… what would you like? I mean need,” he asks.

Juno laughs and pushes him off the chair. He falls to the ground and looks up at her.

“Get up, you look pathetic. Even more pathetic than you normally do.”

The man gets up and brushes his coat off.

“Did you finish? I want the device up and running by the time our nano-bots get here,” Juno states.

“A-almost. I’m still not-not sure if it’ll be able to spread across the entire world,” the man explains.

“Well,” she whispers, getting close to his face. “You better hurry, Weselton. If you don’t, it won’t just be the nano-bots being spread across the world. I think some red rain would be entertaining, don’t you?”

 

Duke Weselton doesn’t know how to respond. He doesn’t speak at all. Before Juno can say anything a door on the other side of the room opens. Alistair walks in, bloody and bruised. He is walking normally, however. Juno and Weselton look over at him. Juno breathes in heavily before rushing towards him. She grabs him and pulls him in for a kiss. Alistair chuckles under his breath.

 

“What happened to you,” Juno asks, almost seeming turned on.

“Our son did this.”

Juno feels Alistair’s chest and pushes herself up against him. She loves seeing him like this. He looks so worn, so battle hardened. He looks amazing. Juno clicks his watch and changes him into his business clothes. This is short lived as she just rips the top off of him. She sees the gash in her husband’s skin.

 

Alistair places his hand under her chin and lifts her head to meet his. Juno instantly pulls him in for another kiss.

“Right now. I want you,” she declares.

Alistair laughs and looks over at Weselton. He breaks off from Juno a little bit. She pouts.

“I wouldn’t mind, but do you really want Weselton over there to see you naked?”

Juno angrily looks over at Weselton. The man backs up a bit, worried that she’s about to kill him.

 

“Fine, but… later,” she says urgently.

“Of course, my love,” Alistair smiles. “So, Weselton, how is the device going? Can I bring the nano-bots down here yet?”

Weselton looks over his notes once more.

“I’m afraid not, sir. I don’t think the machine can get enough energy.”

“Don’t worry about that, I can handle the energy problem,” Alistair snickers.

 

“There are also some minor adjustments that need to be made, just to make sure. It should be ready in a few days, sir.”

Alistair smiles and looks at Weselton’s notes.

“I’ll tell you right now that the equation for launch is wrong,” Alistair mentions.

Alistair walks away and passes by Juno. She stares at him then starts following. She comes right beside him and kisses his neck.

“Oh yes, of course. But after I need to leave one more time,” he told his wife.

 

Juno nods and leads Alistair to a private room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

You lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. You’re a little sweaty at the moment. You shuffle your head to the right and see an angel’s face. Elsa is sound asleep beside you. She is cuddling right up beside you. Her hand is on your chest while one of her legs are over yours. You look down at her hand to see the ring you bought for her. That one item signifies everything you feel about her. It shows how much you love her. It shows the fact that you want to spend your entire life with this one woman.

 

If you would have told yourself that ten months ago, you would have laughed. After the incident with Kat, Dan, and the rest of your friends, you didn’t think you would get close with anyone ever again. Yet here you are, engaged to a woman who you have an infinite love for. It’s weird to think about it in that way. People don’t really expect those things in their life. It’s hard to predict the people you end up with. It’s even harder to predict a smooth sailing with them.

 

 It has definitely not been smooth between Elsa and yourself. Between the elementals, Carnage, Elsa’s parents, Hans’ plan to separate you two, Elsa’s death, and the little incident with you and Anna, it hasn’t been easy for you two. Yet somehow you’ve gotten through all of it, no matter how tough it was.

 

You place your hand on hers and rub it with your thumb. She’s so soft. She’s always been soft. You bring her hand to your lips and place a kiss on them.

“I love you, Elsa,” you whisper.

Elsa almost seems to smile at your comment. She doesn’t wake up, but she does fidget a little bit.

 

You graze your fingers across her face before. Slipping out of bed. You grab your clothes and slip them on. You grab your right wrist with your left hand and start rotating your hand in circles. You do the same to your left hand. You rotate your head and hop before walking out of Elsa’s room.

 

You know, why is it that she can fall asleep after sex but I can’t? I feel bad for leaving her but at the same time I don’t want to sit there and possibly wake her.

You walk downstairs to find Kristoff and Anna sleeping on the couch together. You smile and walk to the kitchen. You sit down on one of the chairs and lean on your hands. You stare at the other end of the table. You start to see Adgar. He is eating something and staring back at you. He cuts a piece of meat and places it in his mouth, but he never breaks eye contact.

 

Idun appears beside him, sitting in a seat. She has her hands wrapped around a cup. It seems to be steaming. The two stare at you. You don’t back down and keep eye contact.

“(Y/N)?” A tired Kristoff calls out.

You turn around and see Kristoff rubbing his eyes. You quickly look to the other end of the table, only to see nothing. You shake your head to return to reality.

 

Kristoff walks up to the fridge and looks in it.

“What’re you doing up? Shouldn’t you and Elsa be celebrating?”

“Oh yeah, we celebrated. We did indeed. Honestly, I didn’t think I could last so long,” you jest.

Kristoff lifts his head quickly and ends up smacking the fridge. He rubs the part of his skull that hurt. You laugh at him.

 

“Laugh it up lover boy. So, if you don’t mind, how long did you last?”

You lean against the counter and think for a moment.

“Well, I don’t know time-wise, but Elsa owes me. We went thirty-eight and thirteen,” you confidently state.

“What? Thirty-eight and… oh… so she went thirty-eight?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s impressive, I have to say,” Kristoff compliments.

 

“Trust me, it was not easy. I thought I was done after I reached four, but hey… neither of us are complaining.”

Kristoff bursts out laughing.

“Who would have thought Elsa would be the one keeping YOU going.”

“Yeah,” you nod. “Hey, wait! What is that supposed to mean!”

Kristoff puts his finger over his mouth and smiles.

“You don’t want to wake anyone, (Y/N).”

 

“You… you,” you frantically spew. “You… are a mean person.”

You throw your arms in the air and walk away from Kristoff. Kristoff continues to laugh behind your back. You walk out of the kitchen and see Anna lying on the couch. She looks really peaceful. It’s very much like Elsa. They are sisters after all, so it makes sense that they look similar.

 

Suddenly a knock is heard from the door. You walk up to it.

“I wonder who that could be.”

You open the door to see your brother, Hunter. He has a smile on his face.

“Hey (Y/N), I’m back.”

Kristoff walks up behind you.

“Oh, hey Hunter! Ho-“

Kristoff’s phone goes off, making him stop. He grabs it and walks away.

 

You watch him walk away then remember something you meant to talk to Hunter about.

“Oh yeah, Hunter. I got something to talk to you about. Can we step outside?”

Curiosity takes over Hunter’s face.

“Sure,” he says, stretching the word.

 

You and Hunter step outside. You take a few steps from the door before he stops. You take a few slow steps.

“So, what did you want to talk to me about?”

You don’t answer for a moment.

“Oh, you know,” you say.

You turn around and walk towards Hunter. You rub your hands together and lick your teeth as you walk past him. Hunter keeps his eyes on you.

 

You quickly turn around and throw your fist right into his jaw. Hunter flies across the drive way, bouncing three times before sliding across the ground.

“What. The fuck!” You yell.

Hunter gets up and rubs his cheek. He gets to one knee and looks over at you. He chuckles.

“Man, can he throw a punch. Christ.”

 

Hunter pushes off his knee and stands straight up.

“I get the feeling you’re angry. What’s got your buttons in a twist?”

“Why didn’t you tell me about our family?”

Hunter’s face drops a bit. He never thought you would figure out before he would tell you.

“I was going to tell you. I really was. But you weren’t ready.”

 

His words start to anger you slightly.

“When I was ready? I fought off elementals who were stronger than I was! I fought off those Dukes, who vastly outgunned me! I fought off our father! Someone who not even you could face! How am I not ready Hunter?”

 

Hunter walks closer to you and sighs. He places his hands on his sides and looks at you.

“Look, do you think you could have fought Monarch the way you did if you knew he was your father? But… I suppose I should have told you. It’s just that you’re my little brother. You know how happy I was when our parents first brought you home? I was finally going to be a big brother, and have a responsibility to be that older brother. It’s my job to protect you and keep you safe. I failed that… I really did. But now I can make that better. I know you deserve to know more, I really do. It’s just hard not to see you as my impulsive little brother that needs my help. But you’ve surpassed me. It’s obvious after your fight with Monarch. I’ve never pushed him that far. But that doesn’t mean I won’t stop trying to keep you safe. You’re my little brother. You’re the only family I have left.”

 

Hunter walks up to you and places his hand on your head. He rubs your hair, messing it up and making you squirm. You push his hand off of you and smile at him. You never really thought of it from his perspective. Even though he’s your brother, you haven’t really spent time together as a family. You haven’t developed the bond that Anna and Elsa have. Sure, there is a bond, but it’s new.

 

Maybe you do actually know how he feels. He has a need to protect you and keep you safe. You have that same feeling with Anna, Kristoff, and Elsa. That need to protect them no matter what, even if they don’t want you to. That’s exactly how Hunter feels with you. Maybe it’s just a family thing. A need to protect the people close to you. Then again, your father doesn’t seem to have that quality. You aren’t sure about your mother, though. You haven’t met her. The only thing you have to base her off of is what Pabbie told you; she is insane.

 

“Hunter… sorry. I just don’t like being in the dark, and you know so much about these guys. It just bugs me that you won’t share it with me,” you confess.

Hunter huffs and looks towards the house. He sees Kristoff opening the door. He flicks his head towards him, signaling you to look back there. You turn around and see Kristoff. He has a broken face right now.

 

“Kristoff… are you okay?”

Kristoff shakes his head back and forth. You jog up to him and place your hand on his shoulder.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Pabbie… he…” Kristoff dramatically swallows some saliva. “Pabbie died. His heart just… he couldn’t take it anymore.”

 

You pull Kristoff in for a hug.

“Kristoff, I’m so sorry.”

Hunter approaches the two of you. He reluctantly places his hand on Kristoff’s shoulder. Kristoff doesn’t fight it.

“I knew he was dying but… it just seems so soon,” Kristoff weeps.

“I know buddy. I know,” you console.

 

Kristoff backs off and wipes a tear away from his eye.

“Sorry to ruin your whole wedding mood with this,” he chuckles. “It should be your time right now.”

“Kristoff, really,” you say, raising your arms. “It’s quite alright. Elsa and I have plenty of time for this. Do you know when and if there’s gonna be a funeral?”

 

Kristoff nods. “Yeah, my family mentioned that already. We’re burying him in our back yard two days from now.”

“Is that even allowed?” Hunter chimes in.

Kristoff shrugs. “I’m not sure, but we’re doing it anyway. It’s what Pabbie wanted.”

 

The three of you walk back inside and take a seat on the couches. You and Hunter sit on the two person couch while Kristoff sits with Anna on the three person one. Kristoff blankly stares at the ground for a while. You and Hunter want to talk, but you have to stay quite so Anna can sleep. You look over at Hunter and tilt your head towards the upstairs. Hunter nods.

 

“Kristoff, we’re gonna go do some stuff. Try to get some sleep, alright bud?”

“Yeah… yeah,” Kristoff replies, lost in thought.

 

You stare at Kristoff for a moment and frown. You hate seeing him like this. In fact you can’t remember a time when Kristoff was like this. He was usually happy. Not Anna happy, but he had his charm that never died. Now it’s gone, at least for now. You completely understand, but it’s still sad to see.

 

You and Hunter walk up the stairs and head towards Adgar and Idun’s old room. You walk in and see the two of them. They are both standing near their bed, staring at you. Stunned, you watch them for a moment. Hunter looks at you with confusion. He doesn’t understand why you have stopped moving. He taps you on the back.

“You okay?”

 

You shake your head and blink a few times. The two are once again gone.

What is with me today? Damn.

You open the elevator doors hidden in the wall. You and Hunter enter and go down.

“So this was the Duke and Duchess’ lab, huh? I hope it’s something good.”

“It is,” you confirm. “It has a great training area. It got me leagues stronger.”

 

Hunter brushes that part off. The elevator opens, revealing the training area. You both walk past it and head to the lab. Hunter sits down and starts the computer up. You lean against the entrance to the lab.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m just going to download the entire database. Have you gone through it all?” He asks, focusing on the screen.

 

You rub the back of your head and smile.

“Well, I didn’t really look through it all that much.”

Hunter stops and turns his head to face you.

“Why not?” He loudly asks with a hint of his joking nature. “You had the Hierachy’s second in command’s database and you didn’t explore it all?”

“Nah, I just saw a video about young me and learned about the Dragon’s Tear. That’s basically it. It’s what I can remember, anyway.”

 

Hunter shakes his head in disappointment. He returns his focus to the computer. His fingers graze across the keyboard, working at light speed. You shrug and nonchalantly walk in the training area. You look around the room, trying to think of something to do.

“(Y/N), try doing gravity training. You can go to a max of seven,” Shadow chimes in.

“Seven? I thought I could only do five?”

“Well, I can do seven. I just assumed you’d want to try and keep up with me,” Shadow smugly says.

 

“Oh, you are on! Computer, raise gravity by ten!”

“Ten? Are you cr- ok, you are crazy but this seems a little much.”

“Not caring!” You yell.

 

“Ten times earth’s normal gravity… activating.”

The training room locks off from the lab. Hunter is too preoccupied to notice. The gravity kicks in, making you flinch. You drop to one knee. Your body doesn’t feel too bad, but you do feel heavy. You slowly push off your foot and stand up straight. You take a few breaths and attempt to get a feel for the enhanced gravity.

 

Hunter finishes his download. He grabs a small card and plugs it into the computer. It all downloads onto the card. Hunter grabs it and shoves it in his phone. Before he turns around he thinks of something. He pulls out the card he got from W.A Industries. He places it in and waits for a moment.

 

A few files fly onto the screen. Most of them are junk and not worth looking at. There is one that gets Hunter’s attention. A prototype of something. He opens it up and looks through. It seems to be some sort of dispersal device, but it doesn’t say what it’s dispersing. He realizes it’s another model of the same device he found blueprints to earlier today. The equations are all wrong, however. Hunter’s eyes slide over all the information in front of him. Dates, names, locations, technology. Whatever this thing is supposed to be, it’s big.

 

“They must be sinking millions into this thing. But why? And how far in production is it in?”

Hunter closes the files and pulls out the chip.

“This may be useful for later.”

Hunter gets up and walks towards the door. He stops tilts his head a bit.

“Why is the door closed? Did (Y/N) try and lock me in?”

Hunter sighs and walks over to the emergency release. He clicks it, forcing the door to open. He sees you, jumping around. You aren’t getting that high, which confused Hunter.

 

He walks into the room and instantly falls to the floor.

“Gah, what the hell?” Hunter mumbles.

He tries to push himself up but he can’t. The gravity is beating him. You look over and realize what happened.

“Hunter? What are you doing? I’m training!” You exclaim. “Computer, shut down gravity simulator.”

“Gravity returning to normal,” the computerized voice states.

 

You sprint over to Hunter but overshoot over him. You crash against the wall and fall on your back. Hunter laughs at you as he pushes himself onto his feet.

“You know, you weren’t in such a great position a couple seconds ago! You shouldn’t judge,” you scowl.

Hunter continues to laugh. “I know, but yours is funnier.”

“It’s not my fault! I didn’t have time to re-adjust to the gravity!”

“Excuses,” Hunter smugly states.

 

You shake your head and get onto your feet.

“So, what did you figure out?”

“I know where we need to go and what we have to find. We’re going to Corona.”

You stare at Hunter for a second then huff.

“Corona? You serious? For how long?”

“As long as it takes,” he shoots back.

“I have a wedding to plan!”

“We have a world to save.”

 

You both stare at each other intensely, debating with your minds.

“Look, we have to do this. Nobody else can.”

You shake your head and look away from Hunter. You think of all your friends. You just came back to Elsa and now you have to leave her once more. You don’t know how she’ll react to it, but you have to ask. You know Hunter is right, only the two of you can fight the Hierarchy. Elsa should understand that, right?

 

You glance back at Hunter and nod. He smiles, and extends his arm towards the elevator. You look over to the elevator then back to Hunter. He is walking towards the exit. You catch up to him and enter the elevator.

 

You both exit the elevator once it reaches the house.

“There any place I can sleep?” He asks. “I don’t think I’ve had a good one in weeks.”

You nod and lead him to your room. He nods his head in thanks and walks into your room. You head downstairs and find Kristoff, still sitting in the exact same position. You frown and take a position beside him. He barely notices you. You place your hand on his shoulder for comfort.

“Hey, are you okay?”

He shakes his head. You sigh.

“Kristoff, I know it sucks, but I don’t think Pabbie would want you to be like this.”

“I know. It doesn’t help though.”

 

You lightly laugh and shake your head. “No it does not, but still.”

“You’re coming to his funeral, right?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” you leer.

Kristoff smiles and looks over at you.

“Thanks (Y/N). You’re a real friend.”

You shrug. “I try. Now you should go to bed. You need some rest.”

 

Kristoff accepts your suggestion and heads to Anna’s room. You watch him walk up there, and keep your eyes on him until he enters Anna’s room. You look down at the couch and look at the sleeping Anna. You walk in front of her and carefully pick her up. You she lets out a yawn and snuggles into your chest. You blush a bit. She’s like a cat or something.

 

You walk up the stairs and quietly open Anna’s door. Kristoff is already sawing logs.

I knew all he needed was a nap. I swear he was only here for a minute or so.

You walk close to the bed and lie Anna down. She immediately turns over, throwing her hands on Kristoff. It’s almost like she knows it’s him, as she snuggles right up to him. You are a little touched by the sight.

 

You leave the two to their sleep. You walk out of the room and lightly close the door. You look down the hallway. There is a window that looks on to the city. You walk up to the window and stare out it for a moment. You feel like something is wrong. Something’s going to happen, you just don’t know what. This feeling makes you want to stay with Elsa even more.

 

You turn around and look towards Elsa’s room. A smile creeps up on your face. A strange force makes you go back to her room. You open the door and look over at her bed. She is still sleeping peacefully. You remove your clothes and slide into the bed. You want it to look like you never left.

 

 

 


	28. Changing Your Perspective

Chapter 28: Changing Your Perspective

 

Elsa’s eyes slowly open. She can feel the warmth of another body beside her. She smiles when she remembers who it is. She cuddles up closer and lets out a satisfying moan. She’s ever happy to be beside you, to be in the same bed as you, to know that the person she loves is right beside her, sleeping soundly. There are too few moments where she can truly appreciate being with you. With things the way they are, it’s more and more difficult to take these moments as they are. At least you’re home now. At least you’re safe.

 

Elsa kisses your forehead and slips out of the bed. She walks past her closet and grabs some clothes for the day. She carries them to the bathroom and turns on the shower. She does have to go to work today, and she needs to get going. She quickly finishes her shower and dries her hair and body. She puts on one of her suits and heads to her room. She puts on a little bit of make up before nodding at herself in the mirror.

 

She walks over to you and stares at you. She sits on the bed and strokes your cheek. She leans over and places a kiss on your head.

“I’ll call you later. Try not to get into any trouble, huh?” she giggles.

 

Elsa bounces off the bed in happiness. She walks out of the room and takes a glance at her ring. She smiles at it as she walks down the stairs.

“Elsa!” Someone calls out.

Elsa looks around and notices Kai.

“Hello Kai, did you have fun at the amusement park?”

“Well… Olaf had fun, so I suppose I did,” he sniggers.

 

Kai’s eyes move to Elsa’s hand. Her snowflake diamond ring is very noticeable.

“What is this?” He asks.

Elsa looks down at her ring and smiles.

“(Y/N) asked me to marry him!”

“Oh, that’s great!” Kai expresses, hugging Elsa.

 

“Thank you Kai, but I need to get to work right now.”

“Of course, Ms. Elsa.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Your eyes slowly open and notice the absence of Elsa. So, does that mean she woke up first? You did wake up earlier that night. Or was it day? You didn’t really pay attention to the time when you woke up. You roll off the bed and onto your knees. You raise yourself up and stretch out your arms.

 

The first thing that comes to your mind is Kristoff. He probably isn’t feeling all too happy right now. Or maybe Anna’s making him feel like the happiest guy in the world right now. You walk to your room and change your clothes for the day. You notice that Hunter is no longer in your room. You look around the entire room before you jump to any conclusions. You scour your room for him, but he is nowhere to be seen.

 

You shrug. You know that Hunter can take care of himself so you aren’t worried. You look at your closet for some clothes for the day. You remember that you have that extra set in your watch, but you haven’t worn it yet. That jacket you bought so long ago and you still haven’t worn it. You’re just looking for the right time. For now, anything will do.

 

You throw on an average outfit for the day and leave your room. You stroll over to Anna’s room and lightly place your head against the door. You can’t hear anything. Maybe Anna and Kristoff are st-

 

“Hey (Y/N)!”

You jump a bit and fall on your side. Anna starts laughing hysterically; grabbing her stomach and almost falling to her knees. You roll onto your back and look at Anna, who’s going completely red right now. You roll your eyes and lift yourself up.

“Thank Anna, really appreciate it. You could have approach me in any other way, but it really warms my heart that you greeted me in this way,” you sarcastically state.

 

Anna takes a minute to calm down, but giggles are still in her voice.

“Well, weren’t you the one who was snooping?”

“I was just wondering if you two were awake.”

“You could have just looked downstairs. Wait… what did you mean by ‘you two were awake’?” She asks with an eyebrow raised.

“You and Kristoff. He was in your room when I brought you back to your room last night.”

 

Anna seems completely puzzled by your words.

“Was he not there when you woke up?” You add.

Anna shakes her head. “No, he wasn’t. Maybe he went home or something. I wonder why.”

“Oh, you know Kristoff. He probably has something important to do like… get… ice, or something,” you say, faking a laugh.

 

You know exactly why, but you’re surprised that Kristoff left so early. You’d think that he would tell Anna and Elsa before leaving. Then again, he probably just wants some alone time. It’s understandable. But now you aren’t sure whether to tell Anna and Elsa or not. It is Kristoff’s problem, but it’s something that the two should know. Kristoff is Anna’s boyfriend so she has a right to know about him. There is a privacy matter, but this is serious.

 

 It’s like you and Elsa. It’s been tough, but you try not to keep anything from her anymore. You owe it to her now. Which actually means you need to tell her about Corona. It’s something that she needs to know about. You keep leaving and getting into danger, and you can only imagine how Elsa feels about that. She may feel fine about it, but you aren’t sure. Either way, you need to tell her about it soon.

 

“So, do you know where he is?” Anna happily asks.

“No. We’ll give him a call later. Let’s eat or something.”

“Sounds good. I haven’t had any food yet.”

The two of you begin walking downstairs.

“Really? What time is it? How long have you been up?”

 

“It’s eleven in the morning, I’ve been up since ten,” Anna responds.

“What have you been doing for an hour?”

“I showered, talked with Gerda and Kai, played with Olaf. The usual.”

“Gerda, Kai, and Olaf are back? Where did they go, anyway?”

“Gerda and Kai brought Olaf to the amusement park. They spent the night at a hotel while they were there. They came back late last night while we all slept.”

 

The two of you reach the bottom of the stairs.

“Maybe they know where Hunter is,” you mention.

“Did he leave last night?”

“Well, he took my room last night but he isn’t there anymore. I assume he left at some point last night.”

 

You both enter the kitchen where Gerda is preparing breakfast. She turns to see you and smiles.

“Hello you two. Sleep well?” Gerda warmly asks.

“I slept quite well, I think. At least for the time that I did sleep.”

“What else could you have been going?” Gerda asks.

Anna thinks for a moment. She remembers that you and Elsa snuck upstairs after announcing your marriage. She starts laughing as she grabs something to drink. Gerda doesn’t understand.

 

You notice the confusion on her face.

“I proposed to Elsa last night and she said yes,” you clarify.

Gerda turns her attention to you and smiles.

“Congratulations! So why would… oh, I see. Well, I won’t think about that,” she chuckles.

“Yeah, let’s do that. So what are you making?”

“Bacon and eggs.”

“Sounds perfect,” you smile.

 

Anna finishes her juice and walks towards the living room. You watch her leave then look back to Gerda.

“Should I wake Elsa up for food soon?”

“Don’t bother, she left an hour or so ago.”

 

You acknowledge this with a nod of your head. You trot over to the living room and sit on the couch with Anna. She’s watching some random show that you aren’t really paying attention to. You stretch out and lie across the couch. There is just enough room so you don’t have to lay on Anna, however your legs are somewhat off the edge of the couch. She looks over to you and laughs.

 

“You can lay on my lap if you want. It really doesn’t matter to me.”

You move your head to look at Anna. In the position you’re in, she is upside down. You turn your head back to the T.V.

“I know, I just think it’d be better if we don’t… touch a lot.”

Anna sighs and shakes your head.

“(Y/N), we all know that it wasn’t our faults that we slept together. I understand that you don’t want that to ruin everything again, but it’s okay. You’re my best friend, and I’m going to touch you if I want to.”

 

You move your head towards her once more and raise your brow.

“You’ll what?”

Anna quickly pushes herself towards you and starts trying to tickle you.

“Hey! Hey! Hey!” You spew.

Anna laughs as she assaults you in such a manner. You roll off the couch and fall onto your stomach. Anna takes this opportunity to jump on top of you and attempt to tickle you.

 

“Anna! Why are you… stop it!” You laugh.

“So you are ticklish?” Anna mischievously grins.

She keeps running her fingers all over your sides and around your neck. You try to stop her but she has a surprising edge over you right now. You roll over, causing Anna to roll over onto the ground.

 

With this advantage, you get on top of Anna and start ticking her. She starts laughing uncontrollably as she attempts to push you away.

“Sucks, doesn’t it?” You laugh. “This is total payback!”

“You dastardly fiend!” Anna cackles.

“Dastardly fiend?” You repeat with joy.

 

This goes on for a few minutes. It’s been too long since you and Anna have had moments like this. She was right, though. You have been worried about your relationship with Anna. It’s been strained over this while, even though you’ve been very intimate with her. But you don’t think of that right now. It’s not even on your mind. The only thing that you can think of is the fun you’re having with Anna.

 

“(Y/N)! Anna! Breakfast is ready!”

You quickly shoot your head around like a dog.

“Food!” You yell, running off Anna and to the kitchen.

This makes Anna laugh even harder. Your silly actions are always very… silly. She laughs her way to the kitchen to find you eating bacon. No eggs. Gerda is giving you a stern look.

“You need to eat more than just bacon, (Y/N).”

“But… but… bacon!” You argue.

 

Gerda can’t help but chuckle to the lightest degree. Anna slips beside you and grabs a piece of your bacon.

“No! My bacon!” You yell, trying to grab it.

Anna slips away from you and eats the piece of bacon. You pout and slump down on the table. Anna lets out a smile and grabs another piece of bacon. She walks beside you and places it in front of your face. You look over at her. She is smiling with such sincerity, such care. It’s different. This is a different sort of caring than Elsa shows you. This is something else. Something you can’t put your finger on.

 

“You okay?” Anna giggles.

You shake your head and smile. You grab the bacon and take a bite out of it. Anna giggles and sprightly walks away. You watch her walk away as you finish your bacon.

“(Y/N),” Gerda calls out.

Silence.

“(Y/N)?”

Silence.

 

Gerda turns around to see you looking over at Anna, who is watching TV on the couch, eating bacon and eggs. Gerda walks up to you and snaps her fingers in front of your face. You jump a bit and look at her.

“What’s with you?” She asks.

“Nothing, nothing. Just lost in thought,” you weakly respond.

 

You get up and walk away from the kitchen.

“Where are you going?” Gerda asks.

“Nowhere. I’ll be back in a second.”

 

You leave the backdoor and take a few steps. You look out at the massive amount of land that Elsa and Anna own. You take a few more steps towards the pond and lie down. You stare up at the sky and stare at the clouds that pass by. It’s peaceful. Something Kristoff would probably need right now. You hope he’s okay. You lift your hand up and click the holowatch. You grab your phone and look through your contacts. You still only have three.

 

You shrug and click Kristoff’s contact icon. You click call and hold it up to your ear. You let out a sigh and listen to the ring. You look over to the right. Your heart stops for a moment. You can see Kat and Dan, looking away from you. Kat seems to be sitting on something, but there isn’t anything there. Dan is right behind her, fixing her hair.

 

“Hurry up Dan, we’re going to be late!” She giggles.

Her giggles echo’s through your body. You can hear every change in pitch. Every sound vibrates through your entire body. You can feel Daniel’s breath too. You can’t push it away from you. It’s surrounding you. Encompassing you.

 

“Slow down, we’ll get to the ball soon enough,” Dan chuckles.

The two get up and start to walk towards you. The look in their eyes indicates that they don’t notice you. You stand up and ready yourself for them. They pass right by you, totally ignoring you. You pause for a moment before turning around and reaching out. By the time you turn around they are gone. Your hand stays extended for a moment until you slowly retract it.

 

You stare out until you hear something.

“Hello? Hello?” A quiet voice questions.

You raise your phone to your ear.

“Kristoff?”

“(Y/N)? What do you want?” He bluntly asks.

“I… I…”

 

You can’t come up with words. You can’t even focus right now.

“Are you okay?” He asks.

“Yeah… yeah, I’m fine,” you shake your head. “It’s not me people should be worried about. Where are you? When did you leave?”

“Early. Look, I’m sorry if I worried you. I just wanted to be with my family right now.”

“Yeah… I understand that. Have you told the girls?”

 

Kristoff remains silent.

“I’ll take that as a no. Do you want me to tell them?”

“I suppose. You’re coming to the funeral, right? It’s 1pm tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I’ll be there. The girls will too.”

“Alright, well I’m going to get back to my family. Stay safe (Y/N).”

“You too.”

 

You hang up the phone and toss it into your holowatch. You close your eyes really tight, trying to get back to normal.

“What is wrong with you?” Shadow asks.

You quickly open your eyes, becoming very tense. After a second you relax.

“Nothing, nothing. I’m fine.”

 

Shadow doesn’t respond. You shake your head again as you turn back to the house. You slide open the door and enter the building. Kai is cleaning up the living room while Anna watches her show. You take a right and head up the stairs. You take another right and end up in Adgar and Idun’s room. You activate the elevator and enter it.

 

You lay against the wall, holding your head. That’s two times where you’ve seen this… vision. It disturbs and worries you.

 

Why is this happening?

 

You drag your fingers across your skin, leaving a red trail. You create a fist at your head then pull it away. You let your hand relax, along with your body. Worrying isn’t going to do anything for you. The only thing it could possibly do is make things infinitely worse.

 

The door opens and reveals a lit up training room. Hunter is in the middle of a field, fighting what appears to be twenty men at once. You slowly walk in and cross your arms.

 

Hunter sways his body away from one of the holograms. He instantly lifts his left arm up to block a kick. He then raises his knee to block another kick. Hunter pushes them both back, jumps into the air, then extends both of his legs straight into their faces. He lands, allowing his body to get close to the ground. He looks over to you and smiles.

 

“End simulation,” Hunter commands.

“Simulation ending.”

 

The area returns to the blank tiles it once was. You approach Hunter with a smile.

“Getting a little training in?”

“A little? Ha, more like four hours worth. I have to say, the Duke and Duchess had an impressive training room. No wonder they were so strong,” he compliments.

“Were they stronger than you?”

“What? Hell no. I was leagues above them,” he laughs.

 

This actually surprises you. You don’t really have anything to judge Hunter’s power off other than the time where you both got beaten by Monarch.

“So, how strong are you? Seems you aren’t much more than I am.”

“Hm? Well aren’t you thinking too little of your older brother? I’m actually around your strength, you know? And not your normal strength.”

“My normal strength?” You repeat.

 

“I’m around as strong as you are now in that hyper mode you have. I can keep up with father, unlike you.”

“Excuse me?” You sassily say. “Who was it that got a direct hit on our… father… and who was it that got wrecked by him?”

“Ha, you really need to open your eyes. Do you think I’ve gone this long without being able to stand my ground against him? As you are right now, standing in front of me, you are leagues behind me. But, you technically could be stronger than me.”

 

You don’t hear that last part. The only part you hear is that you’re weaker than Hunter.

“I don’t think so! I’ve done so much more than you have! Alright, let’s have a match!” You yell, backing up and raising your hands.

Hunter sighs and shakes his head.

“Alright man, whatever floats your boat. Just don’t get mad when I win.”

“Oh trust me, you won’t!”

You lock eyes with Hunter for a moment before pushing off your back leg and rush him. You throw a left hook which Hunter easily dodges. He begins moving back as you attack.

 

“This really isn’t going to end well for you,” he taunts, still evading every attempt at a hit.

Hunter sighs. He catches your right arm then delves his knee into your stomach. Your eyes widen and go white. That was more than a light hit. You cough up some saliva. Hunter backs up a centimeter before spinning around and kicking you in the face, sending you across the ground.

 

“It’s hard to admit it, but you aren’t strong enough. There are just some people who have more power than you, and I’m one of them.”

You lie on the ground, holding your stomach. You never thought Hunter would be able to hit you so hard. He always seemed weaker than you, but he beat you in a second. Why did he hold back against Monarch? It doesn’t make sense.

 

Hunter walks up to you and kneels down. You look him in the eye as best you can, but one of your eyes is half closed. Hunter smirks and extends his hand towards you.

“Sorry, I just wanted to get the point across.”

“You… how are you so strong? I guess… I’m nothing…” You mumble.

“You’re wrong. You’re au naturale.”

“What… do you mean?”

 

Hunter’s eyes drift away from yours. You can see some sadness in his eyes.

“I’m only as strong as I am because I was drugged. I’m artificial. Add years of training and… well… here I am,” he snickers.

You feel bad for him. He said that one line with such horror, almost. “I’m artificial”. It’s like he was made for fighting, almost like you are.

 

“Aren’t… aren’t I artificial?”

“No, no you aren’t,” he laughs. “Weird, isn’t it? I’m the only one in the family who is fake. You and our father are natural. Mother too, except she’s down right insane.”

“I’ve heard that a few times now. Why is our mother crazy?”

 

Hunter pulls his hand back and lays down beside you. You get into a resting position as well.

“I don’t know why she’s crazy, I just know that she is. She will kill anyone who stands in her way, or Alistair’s way. If there’s one thing I’ll give her credit for, it’ that she’s loyal. She almost seems completely devoted to our father. If there is such a thing as true love, that is it. A demented, twisted version of it though.”

 

“So… how did our parents meet?”

Hunter looks over at you with a questioning look accompanied by a smile.

“How the hell would I know? Why would you even want to know?”

“I don’t know! It was just a question. Sheesh.”

“Whatever. Well, let’s get moving then,” Hunter says, flipping onto his feet.

You roll onto your feet.

“Where?”

“Corona. We have to go.”

 

“I… can’t yet. I have something to do. I have to go to Pabbie’s funeral.”

Hunter jerks his head a little.

“(Y/N) we don’t have time to mess around.”

“This isn’t messing around!” You shout.

Hunter walks away then crosses his arms.

“After the funeral, we leave. Understand?”

“Fine.”

 

Hunter smiles and turns to face you.

“Now, how about we practice a bit? You seem to need it.”

“Why would you say that?” You joke.

“Well, by how easily I took you down it seems like you need the practice,” Hunter cockily states.

“This time I’ll actually try!”

 

You both rush at each other and launch your fists. They collide, initiating a shockwave.

 

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Anna pulls into the drive way after her little adventure. She went out to get some new clothes, as she always needs to restock on the latest trend every once in a while. And by every once in a while means every other week to Anna. She’s lucky she has so much money.

 

It surprises most people, but Anna doesn’t actually spend a lot of money. It’s not like she couldn’t, what with their parents inheritance and the money Elsa makes, but Anna simply refuses too. With Anna’s amazing fashion sense, she is able to make the best outfits out of the simplest things. She doesn’t need expensive items to make herself look amazing.

 

Anna exits the car and grabs the few bags she bought and walks inside. She has had Kristoff on the mind all day, and felt like she needed some sort of escape from it. She doesn’t like being obsessive, but she can’t help but worry. There is a huge difference between concern and being obsessive. Anna really hopes she is only showing concern. She’s texted Kristoff a few times today with no answer. Anna knows something has to be wrong. There has to be something that’s bugging him.

 

Seems like you and Kristoff deal with things in the same way. You both attempt to cover it up like it’s nothing and keep to yourselves. Maybe it’s a man thing. Anna and Elsa don’t do that. Then again, she only has two men to base this off of, but that’s enough to make this assumption. If she is right, then she needs to talk to Kristoff. At the very least she needs to figure out what’s bothering him. That means she needs to talk to you.

 

Anna walks in the house and sees Olaf playing his video game. She smiles and passes behind him and up to her room. She lays her bags on her bed and smiles at her purchases. It’s a simple pair of jeans, a few shirts and a dress, but she’s still happy about it. Anna gracefully puts the clothes away and leaves her room. She looks around for Gerda and Kai. One of them should know where you are. She has a guess, but she doesn’t like going down there without having to.

 

Anna hops down the stairs and goes to the kitchen. Kai is cleaning some dishes while Gerda puts them away.

“It’s gotten easier as Olaf has grown, hasn’t it?” Gerda chuckles.

“Indeed it has. He doesn’t need as much attention as he used to,” Kai agrees.

 

Anna giggles as she hears them. She walks into the kitchen and taps Kai on the shoulder. He turns around to face her.

“Anna, how are you doing?”

“Good, thank you. Listen, do you two know where (Y/N) is?”

“Probably in the ‘basement’,” Gerda chimes in.

“Ok, thanks!” Anna happily says, trotting away.

 

She heads to her parents room and activates the elevator. After the short trip down the elevator opens and reveals you and Hunter lying on the ground, panting.

“Are you okay?” She yells, rushing over to you.

You lift your head up a bit and smile at the concern.

“I’m fine, Anna. Don’t worry,” you say, half laughing.

 

Anna stops running and proceeds to walk the rest of the way. You raise your upper body off the ground and look at her.

“What’s up?”

“Oh, nothing really. Why are you both so… tired?”

“Training,” you start.

“At seven times earth’s normal gravity,” Hunter adds.

“I’m surprised. You dropped like a pancake at ten,” you joke.

“I wasn’t prepared!” Hunter spews.

 

Anna shakes her head at the two of you.

“Are you coming back upstairs?”

“Sure, I will. What about you, Hunter?”

“I’ll stay down here for a bit. You two go on.”

 

You nod and look back at Anna. You smile as you get onto your feet and walk with Anna. She looks back at Hunter then to you.

“What were you guys doing down here?”

“Beating the tar out of each other,” you laugh. “It’s really the new way to bond with family.”

“No it isn’t!” Anna protests.

“How would you know you… oh, right.”

“Yeah, your girlfriend – no, fiancée – is one of those siblings I have, and we never fight.”

 

“Oh really?” You laugh, clicking the elevator button, causing the doors to close. “Cause I’m pretty sure that I remember Elsa handcuffing you with ice cuffs.”

“That… is different!”

“Different how? It’s still a form of fighting. Plus you both attacked me after! You’re worse than I am!”

“Oh pshh, no.”

 

Anna crosses her arms and pouts. You smile and look towards the elevator wall. Your mind wanders to something you need to tell her.

“Anna… listen, I need to tell you something.”

“Sure, what’s up?” She happily answers.

 

The elevator doors open up and you both step out.

“Well… I don’t really know how to say this… Have you noticed Kristoff has been distant today?”

“Yeah, I did actually. Do you know something about that?” Anna asks, pretending to be oblivious.

“Kristoff is grieving, I guess. Pabbie died last night so he’s with his family.”

“Oh my goodness! We have to go see him. I have to give him a hug and see if he’s okay!” Anna frantically plans.

“No, don’t. We’ll see him tomorrow at the funeral,” you say, gently placing your hand on Anna’s shoulder. “He just needs some time Anna. We’ll see him.”

 

Anna looks up at you and smiles.

“Thanks (Y/N).”

She leans in and kisses you on the cheek, leaving you blushing a little bit. Thankfully she didn’t notice. Anna aims for her room and walks in that direction. She opens the door and turns her head towards you.

“I’ll be in here if you need me, okay? Don’t do anything silly before the funeral.”

You smile at the thought.

“Who, me?”

 

Anna gives you one last smirk before she enters her room. You stroll away from all the rooms and head downstairs. You look over at the couch and see Olaf watching TV.

 

It’s nice to know that there is still time to relax.

 

You skip the last step and walk across the room. You aim for the kitchen until your watch starts going off. You look at it and see your phone ringing. You grab it and answer.

“Hello?”

“(Y/N)? Are you awake?” Elsa asks.

“Well it I wasn’t awake I wouldn’t be answering you, now would I?” You sarcastically respond.

“Aren’t you funny. I meant are you showered and such.”

You look down at yourself.

“Yeah, I would say so.”

 

“Do you have some time? I’m taking a break from work. Want to meet up?”

“Of course. Tell me where.”

“How about that small coffee joint across from the mall? You know which one I’m talking about?”

“Ed’s place?” You guess.

 

“That’s the one, I’ll see you there.”

“Yeah, I’ll head out right now. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Elsa softly responds.

 

You hang up your phone and head to your car.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You pull up on the side of the road. You look out your passenger window to see the coffee shop Elsa described. You get out of your car and walk into the shop.

“(Y/N)!”

You look around to see Elsa in a corner of the coffee shop waving her hand. You put on a smile and walk over to her. You go beside her and give a quick peck on the cheek before sitting across from her.

 

“Hey Elsa, how’s work going?”

“It’s normal. Lots of paper work and such. There are some genuinely interesting projects going on at that place. Right now we’re actually working on a cure for cancer.”

“Isn’t that the work of… I don’t know… doctors and such?”

“We do everything, (Y/N). It surprises me sometimes. We even make drinks!”

 

You laugh as you look through the menu.

“So, how should I repay you for last night?”

You slowly lower the menu and stare at her. She has the most devilish face on right now. It’s actually pretty cute.

 

“So I heard the food is really good here.”

“Are you trying to avoid the question? Why? I’m giving you a compliment.”

“I wonder if the fries are good. Fries should be good, right?” You say aloud.

“You’ve gotten much better over the months. I would like to think I’m a good teacher.”

You laugh.

“You knew nothing more than I did, Elsa. You can’t say that.”

 

Elsa giggles.

“Good to know you’re still listening.”

You give Elsa a funny face then look back at the menu.

“Why is a coffee shop selling fries? This is something else.”

 

A waiter comes up to you.

“Hello, I will be your waiter for today.”

“A waiter at a coffee shop? That’s pretty intricate,” you comment.

“We strive to be more than a coffee shop, sir.”

“I’ll have the special for today, please,” Elsa orders.

“As you wish, Madame. And for you, sir?”

“Fries, please.”

 

Elsa raises her brow at you. You clear your throat and initiate a very regal stance.

“Your finest fish and chips, please.”

The waiter stares at you for a moment before writing both your orders down and walking away. Elsa smacks your arm.

“Ow! Hey!”

 

“What are you, twelve?”

“No, I’m… how old am I, actually?”

Elsa gives you a look spelling out “really?”

“Well, you’re older than Anna but younger than I am. Two years, I believe.”

“Why were you still in high school then? You’re three years older than Anna, and she’s nineteen now. Why were you twenty one in high school?”

 

Elsa takes a sip of her tea and looks at you.

“I suppose I never explained it, did I? But you never explained why you were a year older,” Elsa retorts.

“Well, it was my old parents, actually. I guess I should call them my step parents now. Anyway, we took a year vacation and traveled all around the globe. It was fun, but I missed a year of school because of that. Your turn,” you smile.

 

“I missed three years of school for various reasons. Mostly when I was younger though. Anna and I have been in the same grade since third grade. I preferred it that way though, as I could keep an eye on Anna at all times,” she explains.

“But you were still a little distant?”

“Yes, that I was. You know I was scared of hurting people with my powers.”

“I know, but even when you were that young? You’ve always been looking out for others, haven’t you?” You joke, leaning in on the table.

“I have to. All the people I care about aren’t the best at taking care of themselves,” she smirks.

 

You sit there for a moment thinking about what she just said.

“Hey… are you including me in that list?”

“Of course I am,” she giggles.

“I can take care of myself! I’ve done it plenty of times before!”

“So those times I had to save you? What were those?” She jokingly says.

 

This hits you harder than Elsa meant it to. The only thing you could think of when she said that is when she died protecting you. It almost replays in your mind. The blood on her hair. Her body falling back into yours with hardly any life in it. Her whispering her final words to you. It plays through your mind once more. It was the worst moment in your life, no question. You still haven’t forgiven yourself for that moment.

 

You know how Elsa is, and that she is similar to you in many ways. No matter what, she’ll put her loved ones needs before hers. She did it for Anna during her whole youth. Like you, she isn’t hesitant to put her life on the line for others, and doesn’t want others to be hurt because of her. That time you weren’t strong enough to keep everyone safe and Elsa paid for it. That moment is a mixture of morals and ideals between both you and Elsa.

 

On one hand, you wouldn’t want her to get in the way but if she didn’t you would have died. Your death wouldn’t have done anything for anyone. You almost want to be mad at her for it, but you can’t be. All you can do is be mad at yourself.

 

Elsa can see the conflicted look on your face. She realizes what she said and places her hands on yours. You flinch and look up at her.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m overreacting.”

“Are you sure?” She asks, eyes full of concern.

“Yeah, it’s fine. Anyway, I do have some other stuff to talk about.”

“Oh, like what?”

 

You intertwine your hands with hers.

“You can’t go to work tomorrow, we all have to go to Kristoff’s house.”

“Why?”

“Pabbie died yesterday, and his funeral is tomorrow.”

“Oh my, how is Kristoff doing?”

 

You bob your head to the left and right.

“As good as you can be for someone who just lost their grandfather. But there is more.”

“Oh, and what would that be?”

You tighten your grip, but not enough to hurt Elsa.

“I… I’m going to Corona in two days. I don’t know for how long.”

 

Elsa stares at you for a moment, processing what you said.

“So… you’re leaving again?”

“Yes, and I’m sorry. Hunter and I need to go in order to stop my father. I know you want me home Elsa, and I want to stay, but I need to do this. I need to find him.”

Elsa looks down at the table for a moment. She sees her ring and smiles before looking back up into your eyes.

“We’re a team, (Y/N). I’ll support you no matter what… to a reasonable degree. I still have to make sure you don’t do anything TOO dangerous.”

 

“And going after my crazy strong father isn’t too dangerous?” You chuckle.

“Nah, I think you can handle it.”

You smile and kiss her from across the table. You lean back in your seat and look around.

“So where is our food, man.”

“Is that all you think about?” She laughs.

“Well… thinking back to this morning it just might be.”

 

“What did I miss?”

“Anna stole my bacon.”

“Oh, heavens forbid she take your bacon,” Elsa melodramatically states.

“I know rig- you’re mocking me,” you realize.

“I would never.”

 

You roll your eyes and look around the shop. The waiter approaches your table and gives you both what you ordered. You grab your fish and chips then start digging in on the fries. More the fries than the fish. Elsa giggles and starts eating her meal.

 

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The Next Day

 

You look at yourself with the mirror in your room. You have a black suit on with a white dress shirt underneath. You’ve used the same suit these past few times. There really isn’t need of a second one, so there’s no point in using anyone’s money. You unbutton the buttons near your neck, leaving a little skin visible. You nod and walk out of your room.

 

You exit your room and see Hunter in a grey suit with a blue dress shirt under it.

“Are you coming?” You ask with surprise.

He nods.

“It would be rude if I didn’t.”

You shrug and walk over to Elsa’s room. Hunter passes you and makes his way downstairs. You knock on Elsa’s door then open it slightly.

 

“Elsa, you good?”

You hear a laugh.

“I’m good (Y/N), come on in.”

 

You open the door fully and walk into the room. Elsa is wearing a black dress that ends around her knees. You’ve never really seen her in black, but she looks nice. You even blush a bit.

“Are you ready?” You ask.

“I am. Let’s get Anna and head out.”

 

You and Elsa leave the room and knock on Anna’s door. You don’t hear anything from the other side of the door. You knock one more time.

“Anna?”

“She’s down here,” Elsa informs, looking down on the family room.

 

Elsa goes downstairs without you and meets with her sister. She gives Anna a comforting look before smiling.

“You look beautiful.”

“You look even better,” Anna smiles, remembering the last time she tried to compliment Elsa and said “beautifuller”.

 

You meet up with the girls and lead them towards the door. Hunter already has your car started and ready to go. He is sitting in the passenger side. You open the back door for Anna and Elsa to enter before going to the driver’s seat. You get in the seat and proceed out of the driveway.

 

It’s a silent drive, if anything. Nobody wants to say anything, and you don’t have a good conversation starter at the moment. You were fine with the silence though. It sort of fit the mood. Even though you hate being sad and depressed, this wasn’t a time to be cracking jokes or acting silly.

 

Since it was a quite drive, it seemed to drag on forever. But you got there in time. You pull into the drive way and walk up to the house. Hunter, Anna, and Elsa are all behind you. You knock on the door and await someone to answer. To your luck, it’s Kristoff! He’s in a baby blue suit. You have to hold in a laugh at bulky Kristoff in a baby blue suit.

 

You extend your hand and smile.

“Hey man, how’re you holding up?”

Before Kristoff can answer Anna rushes up to him and hugs him. He pauses for a moment before hugging her with full passion.

 

Heh, seems like he really needed that. He relies on her almost as much as I rely on Elsa, even if neither of us like to admit it.

 

Kristoff and Anna stop hugging but their hands stay together. Kristoff looks at the three of you and smiles.

“Thank you so much for coming on such short notice. It means a lot to me and my family.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the end of the world, buddy,” you nod.

“We’re happy to be here,” Elsa adds.

 

Kristoff leads you all to the backyard where a hole is buried. It’s surrounded by the entirety of Kristoff’s family. A casket is in the middle of them all, right by the hole. You can only assume it’s where Pabbie’s body is being held.

 

Anna stays arms locked with Kristoff while Elsa does the same with you. You all walk up to the casket and take a moment to respect Pabbie. Hunter moves in closer too. The four of you back off a bit and get ready to lower the casket.

 

“(Y/N), Hunter. You want to help me lower it?” Kristoff asks.

You both nod and get into position. Right before you lift you hear something.

 

“Don’t bury him just yet.”

Everyone turns around to see a man standing confidently by his lonesome. Your eyes sharpen instantly. You move in front of Elsa and Anna in a protective manner. Hunter gets his legs ready, but his arms remain neutral.

 

“What are you doing here?” You bark.

The man smirks.

“I’m here to pay my respects.”

 

“Who is that?” Elsa asks.

You turn back to her then face the man once more.

“That… is my father, and the one behind everything we’ve been through.”

 

Anna and Elsa both have a surprised look on their face. Kristoff can’t believe that he met your father before. He showed up one day a while ago to talk to Pabbie.

 

“What is your plan? Are you after the girls? What do you want?” You snarl.

Alistair chuckles.

“I want nothing more than to pay my respects to a dead man. I have respect for a funeral, (Y/N). This isn’t the place for a fight.”

 

Alistair walks closer to the casket, and closer to the girls. You stay in front of them as you move out of Alistair’s way. He walks up to the casket and places his hand on it. He closes his eyes and mumbles a few words. He opens his eyes and looks towards you all. He gives a smile that reminds Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff of you.

 

“So you’re going to lower the casket? Want an extra pair of hands?”

You are a completely skeptical of him, and don’t trust him for a second. Hunter walks up to the casket and grabs one side.

“Well, let’s go.”

 

You stare at Hunter in a confused manner. Why is he so calm around your father? This is a man who has beaten both you and him down. A man who wants you all dead. You don’t like this one bit, but you aren’t going to start a scene right now.

 

Kristoff slowly gets onto the opposite side if Hunter and Alistair. He looks over at you, waiting for you to help. You stare at him for a moment with hesitant eyes. You are both uneasy, but there isn’t anything you can do right now. You look over at Anna and Elsa. They seem more intrigued than anything. Of course they are, it’s your father. Nothing can prepare them for the true evil he is.

 

You get beside Kristoff and lift the casket, not breaking eye contact with Alistair. He has a smile on his face. He doesn’t seem to find his presence disturbing in any way possible. You cringe at his ignorance. The four of you lower the casket into the hole that was prepared for it. You set it down and wipe your hands together.

 

Kristoff’s family starts to push dirt on top of the hole, covering up the deceased Pabbie. You can’t even feel sad right now due to Alistair. His very presence just puts you on edge, and for good reason. However, he isn’t even paying attention to you. He is staring at the hole in deep thought.

 

Does he really want to be here? No. He’s gotta be here to attack us or something.

 

Bulda takes position in front of the now filled whole and starts talking. She goes on about Pabbie’s life and how much he meant to everyone. Alistair moves away from everyone, but remains in the area. You look back at him, seeing exactly what he’s doing. Hunter doesn’t seem to even pay attention to your father. Unknown to you, Hunter was actually paying close attention to him, just in case.

 

Anna stays near Kristoff and Elsa stays by you. She knows you’re uneasy right now, and it’s understandable. You look at Elsa with protective eyes. Elsa smiles and whispers into your ear.

“Do what you have to do. Just be careful. I’ll be right here.”

You lighten up a little bit at her words you kiss her cheek and break off from her. You make your way through the crowd and to your father. He doesn’t even react to your approach.

 

You stand beside him and cough.

“So, who are you here for? Elsa, Hunter, or me?”

“I’m here for Pabbie, child.”

“I don’t believe you. You have no ulterior motive?” You question.

 

Alistair chuckles and looks around quickly before glaring at you.

“We may be enemies, but that doesn’t mean I have no respect. This is a funeral. A funeral is no place for a fight. Let’s add to the fact that Pabbie was a dear friend and mentor to me. His loss is tragic, and I feel like I should be here for his funeral. It’s surprising that you have such little respect for a grieving man. But for the sake of argument let’s say I didn’t know Pabbie; that wouldn’t mean I would attack you,” he scowls, looking away from you. “As I said earlier, I respect funerals. You’re lowering me to Hans’ level, and that I won’t allow. If you want to fight then fine, I shall. But I will end it quickly so the soil doesn’t harden up.”

 

You are a little taken back by his speech. You’ve never seen your father be respectful in any form. Then again, you’ve only seen him twice and those two times it ended with you bashing each other’s faces in. More your face than his, but still.

 

You fidget a bit before lowering your head.

“My apologies. I suppose you have a point.”

“You’re apologizing now? Ha, that’s not something I thought I would hear from you,” Alistair mentions.

“What? Why?”

“Well, not to me anyway. We don’t generally see eye to eye on most things.”

“To be fair, I don’t even know your perspective on most things,” you retort.

 

Alistair nods.

“Fair enough. You know, there is one thing that Hans said that was true, even if I hate to admit it. The people in my organization, they’re just men and women. I’m just a man with a purpose.”

“And what would that be, father?”

Alistair looks over at you and hides a smile. He almost likes it that you’re calling him father.

“I want order. Peace. I don’t see what’s so wrong with that.”

“Try diplomacy,” you mutter.

“That never works. Just men in suits yelling at each other. I’m a man in a suit that gets things done."

 

“And what would those ‘things’ be?”

“Well, (Y/N), I can’t spill all my secrets,” he smiles.

You turn away and stare at Elsa. She is standing next to Anna as regal as ever. You have no idea where she gets it. It must be natural for her. Alistair sees you staring at her.

 

“She’s a beautiful woman.”

You give him a death stare.

“That she is,” you sigh. You realize who you’re talking to. “But that isn’t your concern!”

“You know you remind me of me when I met my wife.”

“Do I now?”

“Protective. Loving. A little quirky, and you love to make jokes. Sound right?”

“I… yeah…”

 

He laughs.

“It’s genetic, I think. How do you think you got your good looks?”

You give him a doubtful look, causing him to chuckle some more. There is a silence for a moment before he breaks it.

“So, you play guitar, correct?”

You look over at him. “I do, as well as a few other instruments.”

“I used to play guitar when I was younger. I actually started out on the bass in the school band. I was the only bass player, which means it all fell on me. I remember one time there was a bass solo in a song that I just couldn’t do, and every time we got to that point I would always mess up and everyone could hear it. I hated it.”

 

You look over at him and give a halfhearted smile.

“I know the feeling. I hated not being able to play songs. It made me even more determined to learn it.”

“Trying to prove people wrong?”

“Trying to prove to myself that I could do it,” you correct.

 

Alistair puts his hands in his pockets.

“I… I want to thank you (Y/N).”

Your entire body fills with confusion.

“Thank me? Why?”

Alistair moves his eyes in Hunter’s direction.

“You may be my enemies, but you are my sons. I guess… it’s nice to know we’re not entirely different. But, I want to make one thing clear.”

 

You gesture him to continue.

“After today –after this funeral – we are still enemies. If you get in my way again, I will kill you.”

 

You stare at him for a moment. You’re completely conflicted at the moment. On one hand, this is a man that put you and Elsa through hell. Not to mention the one who orchestrated everything about your project, and the elemental project. He’s a person who deserves to die for all the pain he’s caused, and yet he’s so relatable. Of course he is, he’s your father. But you imagined him to be more like Hans, honestly. This man you’re talking to has honour, respect, and he’s truthful. At least he’s telling you that this changes nothing, but he also told you that he enjoys being able to talk to his son. You can barely make sense of it.

 

“Oh yes, and how is my other son doing?” Alistair questions.

 

Other so-

 

“He’s talking about me dumbass,” Shadow remarks.

“He says ‘hi’,” you relay.

“No I didn’t!”

“I highly doubt it,” Alistair snickers. “But I think I’ve been here long enough. I should get moving.”

 

Alistair walks closer to the crowd and towards Kristoff, Anna, Elsa, and Hunter. The four look over at him with questioning eyes.

“You’re (Y/N)’s dad?” Anna asks.

“Yes, indeed I am. I just came over here to give you my regards. He was one of my close friends, so I somewhat know how you feel. I sympathies for you and your family,” Alistair wishes, directing it at Kristoff.

“Oh… well thank you.”

 

You make your way with your friends and take position beside Elsa. Alistair looks at Elsa and sizes her up.

“I assume you’re keeping my son in line?”

Elsa doesn’t respond. She maintains eye contact and thinks. Alistair smiles at this.

“Well, I couldn’t think of someone else who could put up with him. All the happiness to both of you for your upcoming wedding.”

 

Elsa reacts to this, hiding her ring behind her other hand. Alistair begins to walk away but turns his head toward you and Hunter.

“Let’s hope you both live to see that wedding. If you were smart, I would suggest you not going to Corona.”

Hunter snickers. “You’d be disappointed if we didn’t, don’t fool yourself.”

 

Alistair shrugs and leaves the backyard. You and your friends stare at him until he leaves. You are noticeably on edge, so you decide to take a moment for yourself. Kristoff, Anna, and Elsa watch you walk away. You don’t go far, but you are away from everyone.

 

“Maybe you should go talk to him?” Anna suggests.

Elsa looks at her sister and nods. She maneuvers out of the crowd and towards you. You gets behind you and wraps her arms around you, pressing her body against yours. You don’t resist her at all. In fact, you put your arms around hers and hold them.

 

“Are you okay?” She softly asks, laying her head against your back.

“Elsa… I want you, Kristoff, Anna, and Olaf to leave town. Find somewhere else to be. Somewhere safe.”

“What? Why?”

You turn around to face her. You place your arms on her shoulders in a loving manner.

 

“I don’t want anything to happen to you guys while I’m gone.”

“We’re tougher than we look. How many times do I have to tell you?”

“Elsa, as tough as you are it’s just… I… I just feel that if I’m not there then it’s not enough, you know?”

Elsa smiles and kisses you.

“You’re so cute when you’re concerned.”

“Is that a way to say you guys aren’t going anywhere?”

 

Elsa nods her head with a big smile on her face.

“You are so stubborn.”

“Oh, I’m the stubborn one?”

“Yes you are,” you laugh, picking her up and spinning around.

Elsa giggles until you put her down.

“Come on, let’s get back to the funeral,” she recommends.

“Yeah, that sounds good.”


	29. Arrival In Corona

#  **Chapter 29: Arrival in Corona**

 

Kristoff decided to stay behind to help his family out some more. None of you found any reason to fight him on the manner. Frankly, you’re just glad he’s okay. The presence of your father is still disturbing to you, however. You understand that he may have had some respect for Pabbie, and you’re relieved that he didn’t hurt anyone. But now you’ve all seen his face. You gather he’s one to keep to the shadows and pull the strings from back there. When he completes whatever his final goal is, he’ll want to wipe out anyone who knows who he is. That now includes Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff.

 

Elsa places her hand on yours. You turn your eyes from the road to Elsa. Luckily you’re at a red light and aren’t putting anyone in danger.

“You worry so much lately. You’re going to get wrinkles you know.”

“You’ll get wrinkles before I do,” you chuckle.

Your laugh is short lived as Elsa punches your arm.

 

“I can’t believe you said that,” Anna laughs.

Hunter simply shakes his head and stares out the window. He is also a little concerned about Alistair showing up, but he’ll speak to you about it later. Besides, you’re both going to Corona soon. There’ll be plenty of time for some brotherly bonding there.

 

“It just kind of slipped out of my mouth. I speak only truth!”

Elsa hits you again.

“Ow, hey! It’s not my fault that you’re older than me!”

“Not by much! You’ll be all fat by that time,” she rebuttals.

“No I won’t! Do you not see my body AND my work out method! I’ll be fit until I die!”

 

Elsa rolls her eyes and looks out the window. Hunter and Anna stare out their respective windows as well. You sit silently with a smile on your face as you drive. It takes no more than a few minutes to reach your house. You pull into the drive way and unlock the doors. Everyone piles out of your car and heads into the house.

 

You immediately go to your room and change out of the suit into some regular clothes. You leave your room and head down the hallway to the stairs. You look down to see Anna and Elsa chatting a bit. You don’t know where Hunter is though. Your fist guess is the underground lab, but you could be wrong.

 

You slide down the railing of the stairs. Once you get close to the bottom you push off and land on the couch next to Elsa. Elsa turns to see what just happened. Before she even knows what’s happening you steal a kiss and lie back on the couch.

“Well hello to you too,” she giggles. “So Anna, what were you saying?”

“Oh nothing really. So (Y/N)… was that your dad?”

 

Elsa rests her head in one hand.

“Way to be subtle Anna,” she says under her breath.

“Yeah, that was him.”

“He seems very polite,” Anna smiles.

“Humble too. But from what you’ve told me it’s all just a ruse though, right?” Elsa comments.

 

You shake your head. “I think so. He’s a tough old guy, and a smart one too. Who knows what his plan was. Hunter thinks he’s in Corona. Or that he’s going to Corona, so we’re going to go there. Oh yeah, I know you wanted to talk about it.”

Elsa sighs. “If it’s what you need to do then go do it. As I said, we’ll be fine here. I might even be able to help you.”

You raise your brow.

“How would you help?”

 

Elsa opens up her phone and starts going through some files.

“I am the CEO of W.A. Industries. I have more power than you think. I can help you.”

“You do know that the Hierarchy used to control that company. What makes you so sure you can find something?” You ask.

Elsa shrugs. “I’m not sure I can, but I do know I’m not going to just sit around while you gallivant around the world causing all sorts of mischief.”

 

You smile and wrap your arm around her, pulling her close to you. She embraces this by resting her head on your stomach. Anna smiles to herself. She never gets tired of seeing her sister cuddling with you. It’s fun to remember that Elsa is head over heels for someone. She used to give lectures about boys and love when the two were younger, but now Elsa’s more into a relationship than even Anna.

 

Suddenly an idea pops into Anna’s mind.

“Hey, where are you going to stay in Corona?”

You lightly shrug. “Probably a hotel or something. Why?”

“Well, you could save that money and maybe stay with Rapunzel and Eugene! The two really liked you and I’m sure they have the room to fit you and your brother.”

 

Elsa bobs her head side to side, contemplating this.

“That doesn’t sound too bad, as long as the two were okay with it. Besides, they do have a good feel for the city. It might help you out a bit.”

“Alright, that sounds good,” you nod.

“I’ll call them right now!” Anna says, jumping off the couch and rushing into the kitchen.

 

You laugh at the sight. Elsa lets out a little giggle as well. She starts drawing circles on your chest with her finger, bearing a smile on her face. She looks up at you and kisses you. You move the hair out of her face and kiss back. After ten or so seconds you both break apart from each other. You both have the look of fulfillment.

 

All of a sudden you see Elsa bear an uncomfortable face.

“Are you okay?”

She places one hand on her stomach and smiles.

“I’m fine, really. It was just cramps.”

“Oh… is it like… your time of the month or something?”

 

Elsa raises her brow and smiles.

“Do you really want to know?”

“Not really.”

Elsa laughs. “Well it’s not. Maybe I just have a stomach ache or something. I’ll be fine.”

“You sure?” You ask, stroking her cheek.

“Positive,” she warmly smiles.

 

Elsa kisses your cheek and slips away from you, leaving you sad. She looks back and sees your pouting face.

“Oh don’t look at me like that.”

You continue to pout.

“You’re a child, you know that?”

Still pouting.

 

“Oh fine,” she submits, sitting back on the couch.

You laugh and get off the couch, leaving Elsa with her arms wide and her face questioning.

“I was just joking around with you.”

Elsa start pouting.

“Oh come on. You can’t beat me with…”

She changes to a very sad, very cute looking puppy dog face. You spin your head around and sit beside her. She claps her hands in victory and smiles at you. You give a jokingly evil look.

 

Anna comes back in the room and turns off her phone.

“I just spoke with Rapunzel and she was okay with the idea. Eugene and her will be at the airport to pick you both up!”

“Awesome! It’ll be cool to see the two of them again,” you admit.

“Hopefully you don’t walk in on Rapunzel like last time,” Elsa laughs.

 

Anna’s eyes widen and a smile forms.

“What? What do you mean?”

You slam your hand against your face and fall back on the couch. Anna rushes onto the couch, and on your legs. She shakes Elsa.

“What happened? What happened?”

Elsa laughs and leans back to look at you. Even with your hand on your face, she can still tell you’re red with embarrassment.

 

“I don’t know Anna, let’s ask (Y/N),” she smugly suggests.

You widen your eyes and dart them between Anna and Elsa – the unbeatable duo.

“Yeah (Y/N), what happened?” Anna smiles.

“I… well you see,” you back up on the couch and end up falling off the edge. You quickly get back on your feet with a stupid smile. “It was really all just a HUGE misunderstanding, you know?” You explain, moving from the door area to the stairs. “I suppose it really was just-“

 

You don’t finish as you bolt upstairs. Anna and Elsa give each other a devious look. The two get rush upstairs and follow you to your room, which is where you are hiding. You lie on your bed for a second.

“Why do they always have to gang up on m-“

 

The two burst through your door and jump on top of you, laughing the entire time.

“Hey! Whoa! What’re you two doing?”

“Oh nothing,” Elsa says with a coy smile.

You give her a jokingly stern face as you try to fight off the two. After a few minutes of trying to gain your bearings you manage to get off the bed. You quickly grab Anna and Elsa with each of your hands and hold them in the air. They cross their arms and pout while you do this.

 

“You know, this is actually pretty fun. But seriously, how old are you two anyway? Sheesh.”

Elsa smiles and waves her hand a bit. A giant ice hand appears behind you and picks you up. Due to this, you let go of the two girls. Anna and Elsa turn around and see you hanging in the air unable to escape Elsa’s icy grip.

 

“This. Isn’t. Funny.” You grunt.

Anna and Elsa burst out laughing at the situation you’re in. You aren’t as amused as they are, however. Elsa and Anna share a high five before Elsa walks closer to you. She uses some ice to raise herself to your level then taps your nose.

“Will you hold the two of us like that again?”

“You’re really doing this right now?”

She nods.

 

You let out a long sigh and shake your head.

“Nah, it’s too amusing for me.”

“Then I’ll just leave you like this for the rest of the day. Let’s go get some chocolate Anna.”

Anna laughs. “I like that plan.”

 

The two leave the room. You wait until you hear the main door open and close before punching the ice hand – shattering it into pieces. You land on the ground and brush yourself off.

“Jeez, those girls. Maybe I can get a little pay back,” you plan, caressing the fist you punched the hand with.

You leave your room and look around for Olaf. You find him playing with action figures in his room.

 

“Hey Olaf, want to go get ice-cream?”

Olaf bounces up and rushes towards you.

“Yeah! I bet it’ll taste real cold.”

You chuckle. “Yeah, that it will.”

 

You and Olaf walk down to the door to put your shoes on. You grab your keys and leave the house. Olaf gets in the back seat while you enter the driver’s seat. You wait for a moment before an idea pops into your mind. You look at your holowatch.

 

_You know, this thing is supposed to do a lot more than I know of. Maybe…_

You open it up and toss your keys inside of it. A little screen appears asking you if you want to “sync with vehicle”. You click yes. The keys shoot out of the watch but a new icon has appeared. You click the car icon. Suddenly your car starts up. You smile at your genius. You look in your rear view mirror to see Olaf happily bouncing around in the back of the car. He seems eager to get going.

 

You drive out to the road and head into Arendelle.

“Hey Olaf, do you mind if I pull a little prank on your sisters before we get ice-cream?”

“Depends… can I get an ice-cream cake?” He bargains.

“Sure, I can do that for you.”

“Then that sounds fun!”

 

You drive through town and into a small parking lot. There are a few stores all over the place. One of them is Elsa and Anna’s favourite chocolate store. Why they need to go out to get chocolate is a mystery to you. They still have that massive chocolate haul you got Elsa months back. You even got it made by the same people that the two go to, but why on earth would they use that? It’s not like you had to put in a lot of effort to get that chocolate for them.

 

You look into the store and see the two girls at the counter. You think of a friendly way to mess it up a little. Nothing mean, but something that will make them suffer a bit. You get an evil idea, and it shows on your face. You turn back to Olaf.

“Stay here. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

 

You leave your car and quietly enter the store. Elsa and Anna don’t notice you, which is exactly what you want. You sneak behind them and look into their purses, which are hung behind them. You grab their wallets and slip into a booth where they can’t see you. This may be a little mean, but you know when to stop.

 

“This was actually really good,” Elsa states.

“It was. Hey, do you think he got down?”

“Oh, of course. But it was really funny seeing him squirm like a little kid,” Elsa laughs.

“Yeah, it was,” Anna giggles.  “So we should go back now?”

“I suppose. Check please,” Elsa calls out.

Someone walks buy and places the bill down for them.

 

 Elsa grabs her purse and looks through it. You watch and wait. Elsa begins frantically looking through her purse.

“Is something wrong?” Anna asks.

“I-I can’t find my wallet. All my money’s in there!”

“That’s okay, I can pay this time,” Anna offers, going through her own purse.

Anna becomes frantic as well.

“Where’d mine go? I can’t find it!”

 

The two look at each other and try to come with something. They can’t just leave. They have to pay somehow.

“Where did we leave them?”

“I never took mine out of my purse!” Elsa says, looking through her purse again.

You move back behind the booth and start laughing to yourself. You know that Elsa has a need to keep everything organized and proper. If anything is out of place for her, she gets a little… paranoid.

 

“I don’t understand! Where could it have gone?”

“Did someone take both of our wallets?” Anna suggests.

“No way, they were right beside us.”

“Then what happened?”

 

One of the servers approaches them.

“Are you having a problem?”

“No, not at all,” Elsa barks.

 

You roll your eyes and exit your booth. You walk between the two and toss a fifty dollar bill onto the counter.

“(Y/N)?” The two question.

“There you go. Come on girls, let’s go.”

 

The two are so pre-occupied with you that they don’t notice you place their wallets back in their purses. You smile as you wrap your arms around both of their shoulders and walk out of the store. You pat their backs and go to your car.

“Try not to get in trouble girls. I can’t always bail you out.”

 

You wink before getting in your car and drive off. Anna and Elsa sit there with a confused look on their face. Elsa crosses her arms and squints her eyes at the car.

“Hey Elsa… look.”

Elsa looks over at Anna. Anna pulls out her wallet and shakes it a bit. Elsa looks in her purse and sees her wallet. She shakes her head and looks towards the direction of the car.

“He got us… He got us good.”

 

You pull into an ice-cream store and park the car. You and Olaf exit the car and walk into the ice-cream store. You both walk up to a fridge and look through all the cakes.

“Which one do you want Olaf? It’s all for you.”

Olaf looks through all of them and points to one with a small snowman on it. You open the fridge and grab the cake. You bring it to the counter and smile at the girl working there.

 

“Hi, this is it.”

“Is this for your son?”

“What? No, he’s not my son. He’s my fiancée’s little brother,” you chuckle.

“A fiancée? Should have known someone like you would be taken,” she smiles.

You are a little taken back, but you recover instantly.

“Well thank you.”

 

She scans it and clicks a few buttons.

“$27.73 please.”

You throw another fifty down. She takes it and gives you change back.

“Thank you very much.”

 

You take the change and give one smile before leaving with Olaf. You both get in the car and drive off. You toss the cake into the back seat.

“You can have one piece as long as you don’t drip ice-cream onto my car or anything.”

Olaf nods and goes for the cake.

 

You get back to the house and bring the cake back into the house. Olaf surprisingly only ate three slices of the cake. You walk in and see Anna and Elsa sitting on the couch watching a show. You take off your shoes and bring the cake into the kitchen.

 

Olaf runs up to the girls and sits in between them.

“(Y/N) bought me a cake!”

 

You cringe when you hear that.

 

“(Y/N)!” Elsa shouts, stretching out your name.

“Yes honey?” You answer.

“Can you come here for a second?”

“Why do I need to do that?”

“Would you rather us talk upstairs?” She offers.

 

“Yes! Sounds fantastic!”

You go to the main room only to see Elsa already walking upstairs. Anna laughing to herself at your expense. You stick out your tongue at her. Olaf runs up to you.

“Are you in trouble?”

“No, I’ll be fine Olaf. I know how to deal with Elsa.”

 

You walk up the stairs and look around for which room Elsa went into. You notice her room’s door is a little open, so you assume that’s the one she went into. You already have a plan to combat her possible onslaught of words. You open her door and walk in. You see Elsa looking out her window.

 

“Why did you do that to us?” She asks, turning around. “I think yo-“

Elsa has no time to react. You slam your lips onto hers. She loses all control over herself. It’s a weird but pleasant feeling for Elsa. She wraps her arms around you and pulls you closer. You pick her up and bring her to the bed.

 

You lay her down and lift up her shirt, placing kisses down her stomach. You reach her jeans and stop. You look up and show your lustful eyes. She looks down at you and gets the chills.

“Are you going to continue?” She asks.

You pause for a moment. You push off the bed and throw your hands in your pocket.

“Nah, I think I’ll be heading to bed or something now.”

 

Elsa widens her eyes at your comment. You can’t just build her up like that then walk away. You’re about to leave her sexually frustrated. Elsa picks you up with some ice and tosses you on the bed. She locks you down with ice on your arms and legs. You chuckle and look down at her.

“Someone’s a little-“

 

Elsa cuts you off by crashing her lips onto yours. She slowly pulls away and looks down at you. She’s got you mounted for one, but you can’t go anywhere since you’re locked up. Well, you could get out easily, but that might make Elsa feel bad.

 

Elsa slowly lifts her shirt off of her, revealing her stomach and bra. She then takes off her bra and leans back down on you, allowing her uncovered skin to meet your clothes. You raise your brow at her attempt to tease you. It’s a shame that you can break out of these. It takes the fun out of this.

 

“You know, I don’t like it when you do something like that to me,” she whispers in your ear.

“Do what? What could I possibly do to you?”

“I don’t know. What could you do to me?” She playfully asks.

 

You smile.

 

_Man, how can she possibly be this sexy?_

You break out of your shackles and roll on top of her. She giggles as you start to kiss her neck.

“How about I show you what I can do to you?”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You and Elsa sleep soundly. Your arms are wrapped around her while her arms are around yours. You are peacefully dreaming about silly little things that bring warmth to you. It’s a nice sleep that couldn’t possibly be-

 

“Get up!” Anna yells into a megaphone.

You fly into the air and land on the floor. Elsa rubs her eyes and looks over at Anna.

“What are you doing? Where did you even get a megaphone?”

“Kristoff bought it for me a while ago. I was saving it for a special occasion,” she smiles.

 

 

You let out a loud, agitated moan.

“Aaaaaahhhhhhh,”

The two completely ignore you.

“And why did you choose today to do this?” Elsa questions. “I mean… there are easier ways to wake us up… or at least just him.”

“Aaaaahhhhhhhh,” you repeat.

“Well he has to get moving. His flight is today and you know how annoying airports can be. Besides, Hunter didn’t want to see the two of you naked. Thankfully you’re both covered up.”

“Then why didn’t you just wake him up?” Elsa complains.

 

“Well I would have, but you just HAD to spend the night together,” Anna says, poking fun at Elsa.

“It’s not my fault. He started it.”

“But who played along?” Anna smirks.

Elsa takes a moment to stare at Anna. Elsa throws a pillow at Anna then buries her face in a pillow.

“Shush,” Elsa hisses.

 

Anna starts laughing.

“Aaaaaaahhhhhhh,” you continue.

“So come on (Y/N)! Get dressed and ready!” Anna encourages.

“How can you expect me to do anything when you scream in my ear WITH A GODDAMN MEGAPHONE!? Aaaaaaaahhhhhh”

 

Anna rolls her eyes and walks out of the room. You throw your arm onto the bed a few times before gripping the mattress and pulling yourself up. Elsa looks over at you and smiles.

“How’re you doing?”

“I think I’m deaf now,” you sulk.

“You’ll get over it I’m sure,” she giggles. “But Anna has a point, you do have a flight to catch.”

 

You roll your eyes and head to your room. You grab some clothes and bring them to the shower. You don’t take more than seven minutes in the shower. You put on some jeans and a long sleeve white shirt. You pull out Elsa’s necklace and hang it over your clothes. You leave the bathroom and head downstairs. Hunter has some bags at the door filled with stuff for both of you. He and Anna are making some small talk before you show up.

 

“So you actually got us a place to stay? I suppose that’s fine,” Hunter shrugs. “Where’s the location of the house?”

“Around the middle of Corona, I think. Why?”

“Just curious.”

 

Hunter looks over and sees you coming down the stairs. He lifts his forearm up and moves his fingers as a greeting. You nod and move beside Anna.

“So Anna,” you say, wrapping your arm around her shoulder. “Should I pay you back for that little megaphone stunt?”

Hunter starts laughing.

“That’s what that was? Ha, nice one.”

“I know, right!” Anna bounces.

 

You let your hand droop down off of Anna. You walk away from the two and head to the kitchen.

“(Y/N) we’re gonna grab something to eat on the way. Let’s get going,” Hunter informs.

With one leg in the air you quickly spin around and proceed to walk back towards him.

“We’re going right now?”

Hunter nods. He grabs some of the bags and flicks his head towards the door. You grab a bag and head towards the door.

 

“You were going to leave without saying bye?” Elsa questions.

You turn around and see Elsa at the top of the stairs. She is already showered, dried, and dressed. You have no idea how Anna and Elsa get ready so quickly. You remember Anna ran into her room for less than five seconds and had her hair and outfit ready. It amazes you how they do it.

 

“Well, of course not.”

Elsa rolls her eyes, ”I’m sure.”

Elsa walks down the stairs and meets you at the bottom of the stairs. She’s on the last stair, making her more or less as tall as you. She wraps her arms around your neck and stares into your eyes. You let out a small smirk.

 

“You’ll be okay, right?” She asks.

“I’ll be fine, Elsa. Don’t worry so much.”

“I can’t help it. I don’t want my fiancée getting hurt.”

“I can’t guarantee I won’t get hurt. I won’t die. I’ll give you that one.”

Elsa shakes her head, making some strands of hair fall in front of her face. She looks up at you with one eye.

“Just come back to me, alright?”

 

You softly place your lips on hers. She gives in and closes her eyes. She pulls you in a little closer to deepen the kiss. You keep it simple and sweet. You keep it away from the hot and heavy stuff. You retract your lips at the right time to make Elsa want more. She leans forward to keep your lips together. You can’t help but laugh inwardly.

 

You finally separate. Elsa’s ever alluring eyes stare into yours.

“I’ll always come back to you. I promise.”

You kiss Elsa’s forehead and turn back to the door. You pick up the bags and head out the door. You turn back to Anna and nod.

“I’ll see you later Anna.”

She smiles, “Take care of yourself.”

 

You leave the house and head towards your car. One of the back doors is open with a few bags there. Hunter is in the driver seat. You toss the bags into the back and close the door. You head to the passenger seat. As soon as you enter the car it starts. Hunter looks around in confusion. You smile and lift up your arm to show your holowatch.

 

“It’s connected. I’m slowly learning its features.”

Hunter shrugs and begins your trip to the airport. You pull out your phone and click Kristoff’s icon. The phone rings for a moment.

 

“Hello?”

“Hey Kristoff, it’s me.”

“Oh hey (Y/N), what’s up?”

“I’m heading to Corona. I just wanted to say goodbye.”

“Oh, yeah I forgot about that. Well, I hope you find what you’re looking for there.”

“Me too. Oh, and could you keep your eye on the girls for me? Make sure they don’t get into trouble?”

Kristoff laughs. “Yeah, I gotcha. Have fun in Corona! Make sure to call us.”

“Of course. See ya Kristoff.”

 

You hang up and toss the phone into your watch. You position your arm so you can lean on it and stare out on the road. Hunter looks over at you for a second then back to the road.

“If all goes well we won’t be gone for long.”

You don’t react. Hunter sighs.

“We can do this (Y/N). We can.”

“I know we can… it’s just… When I talked with father he wasn’t as bad as I thought. He seemed sane… he had opinions and personality. Unlike Hans, I actually connected with him to an extent. I don’t feel like he’s an enemy as much as we just have conflicting interests.”

 

Hunter bobs his head and makes a right turn.

“He’s worse than you know. Though what you saw is his usual personality, he has a dark side if you push him far enough.”

“Don’t we all?” You point out, referencing your old problem.

Hunter sighs and continues to drive. You stay silent and continue to contemplate.

 

“I wouldn’t start getting sympathetic with our enemy,” Shadow advises.

“Oh, Shadow. Good to hear you again. What’ve you been doing?”

“Training.”

“How do you train without a body to fight with?”

“I train myself mentally. I practice my skills in your mind so I can use them more effectively. Are you going to comment on my first statement?” He asks.

“Well… It’s not that I’m sympathetic it’s just… I don’t know…”

 

“Listen, they aren’t your friends. They have their own goals, even if they aren’t purely evil. People don’t have to be psychotic to have bad intentions. Hans is batshit insane and needs to die, no question. Alistair isn’t batshit insane – at least of what we’ve seen – but he still needs to die. Don’t let their personality cloud your judgment. They won’t hesitate to kill you, so don’t hesitate to kill them. If you don’t finish them, I will.”

 

If there’s one thing you can give Shadow, it’s that he’s blunt. He’s also effective. You still don’t know what his end intentions are. Is he fine with sharing a body for the rest of his life? It’s something you never really chatted about, but you’re sure it would come up in time. Shadow has always proved himself an ally to you. Thinking he’s anything else is silly. He has as much to lose as you.

 

“I know you will. At least it’s something I can fall back on,” you say, letting out a smirk.

“I wouldn’t rely on me. You should be able to do everything without my help. I know I’m training so I won’t need you.”

“Thanks Shadow. Glad to know you care.”

“Whatever.”

You chuckle. “I know you care.”

“Shut up,” he snarls.

 

Hunter pulls into the airport and leaves the car in a parking lot. He gets out of the car and grabs some of the bags. You do the same.

“Are we just going to leave my car here?” You ask, grabbing a bag.

“No. I’ll have someone get it and bring it back to your house. It’ll be fine.”

 

You nod and throw the bags over your shoulder. You and Hunter walk out of the parking lot and into the main building. Hunter leads you around the main security and to a lone guard.

“Aren’t we suppose to-“

“I’m not the most popular guy around,” he bluntly states.

 

You approach the guard. He hands you both two tickets and shakes Hunter’s hand.

“These will get you to Corona and back. I won’t be able to get you through as smoothly on the way back here.”

“Don’t worry, I have someone down there too.”

“Then you should be good. Follow me, I’ll lead you to the plane. It doesn’t take off for an hour,” he informs.

“I know. We’ll stay out of trouble,” Hunter chuckles.

 

The guard leads you through some hallways that are for employees only. It brings you past all the security and right to the terminal. Hunter gives the guard one last nod before the two of you head towards the waiting area. Hunter puts his bags down and takes a seat. You do the same and sit beside him.

 

“You know, I’ve never been on a plane before,” you mention.

Hunter turns his head to you.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’ve only ever been in my home town and Arendelle. I never went on a trip or anything. Elsa talked about it once but we never did it. Maybe when this is all over we can do something. Maybe take her somewhere nice… Oh yeah, a honeymoon! That’ll work.”

 

“Yeah, that would. So, it’s nice to see that you have someone in your life. I mean, a wife huh? That’s a commitment and a half.”

“Yeah, it is. But for Elsa I think I can do it. She’s special to me, you know? Haven’t you ever had a girl that’s touched you? I mean… not in that way but like… made you feel for her? Or hell, even touched you in that way,” you smirk.

 

Hunter looks unamused but ends up chuckling.

“I’ve never loved a girl, so I can’t say I know how you feel. However I do know what it’s like to be ‘touched’.”

You start laughing.

“You don’t seem like the most romantic person. How did you manage to woo a girl?”

Hunter rolls his eyes. “Sometimes you can have a passion born of respect. Sometimes I’m just so damn attractive to some women. You ever been to a bar? That’s another option.”

 

You relax in your chair and look around.

“So who did you have a respect relationship with?”

“You’ll meet her sometime. She’s in Corona.”

You see a few passengers going about their business; getting ready for their flight.

“You have a girlfriend? Really!? No way!” You shout.

 

Hunter puts his hand on your head and pushes you down into your seat.

“Calm down. Jesus, it’s like you’re twelve or something.”

“Well I would like to know if my brother has a girlfriend. I mean, you know everything about me so I should know more about you! It’s the whole brotherly knowledge thing.”

Hunter stretches back and places his hands behind his head as a rest.

“I don’t have a girlfriend. If anything was to happen between us… well that’s just time. I never meant for anything to happen, however.”

 

You shrug and look around for a bit. You start to get bored. You look over and see a coffee shop.

“You mind if I just head over there real quick?” You ask, pointing to the shop.

Hunter looks back then returns to his original position.

“Sure.”

 

You push off your chair and walk to the coffee shop. You take a seat and look through a small menu.

 

“Come on! It’s almost time!” A girl exclaims.

You stutter for a moment then look over. You see Allison and Alex. They are getting coffee.

“We’ll get on the plane soon enough Allison. Calm down, sheesh.”

“But I really want to go! We haven’t had time with our parents like this for the longest time!”

 

You close your eyes and shake your head, trying to ignore the two. You look back and see a boy and a girl, but they aren’t Allison and Alex. The boy is looking at you with his brow raised. You turn back and slouch over.

 

_I’ve seen so many people… why? Why are they showing up?_

You get up and walk up to the cashier.

“Just some… I don’t know… cola, I suppose.”

The cashier grabs a bottle from a small fridge and puts it on the counter. You put a five dollar bill down and grab the bottle. You take a seat and crack it open. You take a sip and contemplate… things. It doesn’t matter what, you just start to think.

 

This is probably going to be one of your last times that you can take a break and think. Not that there’s a ton to think about right now. Your goal is very straightforward right now. You find your parents and you stop whatever they’re planning. It’s probably easier said than done. It makes you wonder why Hunter is so confident in your victory. He’s been doing this for years but nothing has happened. He hasn’t seemed to stop them yet. Why is it that he thinks it’s possible now? Do you make such a difference in this whole thing? Well, if both you and Hunter can somewhat take on Alistair on your own, maybe the two of you can actually take him down. But there is also your mother. You doubt that they would fight separately. You can only assume that she has around the same strength as Alistair, but that’s just speculation.

 

Then something hits you. All you’ve done so far is speculate. Even with your constant arguments with Hunter that you should be in the know… you aren’t in the know. You have no idea who is allies are, what he’s found in the past, or anything really. He just gives you vague responses. You trust Hunter, yes, but sometimes you feel like he doesn’t trust you as much as he should.

 

You glance out of the window and look at Hunter. He’s still relaxing the same way as before. Considering all he’s been through he always seems rather calm.

 

_I don’t know how he does it. If what I know is true, we’re facing something far more powerful than just he and I. Sure, our parents are the main threat, but this organization spans far beyond just the two of them. Even if we manage to end them, how will we take down the rest of them? There might be hundreds of people. Thousands even. Is Hunter thinking we can take on all of them? We may be strong, but we’re just two people. There’s only so much… two people can do… alone… Hm… maybe I’m starting to think like Elsa now. She always bugs me about how I can only do so much on my own and how I need help. I always told her not to worry, that I would be fine. Now here I am giving the exact same lecture. But there’s a difference… Elsa isn’t part of any of this. She doesn’t need to get involved. She doesn’t need to get hurt. I won’t let her get hurt because of me. I-_

“(Y/N),” Hunter says, snapping his fingers in front of your face.

You twitch a bit then look over at him. You didn’t even see him move from his spot. Then again, you were in some deep thought.

“We have to get aboard the plane now. Come on, let’s go.”

 

You get out of the seat and follow Hunter to all your bags.

“Hunter, weren’t these supposed to go to security to be put in the plane?” You point out.

“Normally, yes. But most people don’t have our tools.”

Hunter opens his own holowatch and tosses all the bags into it. You’re slightly surprised that it can carry all that.

 

“See, easy. Now let’s get to the plane.”

You and Hunter pass show your tickets and are allowed access to the aircraft. You both go to first class and take a seat.

“So, how’s your first plane ride feeling?”

“Like I’m sitting in a chair. We’re not even in the air yet!”

“Fine… be that way,” Hunter says, jokingly rolling his eyes.

 

You both sit in silence for a bit until a voice starts speaking over the intercom.

“We’re beginning our flight to Corona now. All passengers buckle in and get comfy.”

You make sure you’re all strapped in before leaning back a bit. You look out the window and watch the plane start to move. It slowly picks up speed and starts ascending into the air.

 

The plane itself is shaking a bit, but nothing too bad. You stay normal throughout the entire experience. Some of the passengers seem a little worried for some reason. You notice one guy is asleep already. He took no time getting some rest. To most of these people flying is probably somewhat normal. People travel for business and pleasure all the time. You’re probably traveling for business… maybe pleasure… you could say that “the fate of the world is at risk” or something like that. “A matter of global security”, you say as you stare at someone with glasses that cover your eyes while your suit makes you look fine.

 

You shake your head and let out a smirk. Maybe that guy has a good idea. Maybe some rest is something you could appreciate right now.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Elsa finishes up the last set of the dishes. She places some the plates in the cupboard and smiles. She offered to do them for Gerda while she takes care of some other things. Elsa has no problem doing work around the house. Of course she does have other things to do, but doing some dishes or cleaning something doesn’t bother her too much. If you were around she’d probably make you help her. Hell, she might make you do it on your own. Then again you aren’t the most handy guy around. Elsa giggles to herself at the thought of you doing housework. For everything that you can do, there’s a lot of simple things that you can’t.

 

It’s funny that Elsa isn’t worried at all about spending a lifetime with you. Even if you’re a little short on some basic things, you more than make up for it with everything else. Sometimes the things you do and say just inspire Elsa and make her wonder what goes on in your mind. Your voice is filled with a passion and a certainty that she’s never heard before. Even her parents didn’t have what you have, and she used to respect them the most. Of course it was before they went crazy. But before that they had a similar passion to them. They always talked about how their work will change the world someday. The spark in Adgar’s eye made Elsa believe that they would. Maybe that work could change the world, since it’s in the hands of Alistair.

 

Alistair… Elsa had a bad feeling about him when she first saw him. He seemed regal, almost. He had a certain persona of intelligence and respect.

 

Anna happily walks into the kitchen, loosely swaying her arms side to side as she walks. She immediately sees her older sister just staring at a closed cupboard. Anna raises her brow and decides to see what Elsa is up to.

“Elsa!”

 

Elsa snaps out of her little dream state and looks over at Anna.

“Oh hey Anna.”

“You look pretty deep in thought there Elsa. Got something on your mind? Someone on your mind?” She finishes with a higher tone, implying you.

“Yeah, I do but not who you think. Well, kind of who you think but not completely.”

“Jeez Elsa, I know Hunter looks like (Y/N) but having fantasies about brothers is just-“

 

“What!? No I wasn’t thinking about that! I was thinking about his father!”

“Oh, that’s even weirder. I mean he doesn’t look bad for his age but isn’t he someone who put-“

“I don’t mean… not in that way Anna!” Elsa shouts, her cheeks red.

Anna starts laughing. She puts her arm around Elsa and smirks.

“I know, I know. It’s just you’re so easy to get to sometimes.”

 

Elsa gives an evil expression to Anna.

“I’ll string you up like I did with (Y/N), and I don’t think you would get out so easily,” Elsa deviously grins.

“You wouldn’t do that to me. I’m your loving-“

Elsa waves her hand, causing an ice hand to pick Anna up and dangle her in the air.

 

“Hey! This isn’t funny you know! You’re gonna rip my new sweater and I’m gonna be SOOOOO mad!” Anna screams, flailing her arms and legs around.

Elsa bursts out into laughter. She knew Anna would behave like this. Anna can be easy to get to, if you know how to get to her. Since Elsa’s had her whole life to know Anna, well, it’s easy for her.

 

Elsa lets Anna down then dissolves the ice hand.

“You really like that power, don’t you?” Anna asks, brushing herself off.

Elsa nods, leaning on the counter.

“I’ve been getting a lot of practice in. I can do a lot more than I could have when I first met (Y/N).”

“Seems like he’s quite the motivator for you. Probably in more ways than just your powers,” Anna jokes.

 

Elsa shakes her head and smiles.

“Oh and Kristoff hasn’t done anything for you? Huh?”

Anna starts to get a little flustered.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m nothing like my sister, who I always catch!”

“Didn’t (Y/N) catch you guys a couple of times? And also didn’t you mention some stuff was going to happen after prom?” Elsa recollects.

“What? Why I would never,” Anna states, looking away and placing her hands on her hips.

 

Elsa starts laughing.

“See, now you aren’t even trying to hide it anymore.”

Anna returns her gaze to Elsa.

“Well… you had sex before I did! So ha!”

“I’m also older than you, Anna…”

“And… well we don’t have to bring in details!”

 

The two stare at each other for a moment before laughing. Elsa wipes a tear away before calming her laughter down into a giggle.

“It’s nice we can still have these moments,” Elsa sighs.

“We’ll always be able to. It’s just the guys like to drag us away from each other.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that, but yeah. Our relationships have gotten in the way a little.”

 

The two make their way to the couch and take a seat.

“Speaking of that, I should go see Kristoff. He might like a surprise visit.”

“That sounds like a good idea. Having people around would probably help him out. Especially since (Y/N) isn’t around for a while.”

“Hey!” Anna bounces. “Maybe you and Kristoff should spend a little time together. You two are probably the weakest link out of the four of us.”

“Hey, what does that mean?”

 

“Not in a bad way, but look at it this way. Kristoff and (Y/N) are best friends, so their bond is great. Kristoff and I are in a relationship, same as you and (Y/N). (Y/N) and I are really close too. Of course some things happened thanks to Hans,” Anna hisses his name in disgust. “But we’re still really close. You and Kristoff might be friends, but you’re probably the least close out of all of us.

 

Elsa thinks for a moment then smiles.

“Sure, why not. Spending some time with Kristoff does seem like a good idea.”

Anna claps her hands. “I’ll pitch the idea to him tonight. Oh man, I’m so happy now!”

Elsa rolls her eyes and grins.

“Well, that is important.”

 

Anna gets up and heads to the door, grabbing her keys. She hesitates for a moment.

“Hey Elsa, you don’t mind me leaving you alone, do you?”

“No, of course not. Go on ahead, have fun with Kristoff,” Elsa reassures.

“Alright, if you say so. See ya sis!”

 

Anna exits the house, leaving Elsa sitting on the couch. Elsa sighs and stretches across the entire couch.

“I’m happy Anna and I can still talk like that. It even surprises me how I can talk like that. I suppose there is some sort of dirty side to me. Then again… I’m pretty sure (Y/N) knows all about that side,” she giggles.

 

Elsa looks at the TV and sighs. There really isn’t anything to do right now. She could go into work, but Alec assured her that he could take care of things today.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“I thought you were in Corona, sir,” Alec states.

“Oh I was, I was indeed,” Alistair mumbles, walking around a seven foot humanoid robot. “But I had something to do here, so I came back. Besides, I wanted to take this off your hands.”

Alec raises his brow in curiosity.

“Why? It’s basically useless.”

“I’m sure I can find some use for it. Don’t worry Alec, it’s nothing that concerns you. Just keep this building standing and everything will be alright.”

“Um… okay, sir.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You feel some shaking. Someone is shaking you.

“(Y/N). Little bro, wake up.”

You slowly open your eyes and look over to Hunter. For once, he has a soft face. He lets out a warm smile.

“We just landed. Come on, lets get moving. We don’t want to make Rapunzel and Eugene wait.”

You rub your eyes and nod.

“Yeah, yeah. Just… five more minutes,” you plead in a drowsy tone.

“Now!” Hunter shouts, smacking the back of your head.

 

And the warm, brotherly feel has flown away.

“Hey! What was that for?” You complain.

“For not getting up! Now come on!”

 

You and Hunter get out of your seats and shuffle through the plane. You get separated from Hunter when two young women decide to get out of their seats right in between you and Hunter. You sigh and ignore it. You follow the line until you see an old lady struggling to get out of her seat. Why nobody else has offered to help is beyond you.

 

_Man, I have to help. If I don’t then I’m a bad person but it I do… I wonder if I’ll get a merit badge or something. Well, whatever._

You move close to her seat and offer your hand.

“Do you need any help? You seem to be stuck.”

“Oh, thank you dear. I guess I’m not as slim as I used to be,” she chuckles, grabbing your hand.

 

You pull her out of the seat and help her into the isle. You lead her to outside of the plane and into the main area. Hunter is waiting for you with his arms crossed and his left foot tapping some type of beat. You let the woman do what she was doing. She thanks you as she leaves.

 

You approach him and sigh.

“Sorry, those girls got in my way.”

“Oh, don’t worry in the slightest. I actually got their numbers,” he smirks.

“How in the hell did you get their numbers? I fell behind for like… one minute.”

Hunter smirks and spins around.

“One minute is all I need.”

“Oh I bet the ladies just LOVE to hear that.”

 

Hunter rolls his eyes and proceeds to the exit. You both leave the building and look around the main parking area. It takes you a minute, but you eventually spot Rapunzel and Eugene. You nudge Hunter then start running towards them.

 

“Hey Eugene! Rapunzel!” You shout, waving your arm.

The two look over and see you. They smile and wave back. You get to them and stop running.

“Hey guys! It’s great to see you!”

“You too,” Rapunzel responds, hugging you.

You hug her then turn to Eugene whose hand is extended. You grab it and shake it.

“Good to see ya (Y/N).”

“Same here.”

 

Hunter reaches you all and slides his hands into his pocket.

“I’ll assume you’re Rapunzel and Eugene. I’m Hunter. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Wow, he does look like (Y/N). More so than I thought,” Rapunzel says aloud.

“Looks like there are two more studs in Corona now. I’ll make sure to capitalize on that,” Eugene grins.

 

Rapunzel elbows Eugene in the stomach. Eugene holds the spot she hit and coughs a little bit.

“Well, let’s get going,” she happily states as if she didn’t just injure her husband.

The four of you get in a nice black sports car and drive out of the airport.

“So where are all your bags?” Eugene asks as he drives.

 

“Oh, they’re in Hunter’s watch,” you nonchalantly respond.

Both Eugene and Rapunzel give you an odd look. You remember that they aren’t completely caught up.

“Right, I’ll explain later. So how far to your place?”

“Twenty minutes, give or take. Depends on the traffic,” Eugene guesses.

“So I can take a quick nap?”

“Oh brother,” Hunter remarks, rolling his eyes.

“Hey, don’t judged me mister ‘I do what I need to in one minute’.”

 

Rapunzel giggles.

“Calm down boys. Go ahead and take a nap. We’ll talk more once you’re all settled in at our house.”

You nod and rest your head against the window. You close your eyes and slowly doze off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	30. New City, New Surprises

Chapter 30: New City, New Surprises

 

“(Y/N). (Y/N), wake up. We’re here,” Hunter states, shaking you.

The force he’s using is just in the middle of being soft and being a pain in the butt. You slowly open your eyes and groan.

“Already? I closed my eyes like…”

“Thirty minutes ago. Come on, Rapunzel and Eugene are waiting at the door,” he says, getting out of the car and approaching the house.

 

You rub your eyes and let out a small yawn. You stretch your arms out, just touching the inner layer of the car. It’s actually a really nice car. You didn’t really pay attention to it before; probably because you were sleeping. That tends to impair one’s ability to be observant. If you really need observations then you’d just ask Shadow. He’s the master of observations. You snicker.

 

Probably cause that’s all he does most of the time.

 

“Fuck. You,” you hear from your head.

 

You burst out into a small fit of laughter. You wipe a tear away before getting out of the car and looking at the house. Your eyes widen at the size of this place. It’s relative to Anna and Elsa’s house, but a different design. Anna and Elsa’s house is more condensed, but has a ton of space. There’s even an attic that’s supposed to be huge, but you never took the time to look up there. They say it hasn’t been used in a long time, and is just for old pictures and antiques. The classic use for an attic.

 

This place though, it’s wide. It seems to have at least eight rooms across. Four on each side. Plus two extra floors with at least that many rooms. It has a nice blue tint to the outside of the house. It actually contrasts nice with the small forest behind the house. The part that amazes you is that this is supposed to be around the middle of the city, yet there’s still a huge house like this and a mini forest. You remember the story Eugene told you. He said that he mistakes Rapunzel’s house for his. If this is the house he hid in… what kind of house does Eugene have?

 

You see Hunter standing at the door with his arms crossed. He appears to be waiting for you. You approach him.

“What were you laughing at?” He asks.

You are confused for a moment, but you remember laughing at Shadow.

“Oh, you know… stuff.”

Hunter rolls his eyes and turns towards the house. He opens the door and walks inside. You follow him and look around the house.

 

As soon as you walk in the door there is a small staircase leading to the basement on the right side. On the left is a pretty large closet for coats and shoes. Rapunzel and Eugene enter the room from the left side. You take off your shoes but look over at them.

 

“This is quite the house you have. It’s huge!”

“Yeah, my parents thought it would be good to have a really big house for all of us. They used to rent this place out, if you can imagine,” Rapunzel explains.

You and Hunter group up with Rapunzel and Eugene. They lead you through the right hallway and into a large living room looking place. It has a few couches with a coffee table and a TV. It really reminds you of Anna and Elsa’s place.

 

From what you have seen, the entire place is decorated extremely well. Rapunzel’s parents must have coughed up a small fortune to make this house the way it is. There’s no denying that it looks better than your house. You can’t really blame them though. Elsa and Anna weren’t ones for major changes in the house. They bought a few things every once in a while but no major decorating. Maybe it’s Rapunzel’s parents that make this place so different. Adgar and Idun were gone for years, whereas Rapunzel’s parents weren’t.

 

It’s likely that the Anderson household could have looked like this too. Adgar and Idun’s room was the most well decorated room in the entire house, no offense to Anna or Elsa. By the look of it, Rapunzel’s parents have to be as rich – if not richer – than Adgar and Idun. It makes sense though. Idun’s sister is Rapunzel’s mother, after all. That probably explains why the decoration is somewhat relative.

 

“So how long have you lived here?” You ask as you follow the two.

Rapunzel leads you into the next room and up some stairs.

“I’ve lived here more or less all my life. My parents once left on a world tour and left me with this really weird babysitter. She was way too overprotective.”

The four of you reach the top of the stairs and start going right. You’d be going back the way you came, if you were on the first floor.

 

There isn’t much in the first hallway, other than a couple doors and some dressers. Pictures of Rapunzel, her parents, and even one of Eugene.

“But I should thank her. She’s the reason I met Eugene.”

“Oh thank god,” you blurt out.

The three stop and look at you. Confusion is ever present on their faces.

“I was starting to think that Eugene mistook this house for his, like he told me. I was curious as to what his house looked like.”

 

Eugene chuckles.

“Ah, no. My house looks nothing like this. I sometimes miss it though. It was small and quaint. This place has way too many rooms. I lose my bearings sometimes.”

Everyone continues on their path through the hallway. She leads you to the very end. There are two doors parallel to one another. Rapunzel stops a bit behind them.

“You’ll be staying here. Separate rooms, don’t worry. Eugene and I will be right there,” she says, pointing to a room a few meters away. “I’ll let you guys get comfortable, then how about we all get something to eat? Airline food must’ve been terrible.

 

Something clicks in your mind. You turn your body towards Hunter but don’t move your legs at all. Hunter barely moves his head towards you in acknowledgement.

“If I remember correctly, YOU,” you say, pointing towards him in an accusing manner. “Said we’d eat before we got on the plane.”

“You never said anything. I assumed you weren’t hungry.”

“I’m always hungry!”

Eugene nods in agreement. “I can relate to that.”

Rapunzel giggles. “Alright boys, calm down. Go set up in your rooms and meet us out here.”

 

You and Hunter walk into your respective rooms. You take the one on the left. You walk in and look around. It’s a simple room. It very much reminds you of your room at Elsa and Anna’s house. The biggest difference is that this room is a little more decorated. The bed has a nicely shaded green blanket lying on it. The blanket has some spiral designs on the top of it. Who knows why, but they’re there. The comforter looks so soft and comfortable. The pillows are the same shade of green as the blanket. You hop onto the bed and let yourself sink in. It’s immensely comfortable. You could sleep like a baby on this. You’re actually looking forward to night time. You want to test this bed out.

 

Your little moment is interrupted when Hunter walks into your room. He scans the room with his eyes very quickly before looking at you. He does this with every room is walks into. Shadow does it too. That’s something you should probably get in the habit of doing. Knowing your environment is key, whether it’s in a fight or not.

 

“I have all your bags in my watch. I’m just dropping them off,” he clarifies.

Hunter clicks a few buttons on his watch in order to bring up a list. He clicks one thing and drags his finger down a bit. The list changes to a hologram of some luggage bags. Hunter pushes them out of his watch and towards you. The holograms become real when they leave the vicinity of the watch. The bags tumble on the floor in a somewhat neat pattern. You get off the bed and grab the bags. You line them up against the wall, beside a dresser.

 

“Thanks Hunter. So do you know where we’re gonna go for food?”

Hunter shrugs. “Eugene and Rapunzel said they’ll bring us somewhere nice. You’d have to ask them.”

“Any idea where that could be? You’ve been to Corona before, have you not?” You ask, walking beside your brother.

“I have a few ideas. Come on. I’m actually getting a little hungry too,” he smirks.

 

You both walk out of the room with smiles on your faces. Rapunzel and Eugene stop their little chit-chat to greet you both.

“So, are you ready to go?” Eugene inquires.

You both nod simultaneously.

“Alright, let’s get moving,” Eugene smiles, leading you all back through the house. “You should stay awake this time (Y/N). There’s a lot to see in Corona. You may find something you like.”

 

The four of you get your shoes on and gather everything you need. Rapunzel makes sure she has everything in her purse, whilst Eugene checks his wallet. The four of you get back in the car. Eugene takes the driver seat. He starts up the car and pulls out of the drive way. You finally get to see the sort of property around the house. It’s actually just a street that seems to loop around and connect on the other side. Like a semicircle, with Rapunzel’s house being on the flat end.

 

Eugene goes right and circles around the driveway. He reaches the outer gate, which opens for him. He drives onto the main road and cruises along. You notice that there’s a lack of buildings around the area. It’s more forest than anything else.

“I thought you were in the middle of the city. Where’s all the buildings?” You ask, looking out the window.

 

“Well, our house is technically in the middle of a national park. This land always belonged to my family, so building a house here didn’t cause that much of a ruckus. My parents never gave into anyone trying to buy the land, so the forest stays. It’s just a small drive out of this place before we get to the busy roads, so don’t you worry,” Rapunzel informs, looking back at you.

 

“Huh, well I’m not too big on the cities so there’s no need to worry about that. This place seems way better,” you admit.

“Why is that? More of a country person?” Eugene jokes.

You chuckle. “No, I just always lived in a small town. Even with Arendelle, I live outside of it with Elsa. It’s just easier, in my opinion.”

 

“What about you Hunter? What do you prefer?” Rapunzel asks, turning her attention to the white haired man.

Hunter turns his gaze from the outside to Rapunzel.

“To be honest it doesn’t really matter to me. I’m always on the move anyway, so I just adapt. I’m like an animal.”

You burst out laughing. This causes all the attention to focus on you.

“What?” Hunter blurts out.

 

“Oh yeah, I’m sure you’re an animal. Just the wildest of them. Are you like… a koala? A panda!” You shout.

Hunter punches you in the shoulder.

“I didn’t mean like that you idiot!”

“Then what did you mean!?”

 

You and Hunter begin arguing in the back. Rapunzel looks to Eugene, who is chuckling.

“What’re you laughing at?” She questions.

“Oh nothing, it’s just fun to see siblings argue.”

Rapunzel shakes her head in amusement. She returns her eyes to the road and sees all the people walking around.

 

During the time you spent talking, Eugene reached the main part of the city. You basically are in the center of it now. Corona is a very busy city. There are buildings ranging from small to tall, and they are everywhere. There’s a countless amount of people walking on the side walk. They’re usually coming or going from their job. It’s a busy city, but it’s a good one. Corona is one of the richest cities in the world, which means they have lots of places to go. Movie theaters are all over the place, restaurants are on every street, and entertainment is unlimited. Whether you want to bowl, go to a bar, or even go to a strip club, Corona has it all.

 

“Hey (Y/N)! You might want to see this,” Eugene shouts, trying to get your attention since you’re so preoccupied with your argument with Hunter.

You and Hunter look at Eugene for clarification. The car is stuck in a bit of traffic at the moment, so Eugene is free to point at what he wants you to see. You lean in between Rapunzel and Eugene’s seats to see a huge road above all the others. You only see a little bit of it, since the buildings cut it off.

 

“A road?”  You question, a hint of doubt in your voice. “It’s just a big road.”

“(Y/N), do you know anything about cities outside of Arendelle?” Hunter accuses.

You look towards him and rub the back of your head.

“Not really… no.”

 

He sighs. “That’s the Corona Freeway. It’s the longest and largest freeway in the world. It’s one of Corona’s siights to see.”

“What’s so special about it?” You ask with a brow raised.

“That one highway actually connects Corona to a distant city called San Fransokyo, and even further to Agrabah,” Rapunzel lectures.

“All the way to Agrabah? If I’m right that’s pretty far.”

Rapunzel nods. “And that highway started here, in Corona. It used to be a railway, actually. But they closed it down decades ago. So, they changed it to a highway. Rumor has it that Corona is trying to find a way to connect Arendelle with their bridge. The ocean separating the cities is the obvious problem.”

 

“Oh come on,” Eugene complains. “Sheesh, that’s what I get for being polite.”

 

“Dozens of people have tried to find a way, but nothing for now,” Rapunzel finishes.

“So what was the railway used for? Did it span across cities too?” You curiously ask.

Hunter shakes his head. “No. It was mostly a transit system. Nothing too special. The city didn’t lose much by abandoning it. It just remains abandoned under the streets of Corona.”

 

Eugene pulls into a parking lot. He finds a place to park and looks back at all of you.

“Well, traffic is being ridiculous today so we’re going to walk. It’s only a few minutes away.”

You instantly get out of the car and stretch.

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

The only light that illuminates the dark room is one of a welding tool. A man in a suit works on a giant mechanical man that towers over him. The robot is slouched over, insinuating that it’s not working, or turned off. The man wears a welding mask to protect himself from any damage. He touches up a part of the robot’s arm, then a little on the leg.

 

The door opens, bringing light into the shadow filled room.

“Sir, your wife is asking when you’ll be back,” Alec relays.

Alistair finishes up his work with the robot’s arm. He turns off the welding tool and lifts up the mask.

“Tell her I’ll be back today.”

 

“She wants to hear you say it, sir.”

Alistair smiles. He lightly shakes his head and turns towards Alec, his hand extended.

“Give me the phone.”

“How did you know I had the phone?”

“I can hear it. Just give it to me.”

 

Alec walks in the room and hands Alistair the phone. Alec’s outfit is a little less professional than it usually is. His dress shirt is loose. His tie isn’t proper. Alec isn’t looking healthy at the moment. Alistair sizes him up quickly before moving the phone to his hear.

“Venus?”

“You’re going to make that joke forever, aren’t you?” Juno says with a mix of sarcasm and seduction in her voice.

“Well, you are my goddess. It’s only fitting.”

“You say the wildest things.”

 

Alistair laughs.

“What is it you require from me, my beautiful wife?”

“I was just wondering when my work-driven husband was going to come back to me?”

“I’m coming back today. I just wanted to work on something. How is Duke Weselton doing with the device?”

“Slow progress, as always. Let me break one of his fingers. A leg maybe. It’ll make him work faster,” Juno pleads.

“No, we can’t do that Juno,” Alistair chuckles. “Leave him be for now. I’ll be back to review what he’s done.”

 

Alistair clicks something on his watch which lights up the room. The entire room is filled with gizmos and gadgets. They’re all pet projects of Alistair. In this building, this is the room that nobody may enter without a reason. Everything that Alistair does is here. It’s his sanctuary. It’s where he finds peace. Adgar and Idun attempted to copy his room with their own laboratory. Alistair had no problem with that. In fact, he helped build their training area and laboratory. It’s modeled after his own.

 

Alistair positions the phone between his cheek and shoulder in order to use both of his hands. He walks over to a nearby table and picks up a small tablet. He begins clicking a few buttons on it.

 

“What’s left to be done on the device? What’s the biggest problem?” Alistair asks, still working on his tablet.

“He says it’s still an energy problem. On top of that we need a stable spot for launch. He also says that we’ll need all the nanobots in one place. They’re split between Arendelle and Corona.”

 

Alistair presses the final button on the tablet. The robot comes to life. His simple silver plating fills up with a mix of green, blue, and red lines. They pulsate through the entire body. His eyes glow a distinct mix of red and pink. It looks intimidating. Alistair silently cheers to himself. He claps his hands rushes beside his project.

 

“Well, I’ll make my decision when I arrive. I think we’ll move the device and remaining nanobots to Arendelle. The W.A. Industries building is one of the tallest in the world, plus it has layers of silver throughout the entire building. It’ll help with the energy problem, if I choose to use electricity,” Alistair says, talking to himself more than his wife.

 

“Whatever you think is best, my love. I’ll get a vehicle ready for your arrival, and keep the scum in line,” Juno happily plans.

“Alright honey, I’ll see you soon. I love you.”

“I love you too, Alistair.”

 

Alistair takes the phone out from his shoulder and clicks the end call button. He looks over to the door where Alec is patiently waiting for him to finish.

“Catch,” Alistair warns, tossing the phone at Alec.

Alec bends his knees a bit and catches the phone with one hand.

“And clean yourself up. You look like crap.”

 

Alec doesn’t react to his comment. He leaves the room and walks down a hallway. There are three doors in total down the hallway. He reaches the end of the hallway and approaches the elevator. He activates the elevator and waits for a moment. The elevator opens up, accepting him. Alec presses the highest button on the board and lays back against the wall. He holds his head for a moment.

 

“Too much today… I haven’t stopped drinking…”

 

The elevator opens up, revealing the executive floor of W.A. Industries. Alec stumbles through the hallway with the intent to enter his office. A man in a suit walks in front of him halfway through the hall.

 

“Sir, the board would like to know when the meeting is. Have you talked to Ms. Anderson?”

“No, not yet. She’s supposed to be here tomorrow. I’ll talk to her then. For now schedule the meeting in two days. I’ll let you know if Ms. Anderson wants to change it around.”

 

The man nods.

“Yes sir.”

He walks away, leaving Alec to himself once more. Alec’s face droops down into a sad and depressed looking face. He walks into his office and marches right into his chair. He slouches on it, taking a break for a moment. He looks over to his personal cabinet, which is usually stocked with whiskey. Alec pushes off his desk and rolls over to the cabinet. He opens it up and grabs another bottle of whiskey.

 

“Hello brother,” a mysterious voice greets.

Alec rolls his eyes and slowly spins his chair towards the door. Hans is leaning against the glass wall. He is in a white blazer with blue jeans on. His dress shirt is blue as well.

“What do you want, Hans?” Alec grumpily states.

“I just wanted to see how you were doing. This day usually is the hardest on you. I mean,” Hans begins walking towards Alec slowly. “We all have trouble with today but you… you seem to be the worst out of us all.”

 

Alec huffs. He grabs a glass from under his desk and begins to pour whiskey into it.

“Why you continue to work for that man is beyond me,” Hans comments.

“It’s our duty. You work for them too, you know.”

Hans snickers. “No I don’t.”

 

Alec leans back in his chair and takes a sip of his drink.

“I don’t like that tone Hans. You can’t even compare to (Y/N) and Hunter. How do you expect to fight the Monarchs?”

“I have my ways. At least I’m doing something to avenge our family.”

Alec snickers. He shakes his head and gives a sharp look towards Hans.

“You’re all about honour, aren’t you? If you want to reclaim your honour then fight (Y/N).”

 

Hans links his hands behind his back. He begins walking back and forth in front of Alec’s desk.

“I’ll get to (Y/N) soon enough. But first, I will avenge our family’s name. Father would be proud of me,” Hans says, his eyes full of dreams.

“Father is dead. Why get the respect of a dead man?”

“Because he looked down on me, like you all do!”

“We don’t lo-“

“Don’t lie to me Alec!” Hans snaps, slamming his hands on Alec’s desk.

Alec doesn’t react at all.

“At least I’m planning to avenge him. All you’re doing is sulking on the day of his death.”

Alec stares into Hans’ determined eyes. He chuckles and lays further back in his chair.

“Do what you wish Hans. But don’t expect any help from me. If you go against the Hierarchy I refuse to be dragged down with you.”

 

Hans smirks. He pushes off Alec’s desk and turns towards the door.

“When I kill the Monarchs, (Y/N), and Elsa, we will have our power back. It will be like it used to be. You should be happy. You were next in line for Monarch before our father was killed.”

Alec remains silent but keeps his eyes on Hans. He’s saying everything he needs to say through his eyes. Even if Hans doesn’t see it, he can feel the intensity of Alec’s gaze.

 

Hans leaves the room. Alec watches Hans go down the hallway and to the elevator. Alec lies his head on the desk and moans. His phone starts ringing. Alec lazily grabs his phone and looks at it. Alistair is calling him. He clicks the accept button.

 

Alistair sees Alec’s figure appear on a small holopad. He can see Alec resting on his desk.

“Alec, get a plane set up. Tell them I have some cargo with me,” Alistair smiles.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You, Hunter, Rapunzel, and Eugene exit the small diner. You have a very satisfied look on your face.

“Did you have enough?” Rapunzel giggles.

You turn your head towards her. You give her a goofy smile and nod.

“They had reeeeaaaaalllllly good bacon and eggs. And homefries. And pancakes. And juice,” you list.

Eugene can’t help but chuckle.

“I got the mild hint that you eat a lot when I came to Arendelle. You’ve confirmed that within the first two hours.”

 

You laugh and rub the back of your head. Hunter ignores your conversation. He is glued to his phone at the moment. His fingers are smoothly transitioning from letter to letter on his touch screen. You don’t really take it into consideration. He’s probably just contacting someone.  He could be planning something for later. But that’s his business for now. Right now you want to see a little more of the siights. You do want to get to work soon, but a little fun is never bad.

 

“So, anything to see around here? There was the highway, but how about something really cool?”

Rapunzel and Eugene look at each other while thinking. Rapunzel gets an idea.

“What about the old ruin? I hear they finished making it an attraction.”

“A ruin? That sounds pretty interesting! Let’s go!”

 

You, Eugene, and Rapunzel begin walking away. Hunter remains stationary for a moment. You notice he’s not walking with you. You turn around try to attain Hunter’s attention.

“Hunter? Are you coming?”

Hunter looks up at you. He double takes his phone then rests his gaze on you.

“I’m going to go meet someone. I’ll catch up with you all later,” Hunter states.

“Are you… fine… alright. I’ll see you sometime,” you wave.

 

Hunter gives you all a two finger salute before going off in his own direction. Rapunzel and Eugene stand there, puzzled. You look over at them and see their confused faces.

“He does that. He’s not as social as I am,” you confidently state.

“I get more numbers than you!” Hunter shouts.

“Shut up!” You respond.

 

Eugene and Rapunzel laugh to themselves. Your face drops to an unamused one for a moment. You quickly return to your normal face and start walking with the two.

“So, how’re you two? I haven’t seen you in almost a year.”

“Not too bad. Oh, did Anna or Elsa tell you?” Rapunzel quickly asks.

“Um… Tell me what?”

“Eugene and I finally got married! We’ve been planning it for ages, it seems.”

“Oh really? Why weren’t we invited? I’m not mad or anything, it just seems like Anna and Elsa would have brought me if they went.”

 

Eugene and Rapunzel share a quick look. You notice, which raises your brow. The three of you cross a street on your way to the car. There’s still a little ways to go before you get to the car.

 

“What? What am I missing?” You ask, turning to them both periodically.

“Well… Anna and Elsa did come to our wedding. Kristoff too,” Eugene reluctantly shares with you.

“What?” You shout. “When? Why didn’t they take me!?”

Eugene sheepishly rubs the back of his head.

“Well… that’s when you and Elsa were having troubles.”

 

This is news to you. You never thought you and Elsa ever had problems. There was the time you slept with Anna, but that was Hans’ fault. That’s the only time the two of you ever got mad at each other. Well, the only time Elsa got mad at you. There’s no way they went to Corona during that time. No way.

 

Rapunzel can see the confusion on your face.

“You… didn’t know?”

You turn to Rapunzel in eagerness.

“No, I didn’t. What happened? What did I do?”

 

“Well… I can only say what Elsa and Anna told me but… after you killed her parents… the nine months you all spent together.”

You aren’t getting what she’s talking about.

 

There was never any problems through those months. You and Elsa even had a few fun times during those months. Olaf was pretty silly too. But nothing really happened during that time. It was peaceful. Much better than now. You almost miss that time. It was so simple. But this is the price to pay for knowledge. Was it better to learn about yourself? It has put a lot of strain on more than just you. Elsa. Anna. Even Kristoff. Everyone has been strained by your decision, but it’s been worth it… right?

 

“What about those nine months?” You press on.

Rapunzel shows obvious signs of discomfort. Eugene stays out of the conversation for the most part. He’s making sure you all get to the car safely. You’re just across the street from the parking lot.

 

“Well, you weren’t very friendly during that time… I mean… according to Anna and Elsa you hardly ever spent time with them,” Rapunzel sheepishly answers.

“I was training. I mean… I know I was a little reclusive but I assumed they understood.”

“It’s not that they didn’t understand… it’s that…”

 

You all enter the car by this time. Eugene looks back at you.

“It’s more of a relationship issue. Elsa understood that you needed to do that, and she put your needs ahead of hers. However, to maintain a healthy relationship you need to do the same for her. You need to put Elsa ahead of yourself.”

You deter your eyes from Eugene’s and tilt your head slightly down. Your eyes strafe side to side as you think.

 

“But I do put her needs before mine,” you mutter.

“You do, I know that. But you have to look at it from Elsa’s perspective. She isn’t a fighter. She doesn’t have as much of a stake in this as you do. What Elsa wants is to be with you as long as she can. But you almost showed her that your needs will always come before hers. During that time, you barely even spoke to any of them. You just hid away in the basement. To Elsa, it almost seemed like you didn’t really care about her. And I know that’s not true. I know you don’t think that, but actions speak louder than words ever will. The thing is, you started proving that you do care more about her after that time period. I don’t know whether Elsa would leave you or anything, but you need to show that after this is all over you will be a man that she can lean on no matter what. You need to show her that you’ll always be there for her,” Eugene rants.

 

Eugene sighs and positions his body so he can drive. He pulls out of his parking spot and drives towards the exit. There is a slight tension in the car. Not a bad one by any means. Rapunzel and Eugene are just a little worried how you’ll react. Rapunzel is thankful that Eugene stepped in. She could have handled it, but it’s that kind of thing that Eugene just talked about. The two of them have really learned to help each other, and rely on each other.

 

You stay silent as you think. It’s not that the concept of helping or relying on Elsa is lost to you. It isn’t. You just never considered it like that. If Elsa had these thoughts, wouldn’t she have approached you with them? No… she couldn’t have. You were training all that time. You’re not even that big of a fighter, but training just felt so natural. You got lost in it, and it really paid off. You’re strength more than doubled, your stamina rose. But you still were tossed around like nothing when you fought Monarch – father.

 

“Maybe I’m just not good enough for her,” you mutter.

“No, don’t think that. You’re the best thing that ever happened to Elsa. You just… need a little advice on being a better boyfriend,” Rapunzel chuckles. “And don’t worry. It’s not even a problem anymore. Just try to keep that in mind every once in a while.”

You nod and regain your happy go lucky attitude. You lay against the back seat of the car and yawn.

 

You stare out the window to see the streets of Corona. Thankfully you’re moving faster than before. It entertains you to watch other people, even if you only see them for a few seconds. Since one of your biggest problems is observation, you practice like this. You try and take in as much as you can in the little time you have. It’s good practice. Shadow is the master of it though. He can gather almost everything from mere seconds of observation. He sees all the subtext and text of a situation.

 

You notice a couple with their one child. The child seems to be complaining, and the parents aren’t having any of it.

 

I’d say about thirty four years old for the parents, and six for the son. The dad seems more laid back than the mom is. The son… he seems a little spoiled, but not enough to make him demand everything.

 

“You’re missing something,” Shadow interrupts.

“What?” You ask in your mind.

“Did you not see that neither of them are wearing a wedding ring? Which means one of them might not be the parents at all.”

“Some people have kids before marriage. It’s not uncommon.”

“True. But did you notice the crosses?” He confidently mentions.

“What crosses?”

“Both the man and the woman had a necklace with a cross attached. Now, that might not mean anything, but some religions say you shouldn’t have sex before marriage. Again, it’s possible I’m wrong, but I still look at all possibilities. In my mind, one of those two are a divorced parent.”

 

“I… suppose that makes sense,” you admit. “I guess I don’t think about it that way.”

“You should. Keep all options open. It’ll help you in the long run.”

 

All options open..? I wonder what he means by that. Or maybe I’m thinking too deeply into it and there’s actually no deeper meaning.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Elsa and me?  Well… I suppose,” Kristoff shrugs.

He finishes folding some of his clothes on his bed. Anna is sitting on another portion of the bed with her legs crossed. She’s subconsciously showing off her new pair of jeans and cute new green top she bought recently. Unfortunately Kristoff doesn’t notice changes like that too much. Anna has gotten used to it, but she still tries every once in a while. At least he notices really expensive dresses or stand out clothes.

 

It’s funny how Kristoff never really buys her clothes. Or does anything big for her. He tries, but he has his family to try and support. Anna completely understands though. She doesn’t care for him because of what he buys her. It’s the way he makes her feel. Though, he doesn’t have much money to spend on her anyways. He used to have a job, but not anymore. He got fired a couple months ago. When he had the job he did use some of it on Anna. He’ll never let her know that he was borrowing money from you… which you were borrowing from Elsa. So technically Anna was still paying for herself. But Kristoff did have one ace up his sleeve when it came to money.

 

“I just think it would be a good thing for you two to spend some time together,” Anna says.

“Yeah, alright. Maybe tomorrow or later today. I don’t know, I have some things to do today.”

“Oh? And what is that?” Anna curiously asks.

Kristoff places all his folded clothes in a suitcase.

“I have to go see my potential new boss. Also I have to go withdraw everything Pabbie saved up for the family. He never actually told us how much he stored away for us. It shouldn’t take long. Do you want to come?”

 

“Of course!” Anna bubbly states, hopping off Kristoff’s bed.

She’d do anything to spend a little time with Kristoff now. It feels like forever since they could just be together and do random things. Of course these aren’t random, but at least they’re doing it together.

 

Kristoff pushes the suitcase under his bed.

“We’ll have to see how it all goes,” Kristoff aimlessly states.

“If it all goes well… maybe you can live with us?” Anna brings up.

Kristoff stops on his stairs and looks at Anna. He lets out a smile before kissing her quickly.

“I would love to.”

 

The two leave Kristoff’s house and get in his truck. He backs out of the driveway and onto the road, then heads off.

“So, when were you looking into getting a job?” Anna asks.

“Well, do you remember the apprenticeship I was taking during school?”

Anna nods her head.

“Well, the head guy called me back. He wants to do a formal interview. It’s mostly just a formality since most of those guys really like me. So… I might be getting a job in construction!”

 

“Oh, my big muscly boyfriend using those arms to move around stuff during hot sweaty days? I can see the appeal,” Anna says in a seductive voice.

“Well, that’s your appeal. But I think this would be a cool job. I always liked building and stuff. Plus, I’ll be able to pay for things.”

“You know, I’ve had that same thought too,” Anna mutters.

“What? Construction?”

“No, no,” Anna quickly states. “I mean getting a job. I shouldn’t be relying on my parents and Elsa’s money. I should be making my own. Plus I can meet come people.”

 

Kristoff turns the corner and cruises through a neighborhood. He’s carefully looking at the house numbers.

“There we go,” he cheers, turning into a parking lot. “Hold on Anna, I’ll be right back.”

 

Kristoff leaves his car and heads inside the house. Anna rests her arm against the door, and her head in her hand. She stares at a driveway a little down the road. There are some kids shooing pucks at a hockey net. She watches the two young boys take shots at the net. Anna can’t help but smile at the sight. She sighs.

 

Kristoff enters the car with a smile. Anna jumps a little bit at his arrival.

“I got the job!” Kristoff exclaims.

“Wow really? That was fast!” Anna mentions.

“As I said, this was really just a formality. I’m starting in two days!”

Anna leans over and tightly hugs Kristoff.

“I’m so happy for you, sweety.”

 

“Yeah, thanks Anna. Well, now to the bank, and then we can go to your place. Sound good?”

Anna nods. Kristoff smirks, then backs out of the driveway. He proceeds through town until he reaches a bank. He looks at a few pieces of paper for confirmation.

“Yeah, this is it. Alright… 6390… Ok, I’ll be right back.”

Kristoff exits the car and approaches an outdoor atm. He places the card in and punches in the passcode. He waits for a moment to see how much is in the account.

 

“Are… really? Oh… This is awesome!” He shouts.

Anna gets out of the car and starts walking towards Kristoff.

“What is it? How much is there?”

“A million! This’ll take care of my family for years! Oh man… thanks Pabbie.”

 

Anna lets out a smile that Kristoff doesn’t notice. This is one of the reasons she cares about him so much. His selflessness is touching. He doesn’t always show that he’s like that, though. He likes to keep a macho appearance, like you do. But like Elsa, Anna always cherishes the moments where her boyfriend will show his nicer side.

 

Kristoff pulls out his phone and sends a text.

“Well, Bulda knows now. And… I told her that I’ll be staying with you from now on.”

Anna smiles and pulls Kristoff in for a hug.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way Kristoff.”

Kristoff warms up to the hug. Sometimes he really appreciates the support Anna gives him. He’s so used to handling things on his own that it’s weird to experience the help. He has you to thank for that. Before he met you, he was on his own. He had his family, of course, but he generally did things on his own. Now, it’s different. It’s better.

 

“So, lets go home.”

 

Kristoff and Anna enter the truck and make their way back home. Kristoff has an obviously happy tone to himself now. Anna can’t help but feel the same way. The whole car is just filled with an upbeat aura. Anna reaches over to the radio and turns on some tunes. She starts bobbing back and forth, snapping her fingers and singing. Kristoff can’t help but chuckle at Anna’s actions.

 

He makes it to her house in no time. They pull into the drive way and finds a place to park. The two exit the truck and make their way inside the house. Anna quickly moves to Kristoff’s side. He wraps an arm around her, just to appease her.

 

They enter the house to find Elsa sleeping on the sofa. Anna lets out a smile and walks over to her sister. She is so peaceful right now. Her small nostrils slightly opening and closing with each breath she takes, and a little sound accompanying it. Kristoff suddenly remembers his things.

“Anna, I’ll be back in a few minutes. I forgot my clothes.”

Anna nods in acknowledgement, but doesn’t say a word. She doesn’t want to wake up her sister.

 

Anna looks over to the coffee table. There are stacks of papers that are both filled to the brim and not. There are three pens around too. One of them seems to be out of ink, but Anna can’t be sure. She can be sure that Elsa’s been working herself to death right now. It is in her nature though. Anna isn’t really surprised as much as she is concerned. She knows that Elsa can sometimes dedicate herself so much that she’ll overexert herself.

 

Anna moves right beside Elsa’s head. She starts stroking her sister’s hair in an attempt to softly wake her up.

“Elsa…” She whispers. “Elsa, wake up.”

Elsa starts slowly fidgeting. Her eyes open a crack and see Anna, smiling.

“Anna… I thought you were out with Kristoff.”

“I was. Kristoff just had to go grab some stuff and he’ll be right back.”

 

Elsa pushes herself into a sitting position. She rubs her eyes and yawns. Once Elsa gets back into the swing of things she sees the paperwork she has.

“Oh yeah, I was doing this. Man, I have some more to do,” Elsa says, a hint of complaint in her voice.

Anna picks up on Elsa’s lack of enthusiasm towards her task. Even Elsa has her limits.

 

“Maybe you need to take a little break,” Anna recommends, leading Elsa’s hands away from the paperwork.

“I took a nap. That was my break. I need-“

“Some time off. Maybe some help?” Anna suggests.

“You want to help?”

Anna giggles. “I’d love to help but this stuff is way over my head. Maybe you should think of hiring an assistant or something?”

 

Elsa pauses for a moment.

“No… I never really thought about that.” Elsa turns her head towards Anna and smiles. “That’s a good idea sis.”

“I have them every once in a while,” Anna proudly states.

The two begin laughing.

 

“So, you said Kristoff is coming back?” Elsa asks, still letting out a chuckle here and there.

Anna nods. “Yeah. I invited him to move in here, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course not. Kristoff is like family. Oh, did you talk to him about us going out?”

Anna once again nods. “I did. He’s on board with the idea. Maybe tomorrow?”

“I have to go to work tomorrow, so maybe afterwards. Besides, I think I’m going to bring up the idea of an assistant to Alec.”

 

All of a sudden Elsa starts feeling nauseous. She holds her stomach and leans over.

“Are you okay?” Anna asks, leaning parallel to Elsa.

“Yeah… I just… I need to go!”

Elsa rushes off of the couch and to the bathroom. Anna follows suit. Elsa bends over the toilet and throws up.

 

“My gosh Elsa! You really need to take a break! Here, I’ll get you… water or something,” Anna frantically says.

Elsa nods but says nothing. She stays over the toilet, just in case.

“Man… this is getting worse and worse. Maybe I should go see the doctor. Yeah… that’s it.”

Anna comes back with a glass of water.

“We had no cold bottles so… this is room temperature. Sorry.”

Elsa grabs it and focuses for a millisecond. A magical stream surrounds the cup and makes the water cold. Anna giggles.

“Sometimes I forget you can do that.”

 

Elsa smiles and drinks some of the water.

“Thanks Anna. Listen, I’m going to our doctor. I’ll be back soon.”

“Without an appointment?”

“Do you not remember how many times you rushed in there without an appointment?” Elsa smirks.

Anna remembers and starts faintly giggling.

“Yeah… I guess.”

 

“I’ll be back soon. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I’ll call you when I’m coming back.”

“Okay. Drive safe!” Anna smiles.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Eugene parks the car in front of an archaic looking building. It’s huge. The thing is basically a castle. It’s all made of stone with beautiful design. You already appreciate it, and you’re not even inside the building. It’s probably one of the biggest ruins you’ve ever seen. Then again, you’ve only seen… one before. That’s only if that temple you stumbled upon counts. But this one is just beautiful.

 

“What is this place?” You ask aloud, looking out the car window.

“It’s the oldest standing building in Corona. Used to be an old castle, I think. It’s a huge tourist attraction now. You can spend almost an entire day wandering the halls. Apparently it’s still not completely explored,” Rapunzel says.

 

The three of you get out of the car and start walking towards the castle. It’s more on the outskirts of town, so the view is great. Looking up at it, the background of the sky is just perfect. It’s almost like seeing an actual castle. You’ll never see a standing castle in your life, so you’re going to take in all you can.

 

The three of you walk up the long steps to the castle. It truly feels authentic. You’re not the only ones going there either. There are some people coming up behind you and some in front of you. You climb the massive steps until you reach the gates. Well, from the look of it they used to be gates. There’s a distinct lack of giant doors that prevents the title from being given.

 

You enter the courtyard and go straight into the castle.

“We’re allowed to just walk in? No paying or anything?” You ask, looking around for some sort of payment center.

“No. The city made this place open to the public. The most interference you’ll find here is a few guards that keep everything in order,” Eugene casually states.

 

The inside of the castle has a certain beauty to it. Even if there is dust falling down every once in a while, and the odd cobweb, it still retains its beauty. You place your hand on one the wall and feel the stone. It’s cold. Rapunzel and Eugene share an odd look. They aren’t sure what you’re doing. You lift your hand off of the stone and turn back towards the two. You see their confused faces.

 

“What?” You smile.

“Nothing,” they both say, shaking their heads.

You shrug and continue walking around the castle. You take charge instead of Eugene and Rapunzel. You go through some empty hallways to, what seems to be, the kitchen. You have no idea how people cooked back then. It’s just so much easier now. That’s probably just ignorance talking though. The three of you stay silent through the whole trip. Rapunzel and Eugene whisper to one another, but they mostly leave you alone. You’re too enticed in this building. Something about it just intrigues you.

 

You leave the kitchen when it becomes too crowded. You walk through another hallway till you reach a huge room. It seems to be some sort of council room… maybe where the king and queen would hear requests from the town or something. You really don’t know. It’s only you in this room. Eugene and Rapunzel wanted to see something else real quick. They asked you to remain in this room until they got back. You assume they wouldn’t want to lose you on the first day. That wouldn’t bode well in the long run. You’d imagine Elsa having a few kind words to say. Probably more to you than them.

 

There is still one of the royal chairs still standing. You walk up to it and examine it. There is a small description a little to the left of the chair. If the other chair was still there, the writing would be in the middle of them. You bend down and attempt to read it. It’s in some weird language that you don’t understand.

 

“Shadow, you know what this is?” You ask aloud.

“No, unfortunately. But I can tell you it’s not a language, at least not one present in modern times. The closest I could say… is that it’s some sort of latin. But, it’s not.”

“Well… what does it say in your ‘latin but not’ language?”

Shadow remains silent for a minute.

“The closest I can say… is that it reads as follows: ‘The king and queen reign supreme, from here to the others.’ Again, that’s not exactly what it is. But I have no idea what it means.”

You stand up and look around the room. You focus for a moment and notice something. It’s like an emptiness – a vacuum. Before you can even blink, it vanishes. You have no idea what it was, but there’s no doubt in your mind you saw something. You really can’t describe what it was. It was just a presence, but not any sort of living being. You shake your head to try and get yourself back into reality.

“This place is… weird. It’s great, but weird.”

Your watch starts flashing. You look down and click it.

“(Y/N), where are you? Still at the castle?” Hunter asks.

“Hello to you too. To answer your question, yes, I’m at the castle.”

“Alright, come downtown when you’re done. Tiger Plaza. I’ll be waiting for you.”

 

Hunter hangs up the phone. You pout. He always just hangs up on you like that. Rapunzel and Eugene push open the door and see you standing by the royal chair.

“Picturing yourself as a monarch, huh?” Eugene jokes. “I don’t think you’re handsome enough to be king.”

He doesn’t realize the irony in his statement. Being a monarch is the furthest thing from your mind, especially with the new use of the word.

 

“Nah, I’m just taking in the sites.  Oh by the way, screw you too! Like you’ve got the looks to be king. Your beard is just a baby compared to a beard of a king.”

Eugene crosses his arms. “Oh, you’re going to go there. My beard is superb. I have men pleading for the secrets of how I keep my beard looking so splendid. Ladies used to-“

Rapunzel elbows Eugene in the gut.

“You’re beard isn’t even that fantastic,” she snarls. “If anyone has an amazing beard, it’s my dad.”

“Traitor,” Eugene wheezes.

 

You can’t help but laugh at Eugene’s pain. Rapunzel giggles as well.

“Oh yeah, can you guys help me out? I need to get to Tiger Plaza. Can you take me there?”

Rapunzel nods. She spins around and starts walking away.

“Come on boys.”

 

Eugene continues to hold his stomach. You walk up to him and pat him on the head.

“You’ll grow a kingly beard one day,” you jokingly reassure.

Eugene gives you an incredulous look. You refrain from laughing as you walk away.

“Come on. I don’t want to be late.”

 


	31. The Big City

Chapter 31: The Big City

 

 

Rapunzel and Eugene drop you off a little outside of Tiger Plaza. It’s very crowded all around, so you choose to just walk in.

“You sure you don’t want us to come?” Rapunzel asks.

“Yeah, it’s alright. I’ll call you two later, okay?”

The two simply stare at you as you get out of the car.

 

You step onto the sidewalk and look around. There has to be a hundred people on this street alone. You close the door behind you and look across the street. Tiger Plaza, according to Eugene, is down the street and to the right. Eugene’s car drives away, leaving you all alone. This is the first time you’ve been alone in this city. Yes, the time in the castle could count but you won’t count it. You wait for a clearing in the traffic. At one point the traffic is brought to a stop. You just slip through the cars to get across the street.

 

You walk down the street, looking at the shops that are around you. On your side, it’s mostly just the butt end of all the stores accessible from the plaza. Those stores being clothing, video game, and even barber shops. You notice that there is one flower shop. It probably feels like the outlier among all the others.

 

The other side has a convenience store, pizza place, the usual suspects on a street. You pass by some pretty interesting looking people. There are definitely more diverse people here than in Arendelle. You follow Eugene’s directions and take a left at the light. You can see the entrance to the plaza not far ahead. You make your merry way to the entrance and turn into the plaza. There is a grand sign above you displaying “Tiger Plaza”. To your disappointment, there is no tiger around the sign.

 

You walk further into the plaza and scan the area for Hunter. It’s hard to see him since the area is packed with other people, both tall and small. You stand still and continue to look around the area. All of a sudden you notice a girl angrily walking towards you. She has blonde hair and is quite attractive. But why she’s so angry at someone you’ll never know. She keeps her trajectory aimed towards you. You start to get a little worried. You look around you and see nobody just standing there. You turn back toward her and…

 

Slap!

 

She slaps you so hard it leaves a red mark of her hand.

“Ow, ow, ow! Hey!?” You cry out, holding your stinging cheek. “What was that for? Jeez. I don’t even know you!”

“Don’t know me? How could you be like that! You’re a pig!”

“Hey, I don’t know you lady!” You argue.

“Typical of you Hunter. I knew you were a scumbag.”

 

“Wait… Hunter? That’s my brother. I’m (Y/N).”

The woman calms down a bit. She checks you out then processes the information. One second later her eyes widen.

 

“Oh my gosh! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! You look so much like him! I just thought he changed his hair! Are you okay? Can I get you something?” She spews, rushing beside you and wrapping her arms around you.

“I’m okay, don’t worry. But you do hit hard.”

“Again, I’m so sorry,” she pleads.

 

You lightly push her off of you.

“So, how do you know my brother?” You ask, having your own guess.

“Well, I thought we were a couple but I was wrong.”

“Wait… are you Hunter’s girlfriend?”

“I once was, I thought. That was two months ago. That jerk never called me back after we-“

“I don’t want to know what you did with him,” you shout. “Well, he’s supposed to be meeting me here. Maybe you two can catch up.”

You deviously smile at the thought of Hunter having to deal with one of his exes. It’ll knock him down a peg.

 

“Well… alright,” she suspiciously says. “But why are you helping me? He’s your brother, isn’t he?”

“He is, true. But seeing you slap him the way you slapped me is just too good to pass up,” you chuckle.

She starts laughing too.

“That makes sense, I guess.”

 

The two of you walk around the plaza for a bit. You cannot find Hunter for the life of you. You decide to start checking in some of the more obscure locations in the plaza. You search through every single store until you come up to the last one. It’s the flower shop.

 

Mother Earth’s Flowers? What a weird name.

 

You walk up to the small shop and open the door. Hunter’s ex follows suit. You look around the store for a moment and see the array of flowers. There are so many of them. The colours, shapes, sizes. They’re all beautiful. You hear someone giggle near the back of the store. You swear you’ve heard that voice before, but you can’t put your finger on it. You walk near the end of the store to find Hunter – with his back turned to you – talking to someone.

 

“Hunter!” The girl screams.

“Huh?”

Hunter turns around and reveals who he was talking to. Your eyes widen when you see them. Their pale skin. Their green eyes. Their green hair that flows down to her waist.

 

“Gaia?” You softly question.

Gaia looks at you and recoils a bit.

“(Y/N)?”

 

The woman walks up and slaps Hunter square in the face. Gaia sees this and sighs in disappointment.

“There you are! How dare you abandon me! You jerk!”

She turns around and walks towards you. She grabs your cheeks and pulls you in for a one sided kiss. Your eyes explode out of your head. You start flailing your arms around, but the woman didn’t notice. She releases you then nods in victory. She exits the store with some twisted form of pride.

 

You stand there, dumbfounded. You’ve just been hit with two bombs. One being this random woman kissing you, and the other being Gaia. She died. You saw her die with your own eyes. How is she standing in front of you? How is she talking to Hunter? Dead women don’t talk.

 

Gaia gives a condescending eye to Hunter.

“Really? You can’t go anywhere without SOME girl knowing you.”

“It’s not my fault!” He chuckles. “I’m just charming. Ask the three numbers I recently got.”

“So… three more slaps?” She predicts.

Hunter’s face drops. Gaia giggles a bit then looks at you. She can see you still trying to wrap your head around Gaia’s presence here. She turns her attention back to Hunter.

 

“You didn’t tell me (Y/N) was coming. I’m a little unprepared.”

“You didn’t tell me she was alive!” You shout.

“You didn’t tell him I was alive?” She repeats.

Hunter closes his eyes and absorbs both voices.

“Okay, okay. My bad. Sheesh, give me a bit of a break. I just got slapped here.”

“Good,” Gaia smiles.

 

“Gaia… how are you alive? I… I thought I… I mean he…”

Gaia looks over at you and sighs.

“(Y/N), please don’t be nervous around me. I’m not angry or spiteful towards you. I know that you didn’t have control that day. Hunter already explained everything to me. I have to thank you for killing the Duke and Duchess. It… brings some vengeance to Pyro and Tempest.”

 

“Well… if it wasn’t for me they would be alive to talk about it.”

“(Y/N), please,” Gaia says, approaching you and placing her hands on your shoulders. “It’s okay.”

You smile and rub the back of your head. You realize you still haven’t had your question answered.

“So, how did you not die? Seriously,” you ask with determination. “I saw you ‘return to the earth’ or whatever.”

 

Gaia shakes her head and crosses her arms.

“What does that have to do with it?”

“I don’t know...”

“Tempest didn’t get hit by lightning and go in the sky. Pyro didn’t burst into flames. Wouldn’t that give you a little bit of a hint?”

 

“I… guess I didn’t think of that…”

“I stayed underground until I was back to health. Hunter found me not too long after, actually. And… well… now I live here in Corona. It’s not that exciting of a story,” she shrugs.

Hunter looks out the window of the shop then smiles.

“Hey, how about we get some fresh air?”

 

He places his hands on both your backs and leads you outside.

“You know, the outside world is just so great, right? Why be cooped up indoors?” He continues.

“Hunter, what are you on?” You inquire.

“Yeah, you’re being weird,” Gaia adds.

“Oh, nothing. I just saw some other friends we need to meet.”

 

The three of you leave the shop and into the plaza. He lifts his hands off your backs and walks into the crowd. He turns around for a quick moment and puts his hands around his mouth.

“I’ll be back in a second!”

Hunter turns back around and disappears into the crowd. You and Gaia awkwardly stand beside each other. Neither of you know what to say.

 

“So… You’ve known Hunter for a couple months then?”

Gaia looks over at you and responds, “Yes, a while now. He’s quite a character, let me tell you.”

“Oh, I know. If he wasn’t my brother I probably wouldn’t be accompanying him right now,” you chuckle.

“Well that’s not fair. He has good intentions, but he’s… immature.”

“How so?”

 

“Well, when I say immature I don’t mean childish, I just mean… it’s hard to explain. I suppose it’s just the way I see him. We’ve been together so many times that-“

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, what?” You quickly say. “You’ve been together? Like… dating, together?”

Gaia is a little taken back by your comment.

“Yes, we have. Why, did you not know?”

“No… I didn’t. He mentioned someone but… I didn’t think… I mean I did think you were dead… but…”

 

“Well, me and Hunter have been ‘together’ for about ten months now. It’s tough but… we survive,” she says, staring off in the distance.

“Huh…”

“What?” She asks, smiling.

“Nothing. It’s just weird to see my brother and an old enemy dating.”

 

Gaia places her hands on her hips and gives you a joking look.

“Is that all I am? An old enemy?”

“Well… kind of. No offense, but I really don’t know you that well. I just know that you and your friends almost killed Elsa and myself.”

Gaia sighs. “Yes, that’s true. Again, I’m terribly sorry about that. Pyro and Tempest were so enveloped in rage towards the Duke and Duchess that they would do anything to get at them.”

“You weren’t?" You ask, brow raised.

 

“Well… I was, but not like they were. You have to understand that it was a difficult life for us. All elementals faced the same troubles. We were outcasts,” she says as thoughts and emotions swirl inside of her. “The Hierarchy made our lives a living hell. We were constantly being hunted. We couldn’t find any work. It’s like we were animals and they were hunters. We were just game to them. You were too, by the sound of it,” she redirects at you.

 

“What do you mean?”

“You were just a pet project to them. Everything they work on is. It’s a shame, really. We all had so much talent… but no. Our lives will never be normal,” she disappointedly states.

“Well, you seem to be living a normal enough life now. I mean, you’re running a flower shop. That’s got to be pretty easy with the powers you have.”

Gaia looks at you and lets out a small smile.

“Yeah, I suppose. It has been easier since my ‘death’. I’ve met people, started my own business, I’m healthy.”

“See! That’s something!”

 

Gaia looks into your eyes and sees the genuine nature you have. You really believe that things can be normal for her. This confuses her. You said it yourself that she’s just an old enemy to you, and yet you’re trying to encourage her. You’re mostly doing this because Hunter trusts her. She’s also very different from the Gaia you met all that time ago. The Gaia that stabbed herself and wanted to die. You don’t want people to die. You never do. Even pathetic people like Hans or your father. You want them to be stopped, not killed.

 

But you’ll probably have to kill them to stop them. They won’t just give up, not after all this time. Hans is too focused on breaking you down and killing you. He wants to prove that he’s better than you, even though he’s not. You’re not cocky, you just know when you are stronger than someone. Due to all the training you’ve done for this, you’re confident that there’s few people that can best you, but that doesn’t mean you can let your guard down. That’s one thing that Shadow likes to beat into your brain.

 

“Never let your guard down. Anyone and everyone is stronger than they look – even you.”

 

It’s funny how much Shadow has trained you. You probably wouldn’t be half as strong as you are now without him. You rely on him to an extent. You’re literally two sides of the same coin… just two people of the same body. It’s one advantage that will always give you the upper hand no matter what.

 

You’re about to continue speaking when something cuts you off.

“(Y/N)!” A distinct voice calls out, stretching out your name.

“No way…” You whisper as you turn around to see the source of the voice.

You see two people walking towards you. One of them is waving quite flamboyantly. One of them is Hunter and the other is Matt. Matt is a little different from the last time you saw him. His hair is now medium length, but very neat and touched up. He’s wearing a blue blazer with white dress pants.

 

“Matt? What are you doing here?”

“I’m visiting my boyfriend! I told you, silly,” he chuckles.

“Yeah, where is he anyway? I thought he was with you?” Hunter comments, looking around.

“Oh he needed the little boys room. He’ll be here any second,” Matt clarifies. “So (Y/N), what’s your cute ass been doing lately.”

 

Matt… not a man to hold anything back.

 

You rub the back of your head and smile.

“You know, the usual.”

“The usual? That’s not what I heard. I heard that your little stunt destroyed an entire forest,” he smiles.

Your whole happy persona drops to a somewhat serious one.

“How… did you know that?”

 

“Oh, my dad is… well I can’t say, but he was one sent to investigate that little mess you made by Tocia. I didn’t know it was you until Hunter told me. I gotta say, you know how to display a fireworks show.”

You turn to Hunter.

“Why would you tell him that!?” You shout.

“Calm down, jesus. He’s trustworthy. Besides, I didn’t tell him directly.”

 

Gaia takes a few steps away while the two of you talk. She sees someone come out of the crowd and smiles.

“Hey! We’re over here!” She calls out.

A man walks out of the crowd and approaches the group. He comes in from behind you, so you don’t notice him. He walks up to Gaia and hugs her.

“Hello Gaia. How’re you doing?” He asks, his voice as soft as ever.

“I’m fine… Did you see who came here?” She inquires, raising her hand towards you and Hunter.

 

You hear Gaia talking and turn around. Your eyes widen a bit. Your mouth starts to smile. A familiar blue haired man stands before you.

“Rain!? What are you doing here?” You shout, rushing up to him and giving him a hug. You don’t notice him blush. “It’s good to see you!”

“It’s good to see you too, (Y/N),” he quietly greets.

He looks over at Matt and smiles

“Excuse me (Y/N), but this man is mine,” Matt declares, swooping in beside Rain and interlocking arms.

 

You back off for a moment and stare at the two of them. Your eyes squint as you try to make the connection. Everyone stares at you for a moment as you think. They all exchange looks as they wonder what your deal is.

 

“Oh my god, he’s gay you moron!” Shadow clarifies.

 

“Rain… you’re… I mean I have nothing against it I just never thought that… not that you aren’t… I mean… it’s just you’re not so open, not that that’s a bad thing! It’s just Matt is so blaaa” you say, shaking your hands a little. “And he just… I mean…”

 

Rain blushes and folds into himself.

“Yeah… Remember how I said there were two reasons my parents rejected me. Well… this is the other reason…”

“Oh… jeez I’m sorry… I should have… I mean not that it’s… Man… I’m really insensitive, and blind, and I should stop talking but I’m not because I’m-“

“Stupid. Extremely stupid; can’t forget that,” Hunter chimes in.

Gaia smacks Hunter’s arm.

“What? We’re all thinking it.”

 

“That’s okay (Y/N). You wouldn’t know unless Rain walked around with a sign on his chest and it stamped on his forehead.”

“Hey! I am very good at-“

“Alright, alright! How about we find a nice place to sit down and chat, huh?” Hunter interrupts.

Gaia sighs and turns towards her shop.

“Come on. I have a room in the back.”

 

The five of you enter Gaia’s shop and move to the back room. It’s a quaint spot with some office supplies and general décor. There are stairs near the back of the room, leading above the main shop. Gaia brings all of you up there and to her house. There are only three rooms on the second floor. A bathroom, a kitchen, and the bedroom. The kitchen is the largest room. It has a dining table along with the general kitchen appliances.

 

Gaia leads you into the kitchen and to the table. You all take a seat and stare at each other.

“So, what do you have to say? You brought us all here,” Rain sheepishly asks, trying not to be rude.

“Well, I got you all together because I need your help. The Hierarchy is almost ready to launch whatever they’re planning and we haven’t got a clue how to stop it.”

“Listen, Hunter I have to get this out of the way right now,” Gaia starts. “I don’t want to wage war on them. I can’t help you.”

“What? Gaia, why not? This is serious!”

“Hunter, listen… I know this is serious to you but-“

“Serious to me? This is serious to more people than just me!”

 

You’ve never seen Hunter like this. He’s keeping his voice down, but you can hear the pure anger in his voice.

 

“Hunter, maybe you should listen to her,” you add.

Hunter looks at you and sighs.

“Why won’t you help?” He halfheartedly asks.

“Hunter, I know this is something you’ve dedicated your whole life to but… I just got out. It hasn’t even been a year. I want to live a normal life now.”

The way that Gaia says it, and the look in her eyes shows that she’s hinting at something else that only Hunter understands.

 

“Hunter, I can’t say I’m all for the idea of fighting them either. I mean… what can the five of us-“

“Four,” Gaia snaps.

“My apologies Gaia,” Rain sincerely says. “What can four people do against an entire organization? None of us are fighters like you two. We’re just average people.”

 

Hunter knows that this group hasn’t been the most active in helping him fight the Hierarchy. There are the odd times where they’ve helped big time with information of places to hide. But they never really helped in taking the fight to them. Hunter can’t understand why. He can’t wrap his head around the fact that people don’t want to stop these people. It’s a question that continuously swirls in his mind, and one that will likely never be answered.

 

“Well, I used to be an average guy too,” you say. “But now here I am, fighting these guys. You don’t have to be amazing in order to make a difference. You just have to try your best.”

Hunter looks at you then back at the table.

“Look. I can’t do this on my own. I will need your help. Please.”

 

Gaia, Rain, and Matt look at each other. You remain silent, keeping your hands together. You dart your eyes between everyone as they make their decision.

“Hunter, I’ve never known you to leave anyone behind. If you really need my help, then I’ll be here for you. But under no circumstances will I fight. Do you understand that?” Gaia firmly states.

Hunter nods. “I do, and… thanks Gaia.”

 

You and Hunter look over to Matt and Rain.

“I’ll do what I can,” Rain softly says. “I can’t promise much more than that.”

“If Rain is in then I’m in too!” Matt loudly declares, sliding his hand atop of Rain’s.

Hunter smiles. “Thank you, truly. So, we should get to work.” Hunter stands up, then grabs your collar and pulls you out of your chair.

“(Y/N), you’re coming with me. Rain, Matt, Gaia, do a little digging on that matter we were looking in to.”

“I’ll let you know what I hear through the grapevine,” Gaia nods.

 

You chuckle a bit. The laughing is short lived as Hunter drags you out of the upstairs floor. Gaia, Rain, and Matt watch as the two of you leave. They wait until they hear the outside door close.

“So… does anyone else think that Hunter’s becoming too obsessed with this?” Gaia brings up.

“I don’t know. I think he just really wants to do this,” Rain counters.

“Honestly, if (Y/N) wasn’t there I don’t think I would help him,” Gaia continues.

“But don’t you and Hunter have history?”

 

Gaia sighs. “We do… and that’s why I don’t want him to keep doing this. I feel like the appearance of (Y/N) has taken away all the work I’ve done to try and convince him to stop fighting. Hell, he got you hurt Rain!”

 

“I know, but that was my choice,” Rain clarifies, remaining calm. “I know Hunter didn’t mean for me to get hurt. Besides… I don’t fight anymore.”

“I don’t want to gang up on Hunter but, you didn’t fight before that instance,” Matt says. “Besides, I don’t want to see you get hurt anymore. You’re extremely fragile and I don’t think even that Hierarchy could stop me if you got hurt.”

 

Rain snickers. “That’d be a big mistake on their part. But… I just think we need to support him. We can’t just give up on someone that we call ‘friend’. Besides, I trust (Y/N)’s judgement. He’s not as obsessed.”

“I have to agree with Rainy on that one. (Y/N) is a level headed guy, and smart too. Hunter would listen to him more than any of us. Well, except maybe you,” Matt finishes, staring at Gaia.

 

Gaia looks out the window and sees the two of you walking out of the plaza.

“I just feel like this isn’t going to end how they hope it will.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“So where are we going?” You ask as you and Hunter walk out of the plaza.

“We’re going to go on a little scouting mission. There is a biotech corporation called Dysa Co. that has no doubt has dealing with the Hierarchy. We’re going to find a way inside of it.”

 

The two of you walk along the streets. The buildings are so tall that you can’t tell which one is the Dysa Co. building. They’re all just tall, grey buildings. This is why you hate cities. One of the reasons, anyway. So much of it looks the same with the odd spectacle here and there. Well, there’s also the Red Light District here in Corona that will definitely spice up the bland setting, but you’re not going to run in that part of town just for a change of pace. Maybe calling it bland is unfair. There are lots of flashing signs and bright lights. So that could count.

 

“(Y/N)! Hunter! What’re you guys doing here?”

You turn around to see Eugene with a satchel. You smile and wave.

“Hey Eugene! What’re you doing here?”

Eugene runs through the crowd and to you both.

“Oh, well me and Rapunzel got back after we dropped you off and then I got a call from work. I have to deliver this package,” he says, lifting up the satchel.

“Want some company?” You offer.

 

Hunter gives you a look. You look back and shrug.

“Come on man, we have all day. Plus, Eugene might be able to help,” you whisper.

“And how will he help? I don’t mind Eugene, but we have work to do.”

You pat Hunter on the head and smile.

“Stop worrying. We’ll get to it,” you smile. You turn to Eugene with open arms. “So Eugene, where are we going?”

 

Eugene takes out a small piece of paper from his pocket and studies it.

“We have to go to some weird company… um… Keralu. Oh yeah, that’s that pharmaceutical company. Well, will you be accompanying me?”

“Yes we will,” Hunter quickly answers.

You turn in around in surprise. You didn’t expect Hunter to go along with it so quickly.

 

“Alright, well, let’s get a move on,” Eugene beckons. “We have to pick up… whatever I have to deliver. I swear, specifics aren’t that difficult to give.”

Hunter crosses his arms and begins to follow Eugene’s lead. You do as well, but without the crossing of your arms.

“We have to go to the redlight district. Not the most ideal place to go but, hey… job’s a job. The conditions never bothered me.”

 

“The redlight district… that can be a dangerous place. We should probably be careful down there,” Hunter comments.

“Yeah, I already have that covered. We just have to be really fast. In and out.”

You shrug. “Sounds good. I’ll follow your lead.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Elsa drives home from the doctor’s office. It was a difficult conversation, and one with so many possibilities. Elsa was given a few things to try at home before coming back to the doctor the next day. She has a small bag in the passenger seat with some things to use for her tests. She’ll be able to do it right away, so there won’t be any reason to go stir crazy wondering what’s wrong. The doctor took her blood and has some tests to run of his own. If all goes as planned, Elsa should get an answer tomorrow.

 

Her car lights up a bit. Her car screen shows an incoming call from Alec. She clicks the accept button.

“Hello Alec. What can I do for you?”

“I just wanted to see how our CEO was doing today, and bring her some information.”

“I’m fine Alec, thank you for asking. I had to go to the doctors today, but I’ll be alright for work tomorrow. So, what is there to know about?”

 

“I hope you’re healthy by tomorrow. You have a meeting with some shareholders. It’ll be a quick meeting, hopefully. I’ll be there too,” Alec says.

Elsa turns the corner and down a street.

“Alright, thank you for letting me know. Oh, and Alec.”

“Yes Ms. Anderson?”

“I want to hire an assistant, or secretary for me. Is that possible?”

 

“Of course. I’ll find a list and gather potential candidates for tomorrow. It’ll be after the meeting. Is that alright with you?”

“That’s perfect Alec, thank you.”

“Alright. Well I’ll see you tomorrow Ms. Anderson.”

“Yes, tomorrow. Goodbye Alec.”

 

Elsa ends the call. She sees her house and pulls into the driveway. She grabs the bag from the passenger seat then exits the car, closing the door behind her. She walks up to her house and opens the door. She can hear Anna and Kristoff upstairs. There’s lots of banging and laughing. Elsa really hopes that it’s just the process of moving that she’s hearing. Yes, that’s all it is. It’s just moving stuff.

 

“Anna! Kristoff! You guys here?” Elsa calls out.

Elsa can hear some more rattling going on upstairs.

“Elsa? Hey sis! What’s up? What’d the doctor say?” Anna yells, not bothering to come out of the room she’s in.

“Just gave me some stuff to try, nothing much. What about you?”

Elsa takes off her jacket and hangs it up. She looks around to see where Gerda and Kai are. There isn’t any sign of them, which makes her a little concerned. At least there are some signals of little Olaf running around.

 

“Me and Kristoff have just been moving stuff around.”

“It sounds like you’re both in your room,” she states, walking up the stairs. “Shouldn’t you be moving stuff into the spare room instead of yours?”

Anna looks out the door and sees Elsa. She giggles a bit, then slides out of the room. She closes the door behind her. Anna covers her mouth with one hand and giggles.

 

“What? I can’t have my very loving, very loyal, boyfriend sleeping in the same room as me every night?”

Elsa shakes her head and shrugs.

“You’re old enough to do what you want. I’m not going to baby you.”

“Wait… really?” Anna says in disbelief.

Elsa smiles. “Of course.”

 

Anna hops up and down then ambushes Elsa with a hug.

“Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! Elsa you’re the best sister ever! I can prove to you that I’m a mature, responsible adult!”

Elsa giggles. “Well, we’ll take it one step at a time. Anyhow, I have a few things to do. Does Kristoff still want to go out later today?”

“Um… I think so. Hey Kristoff! Come here!”

 

Kristoff comes out of Anna’s room in a light jog.

“Oh hey Elsa. Whatcha need?”

“I was just confirming whether you wanted to have dinner later tonight?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, Anna was the one who wanted-“

“No, no, no, no, no I didn’t, whaaat? I would never do that? Pshhhhh that doesn’t sound like me.”

 

Elsa rolls her eyes.

“Well, it’s your choice. I’m not going to force you to do anything.”

“No, that’s fine. I’ll come. It does sound like fun,” Kristoff reassures. “But I’m in the middle of something so maybe in an hour or so?”

Elsa nods. “I have some things to do as well. We can go whenever you are ready, there is really no rush.”

“Thanks Elsa. Well, I better get back to it.”

 

Kristoff walks back into Anna’s room. Anna stares at her room for a few seconds then looks back at Elsa.

“I need to go before he takes over. We’ve been battling for control.”

Anna giddily rushes back into the room.

“Kristoff you can’t move that!”

“You never even use that!” He chuckles.

“Well I might, and if you move it then what will happen?” Anna argues.

 

Elsa can’t help but snicker. She turns to the bathroom and pulls one of the six objects out of the bag. A pregnancy test.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

A plane descends onto the Corona airport. It pulls into a private dock and waits. The door opens up, and soon after a man walks out of it. He looks around the airport and notices a black car approach the plane. Alistair walks down the steps and onto the concrete. The car pulls up beside him and stops. Juno exits the car and looks at her husband. Alistair smiles and spreads his arms. Juno smiles and rushes to him, embracing him in a hug.

 

“I’ve missed you, dear. Things have gotten complicated lately. The device is still the same but-“

“Shhh, don’t worry about that Juno,” he whispers, placing a finger over her mouth, “For now, I need you to do something for me.”

“Anything.”

“I need you to get back on the plane. There’s something I need you to do elsewhere.”

 

Juno’s expression drops slightly.

“I… was hoping we could spend more time together.”

“I’m sorry my love, but you know we’re on a tight schedule. Once this is finished we can spend all the time we want together.”

Juno smiles at the thought.

“Alright. Do I get to kill anyone?”

Alistair chuckles. “Quite possibly. I left the details on the plane.”

 

“Okay, I’ll get it done immediately,” Juno confidently states.

Juno kisses Alistair on the cheek. She stares into his fierce eyes for a moment. She can still see that fire that she fell in love with. Juno slowly walks past Alistair and into the plane. Alistair turns around.

“Hold on, don’t take off yet. There’s still something inside the plane that I want.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

The three of you approach the redlight district. It’s painfully obvious. Everything starts to become darker, messier, and sadder. You can wager that most people here don’t necessarily want to be here. Well, the ones that live here, anyway. The rich always come down to get a quick one in before heading home to their wives, and the lonely man comes here not to feel so lonely anymore.  Not only is there a brothel with dozens of prostitutes on the streets, but there’s also heavy sign of gang activity. This one placed is chalked full of stereotypes.

 

“So, be careful around here. This place will beat you down and steal your money… it will leave you with a woman though, so… think of it as you will,” Eugene passively states.

You look over at Eugene with a “really” look. Eugene chuckles and looks around. He pulls out a piece of paper and looks at it.

“Yeah… we’re going to the strip club. Sorry if that’s a place you’d rather avoid.”

“Meh, it doesn’t matter to me. It’s not like I’m going to be doing anything there anyway,” you respond.

“I might find something interesting there,” Hunter snickers.

 

The three of you enter the district and walk down the street. People are either talking to each other, sitting around staring at nothing, or staring at your group.

“Eugene, you sure this is safe?”

“Yeah, no sweat. As long as we avoid the DCC we’re fine.”

“DCC? Who are they?”

“A gang I used to run with,” Eugene explains, keeping his head slightly turned towards you but not enough to take his eyes away from what’s in front of him. “Remember I told you I was being chased when I met Rapunzel? They were the ones chasing me.”

“Fantastic,” you sarcastically say.

 

You turn a corner and are greeted with a moderately sized building. Of course there are buildings all along the street, but this one is obviously trying to get attention. There are flashing lights, glowing stars, loud music, and a sign that shows a woman wearing some very revealing clothes.

 

“Talk about subtlety,” you mutter. “Wouldn’t this place be taken down or something?”

“No, this place is protected by higher ups. Besides, this place has its uses,” Hunter whispers.

“Like wha… Hunter what the fuck?”

“What? No! Not those uses! I mean… Yeah it has those uses but that wasn’t what I was talking about.”

“Whatever you say… pervert,” you whisper.

“Moron,” Hunter retorts.

 

You all approach the strip club. Eugene stops in front of the door and looks at the two of you.

“One of you should stay out here, just in case.”

“I’ll do it,” you offer.

“Good, cause I wasn’t going to,” Hunter chuckles.

“What is with you lately?” You loudly ask, throwing your arms in the air.

Hunter thinks for a moment then shrugs.

“I don’t know.”

 

Eugene grabs Hunter’s arm and walks into the building. You lean against the wall and look around. You see a large crowd of people walking around outside the building. They don’t seem like the friendliest people either. You take note of the fact that they’re all staring at you – or at least in your direction. You stay vigilant, just in case.

 

They better hurry up.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Hunter and Eugene enter the main room. There are customers everywhere. All of them are being treated to by the girls. Eugene and Hunter can’t help but raise their brows at the women. They’re all beautiful, even if some of them are somewhat fake. Eugene shakes his head and looks down to his shoes. Hunter chuckles.

 

“View too much for you?”

“No. I just saw someone I’d rather not.”

Hunter looks around the room.

“Who?”

“The dancer. Look, let’s just get this package and be off.”

 

Eugene pulls out the piece of paper and examines it. Hunter clears his throat.

“Eugene,” he says during his cough.

Eugene looks up only to be met with a very bulky man in a suit. He’s bald, wearing dark aviators. He’s holding a small package between his body and left arm.

“Eugene Fitzherbert?” He emotionlessly asks.

“Yyyyeeeeeesss?” Eugene slowly responds.

The man hands Eugene the package.

“Make sure it gets done.”

 

The man quickly walks away and into a back room. Hunter smiles in anticipation.

“Hey Eugene, you and (Y/N) can handle this, right?”

Eugene carefully places the package inside his satchel.

“Yeah, of course. Why do you ask?”

Hunter begins walking into the crowd.

“Cause I have something I want to try.”

 

Hunter disappears into the crowd, his last action being a smirk. Eugene raises one eye brow to go along with his confused face.

“Man… those brothers are weird…”

 

Eugene assures that the satchel is secure, then makes his way to the exit. He leaves the building and finds you leaning against the wall.

“You ready to go?”

You look over at him and nod.

“We should proooobably get moving. I have a feeling this place doesn’t like me.”

“You seem to have the same mindset I do.”

You chuckle and lightly push yourself off the wall.

“And what would that be?”

“I assume that everything I don’t know doesn’t like me. Though, how can someone hate this face? Especially when I use the smolder.”

“The what?”

Eugene places a finger over your mouth. He suspiciously looks around.

“Shhh, no one must know about the smolder.”

 

You push him away from you.

“Shut up, man,” you laugh.

Eugene laughs alongside you. You both walk away from the strip club. Eugene stops laughing and looks around a bit. He notices an abnormality in the street. There are more people staring at the two of you than there should be. All the shops are closed too. Eugene keeps his mouth shut about it, but he keeps his eyes open.

 

“So what’s the package?”

Eugene shrugs. “Dunno. It’s part of the job not to know.”

“I suppose that’s fair.”

 

Eugene stops walking. You take a few steps before stopping and turning around. Eugene is looking to the side, into an alley. Two people walk out of the alley. They look like twin brothers. Both are big, bulky, and look like they have a low IQ. One of them has some sort of eyepatch for some reason. It has a gold insignia on it. It’s the same one that’s plastered over a lot of walls. That means it’s probably to show the gang he’s affiliated with.

 

“Uh oh,” Eugene shutters.

“What? Who are they?”

The two walk out with big smiles on their faces. They look extremely devious.

“They’re the Stabbington brothers. They’re the leaders of the Stabbington gang – the most infamous gang in Corona. Aaaaaaand they don’t like me.”

 

“Ryder… it’s great to see you around here,” one of them states in a monotone voice.

“We missed you,” the other adds.

A group of gang members walk out behind them. More appear all around you, from the rooftops, to the buildings, to the streets. You look around and get a feel for the situation you’re in. The first word that comes to mind is “fucked”. They all have some sort of gun, whether it’s a handgun or a submachine gun. You go back to back with Eugene as the two of you look at the dozens of gang members surrounding you.

 

“Whatever, you can’t take us on even with all your guns!” Eugene confidently shouts.

You widen your eyes.

“Eugene, what are you doing?” You whisper.

“My buddy here can take you all in his sleep. He’s dealt with worse than a few guns.”

“Eugene!” You sharply whisper.

“Bring out even bigger ones! We can take you!”

 

The Stabbington brothers look at each other then smile. They look back into the alley and wave a hand to someone. Another gang member comes out with an RPG. He takes a knee and aims it at the two of you.

 

“Eugene!”

Eugene leans his head back a bit.

“What is it? I’m prepping your big moment.”

“Eugene, I can’t dodge a bullet.”

Eugene pauses for a moment, his eyes stretching out.

“Say what?”

“I can’t dodge a bullet. At least not this many from all directions.”

“But… you fought with that Monarch guy… and the giant fight with the explosion,” Eugene recollects.

 

“Yeah, I almost died there. A sword could kill me instantly if it got me good.”

“But… aren’t you super-fast and strong?”

“Yeah, but not that fast. I could dodge one – maybe two bullets if I was facing the guy who shot me. I don’t think I can dodge all these bullets from all around me. If they hit me I’m as dead as you are.”

 

Eugene pauses for a moment. He stares blankly at a wall.

“Shit.”

The Stabbington brothers take out their own guns and aim them at the two of you.

“Let’s see what you got then, Ryder.”

 

The gang member fires the RPG. A second before that you grab Eugene and jump. You jump in an arc over the Stabbington brothers. However, the explosion hits your back and sends you flying further than you wanted to. As soon as the explosion hits all the gang members start firing their guns at you, including the Stabbington brothers.

 

You land on a dumpster. Eugene crushes you when you land. The two of you bounce off and land right out in the open. You grunt in pain and look around. You can see the guns start to aim towards you. You grab the dumpster and turn it so that you and Eugene are somewhat covered. You lay your back against it and take a breather. Eugene grabs his head and shakes it.

 

“Ohh man… Wait… (Y/N)!?” He shouts, looking around. He sees you laying against the dumpster.

“You’re okay! Oh thank-“ A flurry of bullets fly around the two of you. “Whoa, damn!”

You smile. “Alright… we should probably get out of here as soon as possible.”

“You think!?” He barks.

 

You get off your butt and turn around to face the dumpster. You drag it back with you as you start moving away from the gang. Eugene stays right up against it as well, in order to stay safe. You’re about halfway through the alley and you start feeling something. The bullets have started piercing through the dumpster. It won’t take long until they go through you and Eugene. You look to Eugene.

 

“Get ready to run,” you say.

Eugene can’t even react before you kick the dumpster towards the Stabbington brothers. The two jump out of the way, but one gets hit.

“Run!” You yell.

 

You and Eugene start sprinting down the alley. Eugene sees that the back of your shirt is somewhat destroyed. Your back is a bit black from the explosion. You’re running a little weird too. He wants to help, but there’s nothing he can do right now. He just thankful you were there. If he was alone, he might not be alive right now.

 

You both reach the end of the alley but are attacked. Two gang members turn the corner and point their guns at you. You quickly grab one of their wrists and twist it hard. The gun falls out of his hand and right into your hand. You turn around and kick the other in the stomach. Eugene quickly attacks the one whose wrist you twisted. Eugene connects his fist with the man’s face, effectively knocking him out. You spin around and kick the other in the face, knocking him out as well. You take the gun and aim it down the alley.

 

“You know how to shoot that thing, right?” Eugene shouts.

You observe the gun for a moment then smile.

“No, but how hard can it be. Besides, I don’t want to kill anyone.”

 

You start shooting down the alley to keep everyone at bay. Eugene backs away and around a corner.

“(Y/N), there’s nobody here! Come on!”

You turn your head to Eugene and nod. The two of you run around the corner, down the street and through another alley. You can hear them shouting for you and Eugene. You and Eugene run as fast as you can out of the redlight district.

 

You get out of the area but neither of you stop running. You run down one street for about five minutes before Eugene collapses onto his knees. He’s breathing heavy, as are you. People who are walking by stare at the two of you. Nobody stops to help, as the gun you commandeered is still in your hand. You stand up straight and take in a deep breath. You look at the gun and eject the clip. There’s one bullet left. You reload the gun and toss it in your holowatch. You’ll probably never use it, but it could work for intimidation. Then again, your sword could do that too.

 

“You okay Eugene?” You huff.

Eugene shakes his head.

“Yeah… yeah I’m fine… No I’m not… but I am… don’t worry… Listen,” he says, still breathing heavy. “You really saved me back there.”

“Meh, don’t worry about it. What’re friends for, right?” You smirk.

“Yes, friends are for helping you dodge an RPG to your face! Then and only then will you know if they are your true friend,” Eugene confidently states, obviously making a joke.

 

The two of you chuckle as you get your breath back. Eugene looks at your ruined shirt for a moment. He takes off his grey sweater and hands it to you – leaving him with just a white t-shirt. You look up and see the grey sweater. Eugene gives you a look telling you to wear it. You shrug and grab the sweater. You slip into it, then push up the sleeves right before the elbows.

 

“Comfy. Where’d you get it?”

“Rapunzel’s mother knitted it for me. You better not ruin it.”

“As long as you don’t get us in any sort of gang trouble again.”

“Deal.”

 

You both start walking.

“So, how strong are you? You can’t tell me that you can take a giant fire blast but can’t take a bullet.”

You think for a moment. “Well, I think of it like this: I have a very high resistance to pain. I’m also extremely strong. But can an extremely muscular man take a bullet? No. I mean… I think if I took a bullet in the leg, arm, or non-lethal location in the stomach, I would be able to keep going. If I took a bullet in the heart or head… well… I’m as dead as you would be.”

 

Eugene nods. “I suppose that makes sense. But how did you survive that explosion?”

“Oh, I hid deep down in the ground and layered myself with elements. It still hurt like hell though. I was down and out after that. Make no mistake, I’m far from invincible. Even the sword can kill me, but I’m better at dodging those rather than bullets.”

 

You glance over to the right and stop right in your tracks. You look to the building right beside you and see a vast collection of instruments inside. You slam yourself against the glass and look around. The place is a mix of grey and blue for the walls. However, you barely see the walls. They’re covered up by posters, instruments, vinyls, and everything you could ever want.

 

“Whoa…”

Eugene turns around and sees what you’re doing. He chuckles.

“Yep. That’s Corona’s music store. It’s the only one in the city, but it’s gotta be the best in the world. You can find everything there. You can even demo everything, for the right price.”

You turn around and start bouncing a bit.

“Can we go? Please, please, please!”

Eugene outright laughs at this.

“Of course we can, don’t worry. Let’s head to the entrance.”

 

Eugene leads you around the building and to the entrance. You both walk in and you swear you enter heaven. It’s even more beautiful than you first thought. The clerk stops playing an ocarina and looks at you.

“Hello my friends. Is there any-“ He squints his eyes. “May I ask why you’re all dirty?”

You and Eugene look down at yourselves then to him. He has short-medium grey hair. His sideburns attach to a full beard. He has a very soft look to him. He doesn’t seem like a push over, however. He’s surprisingly muscular for an older man. Your guess it that he’s mid-sixties.

 

“Well… let’s just say we walked into the wrong part of the town,” you shrug.

“Ah, well I’ll leave that alone. So, what would you like?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to see this place. It looked amazing,” you marvel, looking around the building.

“Ah, a fellow musician. What do you play?”

“A lot… mostly a guitar player though.”

“A… I see a lot of those. No offence.”

You raise one of your hands, “None taken.”

 

You turn to Eugene and open your mouth.

“Oh my god!” A girl screams.

You look towards the scream while Eugene spins around to see it. A teenage woman is staring at the two of you. Her hands are slammed on her cheeks, and surprise is spread across her entire body.

“You’re the singer of the Ice Harvesters!” She screams.

 

This is a little underwhelming for you. You sigh and let out a smirk.

“Yeah, that I am,” you snicker.

“OMG! That’s so cool! Can you sign my shirt?”

Eugene walks away laughing.

“Your fans await you.”

You give him a condescending stare until the girl stands right in front of you. You grab a marker off the clerk’s desk and sign the shirt. A few more girls and guys approach you, asking to sign things.

 

“I never knew I was this famous,” you chuckle.

“You’re small band is somewhat popular around here. There are far more popular bands than you… but maybe you can change that,” the clerk states.

You raise your brow. “What do you mean?”

The clerk takes out a flyer and places it on the counter. You approach the flyer to see it.

“There’s an annual Battle of the Bands that goes on here in Corona. It’s held by Dysa Co. and they give out a huge detour of their facility and give some prize out. It’s different every year. Perhaps you should try it. Where’s your partner?”

 

“Kristoff? He’s back in Arendelle… but maybe I can figure something out.”

“(Y/N), are we going? I still have a job to do,” Eugene shouts, spinning his satchel around.

“Yeah, let’s go! Thank you, sir,” you say, nodding at the clerk.

“Anytime.”

 

You and Eugene leave the building and look towards the direction of Eugene’s destination.

“You ready?”

Eugene nods. “Let’s go.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Elsa smiles at the pregnancy test. She tosses it in her garbage and walk towards her dresser. She fixes up the rest of her make-up and winks at the mirror. She looks at her teal dress. She really likes this one; mostly because you bought it for her. It was a present that you never explained. You just kind of bought it for her, but she won’t argue. She likes how it looks on her.

 

Elsa leaves her room and walks across the hall. She slightly enters Anna’s room and knocks on the door. Kristoff is tying his tie, but stops when he looks up at Elsa.

“Wow… that looks nice on you.”

“Thanks. So, you ready?”

Kristoff finishes tying his tie then nods.

“Let’s go.”

 

 

 

 


	32. Are You Positive?

Chapter 32: Are You Positive?

 

You and Eugene take about three hours to get to Keralu’s HQ. You’re both a little sore and irritated after this trip, but at least you know it’s finally about to end. You can deliver this package, and then go home. Well, at least go to Eugene’s home. It’s a temporary home for you. You’d rather get off the streets anyway. It’s around 8:30, so it’s dark. Considering what happened back at the red-light district, you’d rather get somewhere safe on the double.

 

“Well, we’re here. Welcome to Keralu: the leader of pharmacy,” Eugene says, extending his arms in a presentation like form.

You roll your eyes and cross your arms.

“I’m star struck.”

Eugene’s sarcastic joy instantly fades. He lets his arms hang down, and his shoulders slouch a bit.

“Yeah, it’s not that amazing. At least not to someone like us. I was never one for drugs and medicine.”

 

“Oh really?”

Eugene nods.

“I was taught to just fight through the pain. Though, I know I couldn’t naturally survive cancer or something along those lines. But a flu or headache just needs water and rest.”

You shrug. “Yeah, I get ya. But my parents… step-parents… were all about keeping me healthy. They’d overreact so much though that it would make me laugh.”

 

“Oh really? How so?”

You throw your hands in your pockets and think.

“I remember one time they threatened to sue a restaurant cause they thought I had food poisoning.”

“That doesn’t seem to-“

“I sneezed after I took a bite, and they flipped out,” you finish.

 

“Oh… that actually sounds pretty bad,” he snickers.

You let out a little chuckle then go quiet for a moment.

“They were good people.”

Eugene can tell you’re feeling down in the dumps right now. He knows how you accidently killed your step-parents, and that this would be a difficult topic for you.

 

“I shouldn’t have brought it up. I’m sorry.”

You snap out of your trance and turn your head towards him.

“Oh, it’s not your fault. Don’t worry about it,” you smile. “I’m sure you have topics you aren’t all chipper about.”

Eugene nods. “Yeah. I’d say my biggest one is my childhood. Only Rapunzel knows about it.”

“Hm… orphan?” You guess.

Eugene looks over at you with an eyebrow raised.

“How did you know?”

“I guessed,” you laugh.

 

Eugene shakes his head whilst he laughs. You both finally walk into the building. It’s full of different diagrams, pictures, and magazines all based around the company. None of them really interest you at the moment, so you keep your attention on the goal at hand.

 

Eugene walks up to the desk and clears his throat, getting the attention of the secretary.

“What can I do for you today, sir?” He asks.

“I’m here to see…” Eugene pulls out the package and reads the name. “Gothel?”

“Ah yes, I assume you’re talking about Ms. Gothel’s delivery? One moment.”

 

The man picks up a phone and clicks a button. He waits for a moment.

“Sincere apologies for disturbing you Ms. Gothel, but your delivery is here. Should I send him up?” He waits a moment. “Very well ma’am, I’ll send them up.” He hangs up the phone and returns his attention to Eugene. “You can go. Take the elevator down the hall on the left side up to the twentieth floor.”

 

Eugene nods then waves his hand for you to follow. You both walk past the desk and follow the man’s instructions. Eugene hits the elevator button and lies against the wall. You look around at the clean, pristine place you’re forced to be in. Something about this place screams “fake”. Then again, it’s a pharmaceutical company. They deal with false pain relief and cosmetic stuff.

 

The elevator opens, so you and Eugene enter it. You look around the elevator and notice a camera staring right at you. You look over at Eugene, who’s a little on edge right now.

“You alright Eugene?”

“Huh?” He asks, snapping out of a trance. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking.”

“About?”

“The food Rapunzel’s mom is going to make tonight.”

 

You laugh.

“Nice Eugene. To be honest I totally forgot about her parents. I didn’t see them when you were showing us around.”

“Yeah, they were out getting groceries. That’s why I’m excited for tonight,” he says.

“I’ll bet. I can’t wait to experience their cooking for myself.”

“They’ll probably be excited to see you too. You are engaged to their niece, after all.”

You nod, “That’s true.”

 

The elevator comes to a halt and the door opens. You and Eugene walk out of the elevator and into the main area of the room. It’s almost similar to the top floor of W.A. Industries, except the walls aren’t glass here. It’s all solid white walls. As you and Eugene walk down the first hallway you knock on one of the walls. To your surprise, it’s metal.

 

Why the hell are the walls metal? What’s inside these rooms, anyway?

 

The content of these rooms will remain a mystery to you. The doors are metal as well, so there’s no way to see inside of any rooms. It would make sense for the labs and sensitive areas, but why here? This should just be a place where some paper work gets done.

 

“I’m guessing you two are the delivery boys?” A female voice calls out.

You both turn around and see a woman standing proudly down the hall. She has curly black hair that goes down to her waist. She looks very young and healthy. Whoever she is, she must take good care of herself.

 

“Are you Gothel?” You inquire.

“Ms. Gothel, darling. Mother Gothel if you’re feeling a little spiritual,” she exclaims.

You and Eugene share a look. This woman’s a little out there, obviously.

“Right… If it’s all the same to you I’m going to stick with Ms. Gothel.”

Ms. Gothel lets her arms fall to her sides then smiles.

“So, may I have my package? I assume that’s why you’re here?”

 

“Ah, yes.”

Eugene pulls out the package from the satchel and begins walking over to Gothel. He hands it to her then backs up a few steps. Gothel takes the package in both hands, shakes it a little, and then turns her attention back to you.

“Thank you so much for delivering this to me. Such a handsome and nice young man.”

 

“Not like I helped or anything,” you mutter under your breath.

 

“Thank you ma’am, but we have to go,” Eugene politely states.

“Oh of course. Go on. Thanks again!”

 

You and Eugene stroll away from Gothel and back to the elevator. Gothel holds the package and slyly watches you two enter the elevator and leave. She proudly walks into her office and sees someone standing there with his arms crossed.

 

“I’m assuming that’s it?” He asks.

“Yes Hans, this is it,” Gothel replies, opening the package and pulling out a small stone. “The Dragon’s Tear. Monarch is done with it so I can use it for my own research. I’ve been requesting this for months. It’s helped so much with my research into extending one’s youth.”

 

Hans snickers. “Your obsession with youth isn’t my concern. I want to know if you’ll help me.”

Gothel ogles over the Dragon’s Tear for a moment before turning her attention to Hans.

“Rebelling against Monarch isn’t wise, dear child. He’s more powerful than you know. Do you wish to end up like your father?”

“That is the very reason I will kill him. Not only will I get revenge on the man that killed my father, but the Hierarchy will be restored. You must admit that Alistair does not share the same views as anyone else in the Hierarchy. Take you for instance. Alistair doesn’t give enough attention to your project. It truly deserves more attention.”

 

Gothel begins laughing.

“You’re trying to flatter me in an attempt to get me on your side. However, you’re right. With time, I can make us live forever.”

“Exactly. Alistair’s view is too narrow. If we can gather the support of the entire Hierarchy, we can kill him!” Hans declares, clenching his hand into a fist.

Gothel rolls her eyes.

“What about James? What does he have to say?” Gothel asks.

“Captain Hook? He’s onboard. He’s hated Alistair ever since he got his hand cut off by him.”

 

Gothel sighs.

“Very well. You can say that I’m onboard. But if everything goes to shit I’m not going to save you.”

Hans smiles.

“Fair enough. I thank you for your time, Mother Gothel.

 

Hans makes his way out of Gothel’s room, leaving her on her own. Gothel simply stares at the Dragon’s Tear and begins to contemplate her decision. Hans is obviously ignorant of Alistair’s strength. She was around when Hans’ father was killed. He made the mistake of going after Alistair, and the entire Hierarchy paid for it. But that was over two decades ago. Alistair has only gotten stronger after that time. His power is far beyond what it used to be. She doubts anyone could kill him.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Elsa and Kristoff pull into the parking lot of one of the fanciest restaurants in Arendelle. Elsa parks the car and steps out. Kristoff quickly follows. The two enter the restaurant and approach the desk.

 

“I have a reservation. Anderson. Elsa Anderson.”

The man looks through a small book and finds her name. He looks up at her and smiles.

“Of course Ms. Anderson, we’ve been waiting for you. This way, please.”

 

The waiter leads Elsa and Kristoff through the establishment and to a table. He pulls out two chairs for them, then stands back. Elsa and Kristoff take their seats.

“Someone will be with you momentarily.”

“Thank you,” Elsa nods.

 

The waiter walks away, leaving Elsa and Kristoff to themselves.

“So, how are things going Kristoff?” Elsa asks.

Kristoff looks around the room then back at Elsa.

“It’s fine, I suppose.”

“How has your family been doing since Pabbie’s death?”

“They’re coping. I am too. I suppose the money Pabbie left them will really help in the long run. But I suppose it doesn’t affect me too much since I’m living with you guys now,” Kristoff rambles.

 

“Ah yes. How is that? Moving into a room with Anna, I mean?” Elsa asks.

“It’s ah…” Kristoff starts chuckling. “It’s something else. She really doesn’t want me to move any of her stuff around.”

“Why, do you have a lot of stuff you want to bring?”

“What? Oh no, of course not. I live very simply. The only big thing I brought were my drums, and we put that in (Y/N)’s room for now. Anna’s just defensive about her closet space.”

 

Elsa starts laughing. “That’s what that was all about? Closet space?”

“Hey, it’s not easy to bargain with her!” Kristoff defends. “She’s dangerous when it comes to her clothes. I just have a few things I want to put in there but no. She doesn’t want me to mess up her organization.”

“We could always get a dresser or something.”

“I proposed that too. We’re going to go look for something later on in the week. Of course I have work soon and I know Anna’s looking for a job.”

 

“You have a job now?” Elsa questions, truly surprised.

“Hm, oh yes. I’m going to work in construction. Should help me stay in shape. Anna keeps saying I’m getting a little chunky,” he sighs.

“She’s just teasing.”

“I know, but a part of her is right. I haven’t worked out in months. Not since we had that old workout facility in school. Maybe I should get into a gym or something.”

 

“I go to the gym every once in a while. Maybe we should go together,” Elsa proposes.

“Yeah, that sounds fun. It would probably help having someone else with me. Someone I actually know.”

“Yeah, that’s one of the reasons I stopped going. I could have asked (Y/N) but he’s grown out of gyms.”

“I can imagine. He’d probably break everything in there,” Kristoff jokes.

“Probably. It’s funny how strong he is, and yet how weak he is at the same time,” Elsa says.

 

Kristoff raises his brow. “What do you mean?”

“Well, compared to a lot of people he’s amazingly strong. Abnormally so. Yet I think everyone overestimates him all the time.”

Kristoff shrugs. “I suppose. I’ll admit that I’m a little worried about him being off in Corona.”

“You too?”

 

Kristoff nods. “All this stuff is getting big. I remember when it was just Hans messing with us but now there are so many different people involved. It just seems like (Y/N) doesn’t really know what he’s getting himself in to.”

 

Elsa sighs. “You can imagine how that makes me feel. But we just have to trust in him, you know? This is just something he has to do and then…”

“And then… what?” Kristoff says. “What will he do afterwards? What will you two do afterwards?”

Elsa stares into Kristoff’s eyes, coming up with a response to his question.

“I don’t know… live normally? I have a job, and I’m sure (Y/N) could get one too. He has a lot of skills. Maybe you two can become a famous rock band,” she giggles.

 

Kristoff smiles. “Yeah, right. I can’t really see me touring the world or anything. He could probably run the band on his own, if he wanted too.”

“(Y/N) can only play the guitar, can’t he?” Elsa unsurely asks.

“No, actually. He can play quite a few instruments. He showed me a couple drumming techniques that helped me a ton.”

“Huh… Wonder why he never mentioned that.”

“(Y/N) tends to not say things unless asked about them. More for the trivial stuff like that. It’s random to say that, don’t you think?” Kristoff explains.

“Yeah, I suppose that makes sense.”

 

A waitress approaches their table.

“Hello, my name’s Alex. What can I start you off with a drink?”

“Just water, thank you,” Elsa requests.

“Cola for me, please,” Kristoff orders.

The waitress writes the orders down on a small note pad then smiles at the two.

“I’ll be right back.”

She walks away, leaving the two alone again.

 

Kristoff and Elsa pick up the menus and start looking through them.

“So, has Anna told you about her job hunt at all?” Kristoff inquires.

Elsa thinks for a second.

“No, she just mentioned it to me. Why, has she talked about it with you?”

“A little bit. She’s going small right now. It’s not like she has a field or anything. None of us actually went to college or university, come to think of it.”

 

“Well she could always go. It’s not like we’re short on money,” Elsa points out.

“Mmm, I don’t think it’s that. With this whole job thing, I think Anna just wants a sense of independence.”

Elsa chuckles. “That sounds like Anna.”

“It sounds like you too. She admires you more than you know.”

 

Elsa looks up at Kristoff with a brow raised. She sighs.

“It’s been like that since we were young. I haven’t been the best example for her.”

“You haven’t? I think you’re selling yourself short Elsa. You’ve shown Anna how to stay strong in tough times. It’s hard to do that, especially with the life you’ve lived.”

 

Elsa takes in what Kristoff is saying. She never thought of it like that. Even with the bonding the two have done, Elsa still hasn’t shaken the bad feeling of what she’s done. It’s hard for Elsa to let go of failures like that. It’s just who she is. If someone she cares about could be put, or is put in danger because of her then she’ll take all the pain onto herself to keep that person safe.

 

“You’ll get your normal life soon, I’m sure of it,” Kristoff smiles.

Elsa shifts her gaze to him then smiles back.

“Yeah… I will. I will someday soon.”

Kristoff sighs. “Just wait for (Y/N), huh? I know he cares about you more than this whole thing.”

Elsa feels a smile crawl across her face. “Yeah, I know.”

 

Kristoff leans back a bit when he sees the waitress coming with the drinks. She sets them down then stands attentively.

“Have you decided on what you’re getting this evening?”

“Yes, I would like the lobster special, please,” Elsa decides.

“Can I get… whatever this is,” Kristoff asks, pointing at a superb looking chicken dinner displayed in the menu.

 

“No problem sir,” the waitress chuckles.

She grabs the menus and walks off, leaving Kristoff and Elsa to themselves once again. Kristoff begins to take a drink of his Cola.

“So Kristoff, are you planning on proposing to Anna?” Elsa playfully asks.

Kristoff’s eyes widen and he begins coughing a little bit. He gulps down his drink then looks at Elsa. She’s giggling at Kristoff’s reaction.

 

“I… ah… I don’t know… I mean I would… should I… you kind of…”

Kristoff spews incomplete sentences which makes Elsa laugh pretty hard.

“I’m just teasing you Kristoff,” she clarifies.

“Oh… haha… just teasing, huh? Anna did the same thing to me when (Y/N) proposed to you.”

“Well, you better not keep her waiting. Anna’s a beautiful girl who could get any man. Hustle up big guy,” she giggles.

“Now you’re doing it on purpose,” Kristoff remarks.

Elsa begins laughing even more, which causes Kristoff to start laughing too.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Anna sits on the couch, stretching out as much as she can.

“I’m booooooored!” She whines.

She waits for someone to respond, but remembers that nobody is here. Gerda and Kai went aren’t here, and Olaf’s off at a friend’s house. It’s just Anna all alone. Anna hops off the couch and huffs.

 

“I suppose I should do something while everyone’s gone…”

Anna starts walking around the house, slightly moving everything she finds to be out of place. She picks up a few pieces of garbage Olaf left lying around, and she puts away some of the dishes. Her little cleaning escapade leads her upstairs. She walks into her room and begins cleaning everything in there. She refrains from touching any of Kristoff’s stuff, just in case.

 

She then moves to Elsa’s room. Usually Elsa doesn’t mind Anna being in here, as long as she doesn’t actively snoop around in her room. Anna looks around to see if there’s any garbage or anything around. There isn’t, but she does see that Elsa’s little garbage bin is full. Anna walks over to it and is about to pick it up when she notices something. She kneels down and grabs the object.

 

Anna knows what it is, but why would Elsa have a pregnancy test? Anna examines it. Her face fills with surprise when she sees the result.

 

Positive.

 

“Ahhhhhh! Elsa’s pregnant! Oh my god! My big sister’s pregnant! I have to-“ Anna stops dead in her tracks. “Ooooh no. I can’t tell her. She can’t know I was snooping around in her room. I mean… I wasn’t snooping per se. I was just… cleaning… she would never buy that. Does (Y/N) know? Did Elsa tell him? Who do I tell? Kristoff needs to know! Elsa can’t be working or… THAT’S WHY SHE’S BEEN SICK! It’s so obvious now!”

 

Anna paces around the room as she rants, figuring out what to do.

 

“She has to rest. Who knows how long she’s been pregnant? I need to talk to her about it… bring it up carefully. Yes! That’s it! I’ll so delicately bring it up, then she’ll tell me. She’s my sister. There’s no reason to hide something like this… right?”

 

Anna moves over to Elsa’s bed and sits down on it.

 

“Maybe she’s just waiting until (Y/N) comes back, and then she’ll tell us all. She wouldn’t actually hide it from us… from me. Well,” Anna says as she stands up, filled with determination. “I’m going to find out whether Elsa brings it up or not!”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You and Eugene finally make it back to Rapunzel’s house. It was a long, tiring walk but you finally made it. You both enter the house and slip out of your shoes. You and Eugene look at each other for a moment then break out into a small fit of laughter. Your noise attracts the attention of some other people in the house. Not a moment after you two start laughing Rapunzel comes around a corner.

 

“Hello boys, good to see you. Did your delivery go well, Eugene?”

“You know, like any other,” he replies.

You raise your brow at his response.

 

Does he usually get shot at while delivering packages?

 

Rapunzel looks around you guys with a questioning face.

“Where’s Hunter?”

The same question fills your mind too.

“Where is Hunter? Last time I saw him you two were… oh for christ sakes,” you moan, resting your head in your hand.

Eugene shrugs. “He’s around. I’m sure he’ll come here at some point.”

 

Rapunzel turns her attention to you.

“Does he usually do this?” She asks.

You look up at her then shrug. “For as long as I’ve known him? Yeah, he does. Eugene is right though, he’ll show up eventually.”

“Well, I guess he’ll just have to miss out on dinner. Come on, my parents are almost done,” Rapunzel says, gesturing you both to follow her.

 

 Rapunzel leads you two through the house and to the kitchen. You notice who you assume to be Rapunzel’s mother. She has long brown hair with a few grey hairs here and there. Her features are quite similar to Rapunzel’s. You can see where she gets her beauty from. Her father comes into view not a second after. You remember Rapunzel’s earlier comment about her father’s beard. You can agree that it dominates Eugene’s beard by a mile. He’s very muscular, and is very fair looking. He very much looks like a dominating authority figure, with a kind persona to him.

 

Rapunzel’s father looks up at you and smiles.

“You must be (Y/N). I’ve heard so much about you,” he warmly greets, walking towards you. He approaches you then extends his hand for you to shake. “My name’s Ragnar. Great to meet you.”

You shake his hand, meeting his grip with a little more power. He shakes hard, as you predicted.

“Good to meet you too, sir. May I ask where you’ve heard of me?”

“Elsa spoke highly of you during our daughter’s wedding. A shame you were preoccupied with family matters.”

 

Family matters? Elsa didn’t even know Alistair was my father… Hell, I didn’t even know. Did she lie for me?

 

“How’s your family been, anyway?” Ragnar asks, voice full of concern.

“Well… family is difficult sometimes. My brother and I are trying to figure it out,” you weakly chuckle.

“Family is strong. No matter what, I’m sure you’ll pull through,” he smiles.

Your eyes drift to the ground. It’s not his fault that he has no idea what he’s talking about. You very much doubt that you can fix the issues at hand through talking.

 

Rapunzel’s mother finishes setting the table and approaches two. She taps her husband’s chest.

“Dinner’s ready boys. Let’s sit down and eat,” she softly says.

“Of course. What are we eating, if I may ask?”

Rapunzel’s mother chuckles. “Your favourite.”

She and her husband walk away and take a seat. You raise your brow as they walk away.

“How do you know what my favourite food is?” You ask, taking your own seat.

 

“From what we’ve heard, you’re not too secret about it,” Rapunzel’s mother responds.

“Yeah, you say it every time food is brought up,” Eugene laughs.

You sarcastically smile at him. “Well you know what? It’s really freakin good. Don’t judge me.”

Ragnar chuckles. “Settle down you two. Let’s be respectful at the dinner table.”

 

Rapunzel’s mother takes off the cover of all the food, revealing a large assortment of meats, vegetables, and side dishes. One of the most prominent foods is the large steak, ready for you. You practically drool over the steak. It looks absolutely beautiful. Everyone at the table chuckles at you.

 

You grab a piece of the steak and start eating. Everyone else begins to fill their plates up with food and eat as well. You take a few bites of the steak and fall into a trance of enjoyment. This is one of the best steaks you’ve ever had, no doubt.

 

“Ma’am, I have to say this is one of the most delicious things I’ve ever tasted,” you sincerely compliment.

“Ma’am? Please, you can call me by my name.”

“I actually never caught your name.”

“Irena,” she reveals.

“Well Irena, this steak is a godsend. I tip my hat to you,” you say, mimicking the action of tipping a hat.

 

“My god, really?” Eugene laughs. “Don’t become one of those fedora wearing guys.”

“What is wrong with a fedora?” Rapunzel intrudes.

“You know those types. They always have fedoras!”

“So now everyone who has a fedora and tips their hat are placed in a category? Sheesh Eugene,” you tease.

“Well…” Eugene tries to think of something to say, but ends up sighing. “I hate it when you all gang up on me.”

“Rapunzel leans over and kisses Eugene’s cheek. “I love you too sweety.”

“Then be on my side! Come on!”

Rapunzel giggles. “I just can’t do that.”

 

Ragnar and Irena laugh. You and Rapunzel follow suit. Eugene unhappily eats his food. He’s not a fan of this already. Of course he knows it’s all a joke, but he’s usually the one doing the joking and not the one who’s at the butt end of the joke.

 

Everyone stops laughing and takes a second to eat. You finish your second piece of steak then look over to Irena.

“So, Irena. Can I ask you something? Both of you, actually?”

The adults put a halt to their eating and turn their attention to you.

“Go ahead,” Ragnar replies.

 

“So… you two knew Adgar and Idun before they… had an accident, right?” You carefully ask.

“I knew my sister quite well, yes. Why do you ask?” Irena jokes.

“Well… what were they like. I didn’t have the pleasure of really knowing them.”

 

Irena puts down her utensils and thinks.

“Well… Idun was a very smart girl. She was always two steps ahead of me. She over thought everything, but didn’t let that get in the way of a good time. She was quite the party girl, let me tell you.”

 

“So… did she change when she met Adgar?” You inquire.

Irena thinks for a moment.

“No… If anything she became happier. I always liked Adgar; he was a good man. He was very charismatic, but…”

“But… what?” You curiously ask.

 

“He seemed very concerned about something. Idun too, come to think of it,” Irena says, turning to her husband.

“They did seem to change a little bit. Around a year before Elsa was born, they got very reclusive. It was a very swift change. They just stopped talking to us. After Elsa was born it was worse,” Ragnar recollects.

“Yes, you’re right. Even Idun didn’t want to talk to me. She didn’t even come to our mother’s funeral. Said she had work to do. She always had work. Then her work…”

 

Irena starts to tear up a little bit. Ragnar slides his hand onto her shoulder for comfort. You recoil a little bit and sink into yourself.

“I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“No, no… it’s fine. I suppose it’s still hard to think of them dying. They were such good people, even with that little change,” Irena smiles. “Besides, Elsa and Anna show the best qualities of both. They would be so proud if they saw them today.”

 

Yeah… I doubt that.

 

You all turn your attention back to your food.

 

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Elsa and Kristoff walk out of the restaurant.

“That… was really good,” Kristoff admits, completely satisfied with the food.

“It was. You seemed more interested in the food than our conversation,” Elsa teases.

“No I wasn’t! Well… maybe a little. It was really good.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. You weren’t bad company either.”

“Well, I have to be a good talker. Have you met Anna?” He jokes.

Elsa giggles a bit. “Yes, that’s true. Though I suspect Anna could strike up a conversation with anyone.”

 

The two reach the car and enter. Elsa takes the driver’s seat, and starts the car. Kristoff slouches in the seat and closes his eyes. Elsa pokes his ribs.

“You aren’t falling asleep, are you?”

“No, no! Of course not. I just need some time to digest.”

 

Elsa rolls her eyes. She puts her full attention to the road and begins driving home. It doesn’t take too long, as it’s pretty late right now. Not many cars are driving around. Elsa pulls into her drive way and parks the car. The two exit the car and enter the house.

 

Anna instantly jumps off the couch and rushes towards the two.

“Hey guys! Nice night, isn’t it. Elsa you look tired, you should go get some rest,” Anna quickly says.

Elsa and Kristoff raise their brow. Before Elsa can respond Anna swoops behind her and begins pushing her towards the stairs and to her room.

 

“Anna! Hey, what’s with you?” Elsa questions, lightly resisting Anna.

“Nothing! Nothing at all, I’m just concerned for your health- er… Wellbeing!” She preaches, pushing Elsa up the stairs. “The wellbeing of you and anyone else with you, well maybe not with you but… I’m just concerned. Sheesh, can’t a sister be worried? Huh?” She finishes, pushing Elsa into her room and slamming the door closed.

 

Anna leans against the door for a second then rushes down stairs. Kristoff takes off his shoes and looks up at the speedy Anna. She runs up to Kristoff and drags him onto the couch.

“What is with you right n-“

Anna shoves her hand on Kristoff’s mouth.

“Shhhhhhh, listen. Something big is going on right now. I mean, REALLY big.”

Kristoff lightly pushes Anna’s hand off of his mouth.

“Alright. So what is it?”

 

Anna looks back towards the stairs to see if Elsa’s listening, or coming down the stairs. There’s no sign of her, so Anna proceeds. Gestures Kristoff to lean in a little, which he does.

“Elsa’s pregnant,” she whispers.

Kristoff backs up a bit and bears a doubtful look.

“No way, I don’t believe that.”

“No, seriously! She’s been acting really strange these past couple days with cramps and sicknesses that spell out pregnancy!” Anna quietly exclaims.

 

Kristoff shakes his head and smiles.

“That doesn’t mean she’s pregnant Anna.”

“Oh yeah?” Anna smirks. “Well, this girl found a positive pregnancy test in Elsa’s room! What do you say to that? Huh?”

“Why were you in Elsa’s room?” Kristoff tiredly asks.

“That’s not the point!” Anna shouts. “The point is Elsa’s pregnant!”

 

Kristoff sighs.

“If she is pregnant, I’m sure she’ll tell us. Just don’t do anything rash, okay?”

Anna pouts. “Okay.”

Kristoff smiles and gives her a quick peck on the lips.

“I’m going to bed. It’s been quite a day.”

“Mind if I join you?” She smirks.

“Well, we kind of share the bed so I suppose,” Kristoff shrugs, walking up the stairs.

 

Anna shakes her head and giggles. Kristoff looks back at her and raises his brow.

“What?”

“Oh nothing. Nothing at all,” she chuckles.

Anna walks up the stairs and past Kristoff, laughing all the way. Kristoff stands till, dumbfounded.

“What!?”

 

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You prep yourself for bed. Dinner was great, and the conversation was good too. But it’s getting pretty late and you know a good night’s sleep is awaiting you. You finish brushing your teeth and exit the bathroom. Rapunzel is waiting outside the bathroom, leaning against the wall across from the door.

 

“How was your fist day in Corona?”

You shrug. “You know, good as any can be. Thank you again for letting me stay here.”

“It’s not a problem. You’re practically family.”

“Give it a few months and I’ll actually be family.”

“Ah yes, your marriage,” Rapunzel nods.

You await an explosion of happiness and screaming… but nothing. Rapunzel awkwardly stares at you.

 

“Are you okay?” She asks.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just thought you were going to shriek and cheer for your cousin getting married.”

Rapunzel laughs. “I already got that out of the way, don’t worry. Elsa, Anna, and I had our little moment over the phone.”

 

You and Rapunzel walk through the hall and towards your rooms. You walk up to your door and grab the handle.

“So, I guess I’ll see ya tomorrow?” Rapunzel hopefully asks.

You turn to her and nod.

“Of course you will.”

 

You open the door and walk in the room. It’s simply peace and quiet, and you like it. You walk over to the bed and hop on it. You stretch your legs down the bed and snuggle into the comforter. You rest your hands behind your head and assume a state of pure relaxation. You let out a sigh and smile.

 

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2 Hours Later

 

“(Y/N)! (Y/N), wake up.”

You slowly open your eyes to see Hunter looming over you. You push his face out of your line of sight then flip over into the bed.

“(Y/N) you lazy bastard, wake up,” Hunter presses on.

You groan then flip onto your back once more.

“Whaaaaaat?” You moan.

 

“I have some information. Thought you’d want to hear it.”

You wipe your eyes and try to focus a little.

“It’s like… one in the morning. Why on earth would I want to know whatever you know now?”

You move your body to the edge of the bed, and slouch over it.

“Besides, weren’t you at a strip club? What was that anyway? You left Eugene and I in quite the disaster,” you weakly say.

 

“It’s not my fault you two riled up the gangs,” Hunter dismisses. “Anyway. I got something from the owner of the club. We sho-“

“Whoa, whoa, wait. You got information on the Hierarchy from a strip club owner?” You question in a groggy voice.

“The Hierarchy is spread out in all areas, especially in Corona. I should look into that one of these days… anyway, we have to go after Dysa Co. They’re developing something that Alistair is watching over closely.”

 

You droop your head in Hunter’s direction.

“So what’s your big plan?”

“We’ll have to sneak in during the night time. If you’re up for it, we could go tonight?”

“Gooooooo fuck yourself. I’m not doing anything right now,” you hiss.

Hunter raises a brow at your reaction. You see this and sigh.

“Sorry… I wasn’t having a great sleep.”

Hunter shrugs.

“Okay, but we should act soon. Who knows what Alistair will do with it.”

 

You fall back onto the bed and think for a moment. You start chuckling a bit.

“We don’t need to break in.”

“We don’t?”

You shake your head. “The music competition is hosted by those guys. I heard that the winner gets a tour around their main building. Obviously they want to show their music technology, but I could sneak away and find whatever it is their hiding.”

 

Hunter sighs. “Well what do I do?”

“I don’t know. Go hang out with Gaia?”

“Hang out with Gaia? Since when did you care about my relationships?”

“Since I learned you were my brother. Listen, can I go back to sleep? We have a plan,” you complain.

Hunter huffs then throws his arms in the air.

“Fine. I’ll just go sit around with my thumb up my ass,” he barks, leaving the room.

“Just do it around Gaia!” You shout.

“Bite me!”

 

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1 Hour Later

 

“Do you really think this is a good idea? I mean… Alistair would kill us,” Gothel voices her concerns.

“We’re too important to be killed off. You know as well as I do that Alistair has us working on important things. Not just to the Hierarchy, but to his deranged plan,” Hook reassures.

“But… I don’t think this is the way to do it. I don’t trust Hans less than I trust Alistair. All I want to do is focus on my work.”

 

“Worried about becoming a withered hag?” A voice chuckles.

Gothel and Hook jump out of their seats and turn towards the door. A man in a suit is standing prominently at the door. Two guards quickly rush him. The man dodges both punches and delivers a quick chop to each of their necks. They both fall in seconds. He wipes his hands on themselves and chuckles.

 

“You need some more competent bodyguards. If I wanted to kill you, it wouldn’t even constitute as a warmup.”

“What do you want?” Hook snarls, prepping his fighting hand.

“I have a simple proposition for you,” the man says, stepping out of the shadows.

Gothel sees who it is and raises her brow in intrigue.

“You? But I thought-“

“Assumptions make an ass of you and me. Just shut up and listen,” the man says, awaiting their silence.

Hook looks over at Gothel, who gestures him to stand down. Hook cautiously sits down.

“Fantastic, you’re both ready to hear me out.”

The man begins walking around the room.

 

“You seem to be torn between Alistair and Hans. I’ll give you an out. Me.”

“You? Why should we trust you?” Hook barks.

“Because I can crush them and throw them into the wind. Hans can’t even stop (Y/N) and Hunter, while Alistair is too sentimental about them. He’ll kill them, no doubt, but he'll wait until they’re too strong for him. No matter how strong they get, I will always have the edge. But you asked why you should trust me… You should trust me because I have no reason to deceive you.  Hans and Alistair does.”

 

Gothel and Hook share a look.

 

“Work for me, and you’ll become my second and third in command. You can pursue whatever you desire, as long as you are absolutely loyal to me.”

 

Gothel and Hook consider his proposal.

 

“What would you have us do?” Gothel inquires.

“You continue to pretend you’re on both Alistair’s and Hans’ side. However, you must keep (Y/N) and Hunter alive for now. They’ll keep Alistair distracted. Hook,” he says, turning to Hook. “My sources say (Y/N) has been considering entering your little music contest. He will likely win and attempt to access your files. Let him access anything that relates to Alistair’s plans, but keep your own secrets hidden away,” the man explains.

 

“And what would you have me do?” Gothel asks.

“Keep acting normally. Focus on your research into extending one’s youth. That interests me.”

 

The man walks away from Gothel and Hook. He goes to the door then stops.

“I’ll be in contact with you soon. Just pretend to be with everyone, but remember this: if you decide to double-cross me instead of follow my orders… I won’t hesitate to crush you too.”

 

With that, he leaves. Hook and Gothel remain silent for minutes after he leaves.

“What do we do?” Hook says, breaking the silence.

Gothel sighs. “Follow this new one. You know as well as I do that he didn’t lie. He can kill them both.”

“That man killing Alistair is debatable,” Hook argues.

“It’s more likely than Hans killing him. Besides, we both know who that is. We know what he can do.”

 

Hook growls. “I hate this feeling. But… I suppose it’s better than death. Damnit!” He slams his fist on the table, breaking it in half.

“Calm down Hook. Good things come to those who wait. This may just be our way to snatch up the Hierarchy for our own,” Gothel devilishly grins.

 

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Hours later, when the sun is up…

 

Anna’s eyes slowly begin to open and adjust to the morning light. Anna frees her upper body from the bed sheets and begins to stretch, yawning as she does this. She looks to her side and sees Kristoff, sleeping like a baby. She sure tuckered him out last night.

 

Anna gets out of her bed and walks out the door. She walks to the washroom and starts a nice warm shower. After cleaning herself, she dries off. Anna ties up her hair in braids so the wet hair doesn’t flow everywhere. Anna strolls into her room and picks out a simple yet elegant outfit for the day. She has plans to find a job today, or at least a lead.

 

Anna grabs her phone and looks at it.

 

“12: 26? I slept in late…” She says to herself.

She slides her phone into her jeans and hops down the stairs. She walks to the kitchen and grabs some bread. She takes out two slices and tosses them into the toaster. She sits back for a moment then sighs. Anna gets the idea to watch some TV while the bread cooks. She walks over to the couch and grabs the remote, turning the TV on.

 

After a second, Elsa comes in the front door carrying a ton of bags. Anna looks over and immediately explodes off of the couch and to her sister’s side.

“You shouldn’t be carrying all these bags. Let me take them,” Anna lightly chuckles.

Anna takes all of the bags from Elsa and carries them to the kitchen. Elsa raises her brow at Anna’s odd behavior.

 

Anna carries all the bags to the kitchen then sets them down. She looks in one of them and sees some food.

“Why were you grocery shopping alone?” She exclaims.

“Gerda and Kai are away for a few weeks. We have to buy our own food, Anna. It doesn’t magically appear,” Elsa teases.

“Of course not,” Anna plays along. “But maybe I should be doing this stuff now. I’m sure you’re getting super tired lately.”

 

“No, not really…” Elsa smiles, walking to the kitchen.

Elsa moves beside Anna and starts putting some of the items away.

“So, uh… did you have your meeting yet?” Anna begins.

“Oh, no. That’s a little later today. I just went to my doctor and then picked up this food.”

“Oh really? And what did the doctor say?” Anna curiously asks.

Elsa waves her off. “Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing bad.”

“No, I wouldn’t say it’s bad at all. But why would you not tell me?”

“I just didn’t think it was all that important, you know. He explained it all to me. I’m fine.”

 

“Oh my gosh! Why don’t you trust me? I already know!” Anna shouts.

Elsa stops and turns to Anna.

“I’m sorry, I’m confused.”

“You’re pregnant and you won’t tell me!”

 

Elsa’s head recoils a little bit at the accusation.

“Pregnant? Where did you get that idea?”

“Your symptoms. Your doctors appointments. They all lead to pregnancy! I also found a positive pregnancy test, and it ain’t mine! You’re pregnant.”

 

Elsa starts laughing. She puts her hands at chest level and motions back and forth towards Anna.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down. I’ll get to the fact that you were snooping around in my room later. For now, I’m not pregnant.”

“But the pregnancy test-“

“Was one of three. If you dug a little deeper you would have found two negativetive tests. Plus the doctor just confirmed that it’s just a stomach virus. He gave me a prescription which I picked up on the way home,” Elsa explains.

 

Anna remains as still as a statue. Everything she concocted has just been thrown right back into her face. Anna twitches a little bit while she copes with her defeat. Elsa puts the last of the groceries away then turns to Anna.

 

“So, why were you looking through my garbage?” Elsa giggles

“Well I… you see I just…”

 

Kristoff lazily walks down the stairs and hears Anna in her defeated state. He walks into the kitchen and yawns.

“Hey girls, what’re you up to?”

“Anna thought I was pregnant,” Elsa quickly answers.

 

Kristoff stops and looks at Anna. He lets his head fall into one of his hands.

“Anna… what did I say?” He huffs.

“But I had the evidence!” She whines.

Elsa starts laughing. “Yeah, alright. Remind me of that when I really want to scare (Y/N). He’ll fly through the ceiling if I told him that.”

 

Elsa looks down at her watch.

“Oh, crap. I have to get going. I still have the interviews today. I’ll see you two later.”

Elsa begins walking out the door. She slips into her shoes and opens the door. Right before she closes it she leaves with one final remark.

 

“Oh, and Anna? Don’t snoop, please. I don’t do it to you… that often,” she whispers the last part.

 

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Elsa reaches the office in no time. She takes the elevator to her floor and promptly gets into her room. Alec sees her rush in and starts chuckling. He finishes his glass of whiskey and pushes himself out of his chair. He leaves his office and walks up to hers. He knocks on the door, and Elsa gestures for him to enter.

 

“The applicants are all here. Don’t worry, the last one just got here one minute before you arrived.”

“My apologies Alec. Send them in right away,” she nods.

Alec nods and returns to his office.

 

Elsa fixes up her desk and prepares herself. She’s never been in this position before, and she doesn’t want to be cruel. All she wants is a pleasant individual who’ll get the job done. She doesn’t want much more than that.

 

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“See what happens when you assume things?” Kristoff chuckles.

Anna moans. She has her head dug right into the couch. Kristoff begins laughing even harder.

“It’s not funny,” Anna yells, her voice muffled to the point of her words being incomprehensible. “I thought my sister was pregnant. You know how excited I was?”

“You know I can’t understand you when you talk like that,” Kristoff reminds.

 

Anna flips onto her back and stares at the ceiling.

“I was really excited about her having a baby.”

Kristoff smiles then aims to snuggle in beside Anna. Anna moves to give Kristoff some room.

“Well, it is her life. I know it might suck, but it’s not up to you.”

“I know… but maybe you and me could have a kid? Huh?” Anna smirks.

 

Kristoff goes red and starts coughing.

“I don’t… I mean that’s probably not the best idea. I’m not a daddy and that means diapers and I HATE diapers and-“

Anna starts laughing uncontrollably.

“I was just funning with you, you big oaf.”

“Big oaf? That’s a new one.”

Anna shrugs. “I’m upset. Let me have this.”

 

Kristoff gets off the couch.

“How about I get you a hot chocolate? Would that make you feel better?”

Anna assumes the puppy face and nods. Kristoff turns towards the kitchen.

“Better than her teasing me,” he says under his breath.

 

Kristoff gathers all the ingredients and begins making two hot chocolates. Anna stares at the ceiling, her mind flooded with thoughts. As much as she was kidding, a baby is something she wants. She shakes her head. Anna and Kristoff aren’t even married. A baby would be rushing it. Kristoff evidently is against the idea right now, which is totally fine.

 

But thinking about children also has Anna thinking about herself. She’s still so young and isn’t sure what to do with her life. She doesn’t even have a job, or anything. What does Anna even want to do? She needs to start small, then do something big! Something that won’t have her needing her sisters help for the rest of her life.

 

Anna hops off the couch and stands triumphantly. Kristoff hears Anna move and looks into the living room.

“Anna… what are you doing?”

“I’m going to do something with my life, Kristoff! You and Elsa are going to be so proud of me!”

 

Anna puts on her running shoes and leaves the house. Kristoff stands still, completely dumbfounded at what just happened.

“Hey Anna! What about your hot chocolate?” He shouts, but he knows she’s long gone. “Man… she’s a handful sometimes… my handful…”

 

Kristoff smiles and fills a cup with hot chocolate. He leans against the counter and takes a few sips.

“I have gotten better at this, haven’t I? I most certainly have. But does anybody compliment you for it? Noooo,” Kristoff rants, switching voices every sentence.

 

He then hears the door open, and someone enter.

“Anna? Did you remember your hot chocolate?”

“Hot chocolate?” A young voice repeats.

Olaf runs into the room with a big smile on his face.

“Can I have the hot chocolate? With marshmallows?”

Kristoff smiles. “Of course you can little guy.”

 

Kristoff grabs a smaller cup and fills it with the steaming liquid. He grabs some marshmallows and sprinkles them into the drink, then hands it to Olaf.

“Thank you!” Olaf says, taking a gulp.

 

Kristoff drinks some more of his before speaking.

“So, are you home for the day now?”

Olaf nods. “I was planning on building some stuff with lego. You wanna join me?”

“Lego? I love lego!” Kristoff enthusiastically states. “Come on! What are we waiting for?”

 

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1 Hour Later

 

“Thank you very much for coming. I’ll be sure to let you know what I decide,” Elsa reassures as she lets one of the applicants go.

They leave the room and head towards the elevator. Elsa sighs and walks over to her desk. She sits down and begins flipping a pen through her fingers.

“They were all great… how am I supposed to choose? But there were no extraordinary ones. Nobody really stood out from the rest. I suppose I’ll just have to go over my notes a few times and-“

 

Elsa hears a quiet knock on her door. She looks up and sees a middle aged blonde woman. She’s extremely beautiful, and she seems a little timid. The woman opens the door and walks in.

“Are you Elsa? This is for the secretary position, yes?”

Elsa nods. “Yes. My apologies, I didn’t know there was another person waiting.”

 

Elsa stands up and walks up to the woman and extends her hand.

“My name’s Elsa. We can get started right away. May I get your name?”

The woman shakes Elsa’s hand and smiles.

 

“Pleasure to meet you Elsa. My name’s Juno.”

 


	33. Background and Foreground

Chapter 33: The Background and Foreground

 

Your mind starts become active again. In turn, your eyes begin to open. You had a surprisingly good sleep in this bed. Then again, you had decent naps on the floor at Oaken’s, so this high quality bed should’ve dazzled you; and it did.

 

I should ask Ragnar about… okay he probably wouldn’t know. I should ask Irena.

 

You quietly laugh to yourself. You get out of the comfy bed and stretch a bit. You look down at your watch and see it’s just after ten. You shrug and decide to do a few exercises. You get down on the ground and start doing some push-ups.

 

It’s been a while since you did such a simple exercise. Usually it was fighting simulations, or just trying to act normal while the gravity was higher. Those are both far better methods of training, but the basics never fail. It’s always something to fall back on, and you can do them anywhere. It’s not like Ragnar and Irena have a secret facility under their house… right?

 

You complete a set of fifty push-ups, then move on to sit-ups. You lock your feet underneath the bed. You then lift your upper body up – punch twice – then down. Someone knocks on the door after you finish five.

 

“Come in,” you huff.

 

The door opens and Eugene walks in. You don’t give him your attention. You continue to do your work out.

“What’s up Eugene?”

Eugene chuckles. “Getting an early morning workout?”

“More like a warm up. If I break a sweat then I’m out of shape.”

“How many sit-ups have you done?”

 

You wait a moment then finish your last sit-up.

“Fifty sit-ups and fifty push-ups.”

“Oh yeah, breaking a sweat doing only one hundred exercises is just pathetic,” Eugene sarcastically says, leaning back and crossing his arms.

You move back onto your knees and look up at Eugene. He starts cracking up for a moment at your face.

 

“You might want to get out of that position. Someone might get the wrong idea.”

You notice what he’s talking about and shake your head.

“Shut up, man,” you snicker.

You go back to the push-ups. Eugene watches you for a moment then decides to join you. He moves beside you and start doing push-ups alongside you.

 

You look over at him. He’s not doing a bad job. Then again, he’s only done ten. Eugene looks over at you and persists in his attempt to keep up with you. You get into the challenge and start going a little faster. Because of this, you reach fifty before he can reach twenty. Eugene tries to keep up, but he can’t go nearly as fast as you.

 

Eugene collapses. He’s breathing heavily and laughing at the same time.

“One hundred,” you proudly announce.

You move from the push-up position to your knees and look over at Eugene. He’s lying flat on the ground.

“So… who’s the unfit one here?” You taunt.

 

Eugene looks up at you and gives you a mocking look. You stand up straight and offer your hand.

“This is why I work out BEFORE I shower. Now you’re all sweaty,” you smile.

Eugene grabs your hand and you pull him to his feet.

“I let you win. It helps your self-esteem.”

You nod your head with a sarcastic grin. “Oh yeah, I’m sure that’s it.”

 

Eugene shakes his head and starts to walk out of the room. You follow him.

“So which shower can I use? I like to keep clean.”

Eugene points to a room as you both walk by.

“That one. Nobody really uses it.”

You quickly stop in your tracks, turn around, and head to the shower.

“Towels are in the bottom cupboard,” Eugene shouts.

 

You enter the bathroom, and it looks pristine. Everything is covered in white and gold. Not real gold, but just a gold colour. You poke the wall, just to make sure that it isn’t actually gold.  It feels like a normal wall, so you assume it’s just paint. Though, you wouldn’t know. You’ve never actually touched gold before. Though, you assume it would be metallic. This wall felt more like plastic rather than metal.

 

Sheesh, these guys are way wealthier than I thought. Didn’t Eugene say nobody uses this bathroom? Yet it still looks amazing.

 

You look around the entire bathroom for a moment. The counter that spans the entire left wall, which consists of a couple sinks, cupboards which are probably filled with general bathroom supplies, and mirrors. You look at yourself in the mirror for a moment then shake your head. You kneel down and open up the cupboard. Luckily you pick the right one, as there is a large stack of towels. You grab one then close the cupboard.

 

You toss the towel near one of the sinks then turn around to face the shower. There are two options for you: a stand up shower in the corner of the room, or a regular shower sitting closer to the middle. You never tried one of the stand-up showers, so you decide to use that one.

 

You look to your watch and start fiddling around with it.

 

If I can put all my clothes in here, then maybe I can just take off my current outfit right now.

 

You click a button, and all your clothes disappear from your body. You look through the watch and find the exact outfit on display. The watch once again shows another purpose. It’s really an all-around watch.

 

If only it could turn me into ten different aliens.

 

You chuckle at your own thoughts. You walk into the shower and turn it on. You enter when the water gets hot, and take your shower.

 

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Rapunzel and Eugene finish up the dishes and sigh.

“I hate dishes,” Eugene comments.

“And that’s why I make you do them,” Rapunzel proudly states. “I especially love it when you wash the pans.”

“Hey! You’re the one who gave me that fear!” He exclaims.

 

Rapunzel slithers her hand behind her and grabs one of the pans. She puts it in front of her and fakes hitting Eugene.

“Not the nose!” Eugene shouts, covering his face.

Rapunzel bursts out laughter. Eugene slowly uncovers his face, then expresses an unamused look. This look just adds fuel to Rapunzel’s laughter.

 

“Whatever. I’m going now.”

“No, please,” Rapunzel says, still laughing. “I didn’t mean… I didn’t mean to…”

She can barely utter a sentence without her laughing. Eugene rolls his eyes and walks away, leaving Rapunzel to herself. He walks upstairs and is about to head to his room when he notices the shower turn off.

 

“He’s done? That was quick… maybe I should check on him.”

Eugene turns around and starts walking to the other end of the house. He goes through the hallway and is a few steps from the bathroom. He is about to knock but someone else catches his attention.

 

Hunter exits his own room. He’s shirtless with just a pair of black jeans and socks. He has a long sleeve red shirt in his hands. He slips it on then shakes a little bit. He moves some of his hair out of his face, then turns to walk down the hallway. He sees Eugene staring at him.

 

“Hello Eugene. Nice morning, huh?” He starts.

Eugene nods.

“Yeah, thank god. I have a bunch of deliveries to make today, and I’d hate it to be a bad day.”

Hunter stops right beside Eugene. He places his hands in his pockets and nods.

“Yeah, that would suck. What’re you waiting here for?” Hunter asks, flipping his head towards the bathroom door.

“Oh, I just came here to see if (Y/N) was alright. He showered in what seemed like one minute. I’ve never seen someone shower that fast.”

“How long does it take YOU to shower?” Hunter redirects.

 

Eugene ponders this for a second.

“Maybe five minutes or so. Rapunzel usually takes longer.”

“That’s a woman thing. Gaia took a while too.”

Eugene raises his brow and smirks.

“Gaia? Who’s that?”

 

Hunter stares past Eugene for a moment. His eyes are blank, like he’s not even conscious.

“Someone I know,” he slowly responds.

Hunter quickly walks past Eugene and down the hall.

“Tell (Y/N) to keep his phone on him,” Hunter requests.

 

“No problem,” Eugene mutters under his breath.

He returns his attention back to the bathroom. He knocks on the door.

“Heyo (Y/N), you okay in there?”

“Yeah. I’m just trying to figure out what to wear,” you respond.

Eugene is hit with some confusion.

“What do you mean? Can I come in?”

“Yeah, come on in.”

 

Eugene opens the door and sees you looking through your watch. You click it, and all of a sudden clothes materialize on you. Eugene’s eyes almost pop out of his head when he sees this.

“What the hell are you doing?” He shouts.

You turn to him with a brow raised.

“I’m looking at what to wear. It used to be easy, but now that I have a visual representation of what I look like I’m having trouble. It’s weird… I feel like Anna.”

 

You close your eyes and look towards Eugene. You randomly click one of the selections. Your clothes slip on you. You open your eyes and look down at yourself. You have a pair of jeans on with black socks. You have a long sleeve black shirt with a grey, short sleeve over shirt. The over shirt is thin, and barely does anything but add something to the overall outfit.

 

You look in the mirror and shrug.

“It’ll do, I guess.”

You turn towards Eugene, who’s still quite surprised.

“What?” You bluntly ask.

Eugene shakes his head. “Nothing. You’re just… weird.”

“Weird?” You repeat. “Why am I weird?”

 

Eugene crosses his arms and looks into the air.

“You have some watch that does who knows what, you’re basically a superhuman, you’re engaged to a woman who controls ice, you-“

“Heeeey,” you whine. “Don’t bring Elsa into this. That’s not her fault. Also I trained hard to attain this strength and speed, thank you very much.”

“Fair enough. Still, you’re weird.”

 

You walk towards the door, and to Eugene. You pass him and exit the bathroom. He follows a second after.

“Well, you’re not so normal either.”

“You’re right. I’m abnormally handsome,” Eugene chuckles.

You stop and cock your head back at him.

“Well it’s true!”

“Yeah, whatever you say. I actually meant something else.”

“Such as?”

 

You both reach the stairs, but you don’t go down them. You turn to face Eugene.

“Why were those two after you? Hell, why was an entire gang after you?”

Eugene’s face drops from a playful mood to a slightly serious one. He puts his hands on his sides and looks away from you.

 

“Remember how I told you I was in a gang?” He reminds.

You bob your head side to side.

“It was almost a year ago… but yeah, I vaguely remember.”

Eugene turns his head towards you.

“Those were the guys I was running with. But… I didn’t want to be with them anymore. I met Rapunzel and decided enough was enough. I tipped off the CCPD and got out of there.”

 

“So… how do they not know where you are now? I mean, Rapunzel’s family seems to be the most famous in Corona.”

“Because they’re looking for Flynn Ryder, and not Eugene Fitzherbert. Our wedding was more or less private with little room for outside sources to take pictures. All there was was my name. They couldn’t care less about Eugene,” he explains.

 

“That’s… actually really smart. Did you do that on purpose?”

Eugene proudly stands up straight.

“Of course I did.”

“Now I don’t believe you.”

He shrugs.

“I tried. But don’t worry about it, really. Everything’s been okay so far, and it won’t change.”

 

Eugene begins walking down the stairs. You follow.

“Does Rapunzel or her family know?”

“No. Don’t tell them. I’m sure they have enough to worry about, especially with you around.”

“What does that mean?” You exclaim.

Eugene laughs. “You know how mad Elsa would be if something happened to you? Even Ragnar and Irena know how scary she could be.”

“Okay, she’s not THAT bad,” you defend.

“I know, I know. I’m just messing with you.”

 

Eugene leads you to the kitchen. Rapunzel looks over and sees you both enter.

“Glad to see you’re not still laughing,” Eugene smirks.

“Didn’t you have to go to work?” Rapunzel reminds.

Eugene almost jumps. He turns around and sprints out of the room. You hear the door open and slam shut within seconds.

 

You slowly turn to Rapunzel. Both your faces are flooded with confusion. You stare at each other for a moment before bursting out into laughter. You start tearing up, and move to the table so you can lean on it. Rapunzel just keeps her head in the table and laughs. After a few minutes you finally calm down. You catch your breath and wipe a few tears away. Rapunzel looks up at you. Her face is completely red, and she’s giggling every couple seconds.

 

“So… when did you wake up?” You ask, attempting to get your mind off of what happened.

“An hour or so ago. I usually wake up early anyway. My parents got me into that routine when I was younger.”

You move to the fridge and open it up. You scout the insides of the fridge, looking for something to eat.

 

“I can make you something, if you want,” Rapunzel quickly offers, getting out of her chair and taking a step towards you.

“No, it’s okay. I’m sure I can find something.”

You stare inside the fridge for a moment. You jolt your head towards her.

“Got any bread?”

Rapunzel nods, then moves over to a cupboard. She opens it up and pulls out a loaf of bread. She underhand throws it to you, and you catch it with ease.

 

“Thank you.”

You look down and start making a sandwich. You grab any condiments you need and put them on. You finish up the sandwich and put any dirty dishes in the sink. You lean against the counter and grab the sandwich with one hand. You take a bite and stare at Rapunzel.

 

“So, what super sleuthing are you doing today?” Rapunzel teases.

You shrug. “Nothing, really. I just have to win at a music festival.”

Rapunzel pauses for a second.

“You mean the annual CMF?”

“CMF?” You repeat.

“Corona Music Festival. You’re participating in that?”

You nod.

 

“Then we have no time! We have to sign you up and… and get you instruments! Oh this is exciting! I’m going to actually be friends with someone preforming!” She squeals.

She grabs your arm and starts dragging you out of the house. You drop your sandwich on the plate. You try to reach for it but Rapunzel isn’t letting you.

 

She drags you out of the kitchen and to the door.

“Come on. Get ready,” she says, putting on her shoes.

You huff and stare at her for a moment. She finishes putting on her shoes and looks up at you.

“What?” She questions.

“I was still eating!”

“We’ll grab something later. We really have to hurry. If you want to join you have to sign up TODAY! Even then I don’t know if you’ll get in!”

 

You think for a moment.

 

Well… she is right. I need to do this, and if I miss out then I might never find what’s really going on. Plus Hunter will be mad…

 

“Alright, let’s get moving then. You bring up a fair point,” you admit as you begin to put on your shoes.

You both ready up and head out the door. Rapunzel takes you to her quaint little sports car that’s parked in the garage. You get in the passenger seat, and Rapunzel gets in the driver seat.

She starts the car and drives out of her driveway.

 

You don’t say anything, mostly because you haven’t gotten a chance. Rapunzel has the radio going pretty loud, and she’s really into it. It’s funny how similar Rapunzel and Anna are. Even Elsa, to a degree. Anna always ramps up the volume when she’s in the car with you. On rare occasions, Elsa does too. However only to very specific songs.

 

You do the same thing now as you always do. You open the window, get your arm into the proper position, and rest your head on your hand while you blankly stare at the things you pass. You don’t see anything too out of the ordinary. Just regular people walking around, living their everyday lives.

 

You lose yourself so much that you don’t realize you’re completely lost in the world.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“What are you doing here?”

 

You instantly open your eyes and see Shadow. He’s standing extremely still, and in his signature suit.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t even mean to come here.”

“You haven’t been here for a long time. It’s given me ample space to train,” he calmly states. “It’s a place where I can always refine my skills, even when you’re busy.”

“Someone’s obsessed,” you mutter.

“Coming from the man who trained for nine months straight, you fucking hypocrite.”

 

“Language, sheesh,” you shout.

“Sorry, I forgot there was a small child present,” he smirks.

You stare at him for a mere second before catching on.

“Oh you suck!”

Shadow closes his eyes and looks away, chuckling.

“If there’s one thing I’ll give you, it’s that you always entertain me in some way.”

 

You casually begin approaching Shadow.

“Well I’m glad I can be a form of entertainment for you.”

 

You come face to face with him. It’s like staring at a mirror. Every feature is the exact same as your own. It’s still weird to this day. It’s probably weird for you because you’ve never simply stared into his eyes like this. You’ve stared into your own eyes, but this is different. It’s probably the only physical difference between you and Shadow. His eyes are filled with something different from yours.

 

One could say his eyes are filled with shadow… ha… I’m funny.

 

“That’s not funny,” Shadow declares.

“You know, it’s not fair that you can hear my thoughts, while I can’t hear yours.”

“Nobody ever said anything was going to be fair. You just have to work with what you have.”

“Look at you. Are you a philosopher now?” You sarcastically ask.

“Whatever. You should get back to it. I’m interested in what Dysa co. is hiding. I know something will be there.”

 

You raise your brow.

“How do you know something will be there?”

Shadow smirks and gives you a rogue look.

“Because I know more than you.”

 

“What does that-“

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You open your eyes and find yourself back in the real world.

 

Did Shadow just force me out? And what did he mean by “I know more than you”? I’ll give him a piece of my mind…

 

“I technically already have a piece of your mind,” Shadow snickers.

“You know what!”

 

Rapunzel looks over at you with a questioning glare.

“What? I wasn’t doing anything? Do you not like my singing?”

You turn towards her.

“Oh, no no no no. That’s not what… Ah, never mind,” you submit, returning to your original position.

 

Rapunzel gazes at you for a second then returns her attention to the road.

“It’s right around the corner. We’ll be there in a second.”

 

Rapunzel turns at the light, then takes another turn into a parking lot. There is a small building in front of the parking lot.

“I assume that’s where I sign up?”

Rapunzel nods.

“Come on, I’ll help you.”

 

You both get out of the car and walk into the building. There’s a main lobby with nothing much in it. It’s just a big room with a few branching hallways and a small map. Rapunzel quickly walks over to the top left hallway, and you follow. She leads you down the hallway and to the third door in a five door row. She opens it and looks back at you. She waves for you to follow.

 

You enter after her to find a medium sized room with a desk and some posters around it. A man is sitting at the desk, sorting through paper work. He looks up at the two of you then back to his paper work.

“What can I do for you?” He ask, slight irritation in his voice.

 

Rapunzel looks back at you and gestures for you to speak up.

 

“I’m uh… I’m here to take part in the music festival,” you say.

He looks up at you.

“The music festival? The one tomorrow? You want to enter Corona’s largest music event a day before it occurs?”

“Um… yes,” you mumble.

“And what makes you so special? Why should I let you in?”

 

“Well… I don’t need that much time. I have experience in music. I’m part of a band,” you list.

The man raises his hand.

“What band?”

“The… Ice Harvesters.”

“The Ice Harvesters? That semi popular band that a slight fraction of Corona is talking about?” He states.

 

You stay silent for a moment.

“I… guess?”

The man sighs.

“Very well. You need to come up with three songs to play by tomorrow. You don’t have to come up with some over-the-top performance, but a little flair will help you win.”

 

He pulls out a few pieces of paper and beckons you over. You walk to the desk and take a seat.

“I just need you to sign that page,” he requests, pointing to a blank spot at the bottom of the page. “This other page is for you to keep it has all the songs that have been taken already. You can’t perform any of the songs listed. Since you’re joining a day before you won’t have to tell me what songs you’re playing. Just no vulgar ones, please.”

 

You read through the conditions and the taken songs. You sign the page and give the man his pen back.

“Thank you sir, I appreciate this.”

“How about you do something amazing, huh? Then maybe it’ll make me feel better about letting you in last minute,” he moans.

 

You quietly stand up and leave the room. Rapunzel is waiting outside the door.

“So, how’d it go?”

“I’m in; and what happened to you? You were in there with me!”

“I left once he agreed to you. Figured there was no point in me being there,” she responds.

 

You two leave the building and enter Rapunzel’s car again.

“So… what now?” She asks.

“I have an idea. Start driving. I’ll show you where to go,” you smile.

 

You direct Rapunzel through Corona until you reach your destination: the music store you found yesterday. Rapunzel parks the car, and you both walk in. The same man looks up at you and smiles.

“Back again? What can I do for you?

“Listen… Can I rent out the store for the day? I just need all the instruments and time. I’ll pay you,” you plead.

 

He chuckles. “I suppose you’re participating in the CMF. I would let you do it for free, but my wife would kill me if I did that. Tell you what. You pay me one thousand dollars and I’ll give you the store for the entire day. You can use every instrument you want, as long as you put it back.”

 

“Really? Thank you! I’ll go get the money right-“

“You don’t have to. I’ll pay,” Rapunzel interrupts.

 

Rapunzel approaches the man and gives him ten hundred dollar bills.

“Rapunzel, you can’t do that,” you argue.

“I just did. If you really want you can pay me back, but you don’t have any time to waste right now. Get playing. I’ll pick you up later.”

 

You stand in awe for a second then crack a smile.

“Thanks Rapunzel.”

 

Rapunzel and the shop owner leave you to your playing. You turn around and look at the selection of instruments. There is a small show stage that you can practice on as well. You smile, knowing you’re going to make something great.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Elsa opens the front door and walks into the house.

“Hello?” She calls out.

She waits for an answer, but there isn’t one.

“Suppose nobody is home yet. Oh well.”

 

Elsa puts down a few bags and walks into the kitchen. She grabs a small glass of water and gulps it down. She stands in the kitchen while she decides what to do.

“I could make a final decision for my new secretary. The quicker the better.”

 

Elsa puts the glass in the sink and leaves the kitchen. She looks around the room and realizes something.

“I didn’t see Olaf this morning… It’s a school day, I should have seen him. Well, I did leave a little later. Maybe I just missed him and he went to a friend’s house. He never likes to be home.”

Elsa walks over to her bags and brings them over to the living room. She takes out some papers and lays them out on the table.

 

Elsa lines up five papers and starts looking over each of them. They’re all notes she took on different applicants. There were more than just five, but these ones are the most promising. She scans her eyes through each of them, trying to see who would fit the job best. There is one person who’s most promising, as they were amazing over all.

 

Suddenly the door opens, and Anna walks in. Elsa looks over at the door and smiles at the sight of her sister.

“Anna! You’re home.”

Anna looks over at Elsa.

“Yes, yes I am. I also have some news!”

This peaks Elsa’s interest.

“What kind of news?”

 

“I’m going back to school. Well… I’d like to, if I could have the money,” Anna subtly asks.

“Of course you can have the money, Anna,” Elsa giggles. “But I have to ask, what’re you going back to school for?”

“Well Lyla, one of my friends from school, anyway, her dad owns the Arendelle Press. Her dad won’t let her in without some sort of education, because that wouldn’t be fair. So she asked him if I could work there, and he said the same thing. So, I could have a job if I go to school.”

 

Elsa gets off the couch and approaches Anna. She surprises her sister with a hug.

“I’m so proud of you, Anna.”

Anna’s body doesn’t move for a moment. She realizes her situation and slowly wraps her hands around her big sister.

“Thanks Elsa, but there isn’t much use in this now. I’m not even in the school yet!”

 

Elsa backs off from Anna.

“You will be. Let me know as soon as you apply. I’ll-“

“No, you won’t do anything,” Anna interjects. “I want to do this on my own. If they don’t accept me, then so be it.”

Elsa cracks a small smile.

“I’m lucky to have someone like you as a sister. You know that?”

 

Anna bobs her head back and forth with a wide grin.

“Yeah, you should be thanking me.”

Elsa lightly pushes Anna’s shoulder, smiling while doing so. She turns around and moves back to her row of papers. Anna strolls over beside Elsa and looks at the papers.

 

“Whatcha got there?”

Elsa looks up at Anna then back at her papers.

“These are my notes from all the applicants I interviewed today. I’m trying to make a decision. But…” Elsa trails off.

“But what?”

“It just seems there’s one that’s clearly superior to the others. This woman here,” Elsa states, pointing at the middle paper. “Her name is Juno, and she seems perfect. She was a joy to talk to, she’s had experience with different companies, and she has degrees in half a dozen fields.”

 

“Soooo what’s the problem?” Anna questions.

“She almost seems too qualified. I just don’t know why she wants this job,” Elsa queries.

Elsa adopts a confused manner. Anna stares at Elsa, then at the papers, and back to Elsa.

“Well if you like her and she’s qualified why not hire her? It seems silly to let someone like that go.”

Elsa nods. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll have Alec call her.”

 

Elsa gathers her papers together and puts them in her suitcase. She picks it up and places all her things in one spot. Anna watches her for a moment then decides to go to her room. Elsa turns around and sees this.

“Where are you going?”

“To my room. I’m going to research how to apply for college.”

 

Anna bounces up the stairs and into her room. Elsa stares at the ground for a minute, deciding what to do. Her thought process is interrupted when Kristoff walks in. Elsa turns to greet him.

“Hey Kristoff. You just missed Anna.”

Kristoff looks at the stairs then to Elsa.

“That’s fine, I’ll talk to her later. I just want to relax right now, anyway.”

 

Kristoff walks over to the couch and flops on it.

“Rough day?” Elsa assumes.

Kristoff nods. “Training was something else. It was decent though. All the guys I met seemed like good people. The work was fun too.”

“Whistle at any girls who pass by?” Elsa jokes.

“Ha-ha. Anna would kill me if I did.”

“I would probably get to you first,” she deviously states.

 

Elsa bears a smirk as she walks away. Kristoff stares at her, wide eyed.

“What do you mean by that?”

Elsa shrugs and continues to walk away. Kristoff stares at her as she walks up the stairs and into her room. Kristoff shakes his head and throws his arms in the air.

 

“You’d think I’d be left alone since (Y/N) is gone. He’s usually the only one who teases me, but now both Anna and Elsa are. I can never get a break!”

 

Elsa giggles in her room. She hears Kristoff’s little rant, and can’t help but react. Elsa walks over to her closet and grabs her favourite track suit. She lays them on her bed, then proceeds to take off her suit. She lays it beside the other clothes. She puts on the blue and white track suit. She moves to her mirror and grabs a few hair ties. She puts her hair in a neat pony tail and nods at herself.

 

She grabs a pair of headphones off of her dresser and leaves her room. She goes down the stairs and sees Kristoff in the kitchen.

“Kristoff! I’m going to the gym. Tell Anna she has to make something for dinner!”

“You sure you want Anna cooking?” Kristoff questions.

Elsa pauses for a moment.

 

“Can you make something?” She hopefully asks.

Kristoff chuckles. “Yeah, I’m on it.”

“Oh, and could you let me know when Olaf comes home? Thanks!” Elsa says, closing the front door behind her.

Kristoff furrows his brow and ponders what she said.

 

Elsa gets in her car and begins driving. She doesn’t have to drive far, as the gym she likes to go to is on the same street; it’s just far down the street. Elsa casually drives down the street until she reaches the gym. She pulls into the parking lot and parks the car. She gets her phone out of her pocket and plugs in the headphones.

 

She exits the car and starts walking into the gym. While walking, she clicks Alec’s contact information. She waits a moment as the phone rings.

“Hello?” Alec starts.

“Hello, Alec? It’s Elsa.”

“Ah, what can I do for you Ms. Anderson?”

 

“I want you to call one of our applicants. Her name was Juno. Do you have the files?” Elsa asks.

“I do. Are you choosing her for the job?”

“I am. She’s obviously the…”

Elsa opens the door and walks in the gym. She’s surprised at who she sees.

“Actually Alec… nevermind. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Oh, alright. Are you sure?” Alec questions, confused.

“I am. Have a good night Alec.”

 

Elsa clicks a small button on her headphones and throws on a smile.

“Juno? Is that you?” Elsa happily shouts.

Juno turns around and looks at Elsa.

“Ms. Anderson? I didn’t expect to see you.”

“Outside the office you can call me Elsa,” Elsa nods.

“Okay, Elsa. Well… I suppose you’re here to work out?” Juno assumes.

Elsa nods once more. “I am. May I join you?”

“If you want to, sure.”

 

Elsa and Juno go to the treadmill first. They get on two and start jogging.

“So, do you come here often?” Elsa asks.

“From time to time. My husband always tells me to find some output to relieve myself, so I come to the gym to do that,” Juno replies.

“You’re married?”

Juno nods. “Been happily married for years. I have infinite respect for him and care for him deeply. You could say it’s true love, but that’s not for women like us. Not that terminology, anyway.”

 

“I think I know what you mean. I’m engaged,” Elsa says, showing Juno her wedding ring.

“That’s a beautiful ring. Who’s the lucky man?”

“You could call him my high school sweetheart. His name is (Y/N).”

“Does he come to the gym with you? Is he here?” Juno inquires, looking around the gym.

“No,” Elsa lightly chuckles. “He’s not here. He’s in Corona with his brother. You could call it a… a boys trip.”

 

The two laugh.

“So what about your husband? Where is he?” Elsa queries.

“He’s on business. I honestly couldn’t tell you where he was. He moves around so much.”

“Does that make it hard? Him being preoccupied, I mean.”

Juno stares ahead for a moment.

“No, I wouldn’t say so. It’s not like him doing his job gets in the way of anything.”

“That’s good. I like to keep that mindset too. Though it’s probably easier for you, being married for longer than I. How long have you been married?”

 

Juno thinks for a moment.

“Over twenty years now… It’s weird to think it’s been that long ago.”

“Twenty years?” Elsa exclaims. “Juno… if you don’t mind me asking… how old are you?”

Juno looks over at Elsa and smiles.

“Fourty-seven. My husband is fifty.”

“Juno… you look amazing for your age,” Elsa compliments full heartedly.

“Why thank you. I really appreciate it.”

 

Juno and Elsa continue talking while jogging.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“And other than that little problem, we’re ready?” Alistair confirms.

“M-more or less. You say you can fix it all so…” Weselton whimpers.

“Of course I can. Get everything set up for transportation,” Alistair finishes, clicking a button on his holowatch.

 

He stands up from his seat and shimmies through the helicopter. He pats the pilot on the shoulder.

“Keep the thing a little more steady, huh?”

“Roger that, sir,” the pilot nods.

 

Alistair moves back to his seat and lets his head lean back a bit. He crosses his arms and lets out a huff. He begins to think a little more on his long term plan, and how it’s all coming together. Juno is in Arendelle, you and Hunter are in Corona, and he’s about to squash a bug.

 

All of a sudden he starts hearing an alarm. His eyes immediately open.

“Sir! We have a lock on! Someone’s-“

Alistair hears an explosion, and the helicopter starts spiraling out of control. Alistair grabs onto the sides of the helicopter to keep himself steady.

“I can’t control her!” The pilot screams.

 

Alistair carefully moves to the pilot seat and unbuckles the pilot’s seatbelt. He grabs him and pulls him out of the spot. Alistair tumbles around a bit, but is able to get him and the pilot to the door. He kicks it open, then jumps out with the pilot. The pilot maniacally screams, but Alistair stays calm. He hits his holowatch, and his clothes mold into the same armour he used whilst fighting you.

 

Alistair pulls the pilot in tight as he approaches the ground. He thrusts his hand forward which sends a burst of wind in front of them. The wind cushions their fall, and they land. Some trees around his landing zone are knocked over as a result of the wind, however. Alistair lands on his feet, while the pilot lands on his rear.

 

“Holy shit! Holy shit we just survived that!” The pilot spews.

Alistair ignores him and keeps a keen eye out to the forest around him. His eyes dart back and forth, and his ears are acute to any noise.

“How the fuck did we survive that!? I can barely breathe, oh my fuck!”

 

“Shh,” Alistair hushes, flicking his hand.

The pilot calms down a bit while seeing Alistair completely composed.

“How are you..?”

“Shh,” Alistair says with more intensity.

 

He keeps his senses open as he stands. He hears something fly through the air, and that’s his signal to move. He moves in front of the pilot and throws his hand into the air. A wall of rock erupts from the ground and absorbs some bullets. The pilot covers his ears and looks around.

 

“What the hell is happening, sir?”

“Just stay down. You’ll live as long as you’re around me,” Alistair shouts.

 

He then thrusts his hand forward, sending the rock crashing through the forest. It breaks through some trees and impales someone. Alistair can hear a scream, and knows he hit his target. He hears more guns firing, and gets ready. He begins continuously flipping and spinning through the air. His motions are extremely fluent and graceful. Every time his feet touch the ground they land, spin, and go into the air again.

 

While he moves, he sends out a barrage of air, ice, fire, and rock in every direction. The bullets are passing Alistair with a decent distance. He knows that a bullet could do damage, and he’s not going to take any chances at all. After he hears a few people go down, he stops. He swoops his leg across the dirt and comes to a halt. He looks around, waiting to see if anything else is coming at him. The pilot is in complete awe at what Alistair just did. He’s never seen him doing anything like that before.

 

“Listen, if you go north,” Alistair starts, pointing in a direction. “You’ll find a gas station. Stay there until I come find you.”

“I… okay, sir.”

The pilot scrambles to his feet and starts running in the direction Alistair pointed.

 

Alistair takes a few steps deeper into the forest. He traverses through the forest for a few minutes with no combat. He reaches a small clearing, and he finds trouble. About a dozen and a half men with full tactical gear and assault rifles are ready to greet him. There is also one other man, who is well dressed.

 

Alistair chuckles when he sees him.

“Duke Jafar. There are more conventional ways of contacting me, you know.”

“Hmph, arrogant as ever,” Jafar comments.

“No, not arrogant. That would mean I over estimate my abilities. I don’t,” Alistair bluntly states.

“Is that so? Then you realize that if you try and fight me you’ll lose,” Jaffar proudly states.

Alistair chuckles. “You pose as much of a threat to me now as you did all those years ago… which was little, just to be clear.”

 

Jafar’s expression changes to a spiteful one.

“Brave words coming from a man in your position.”

“Whatever you say. So, may I inquire why you shot me down?”

Jafar snickers. “It’s time that the monarchy was replaced, and a new leader rose!”

“I have a guess at who that could be,” Alistair whispers. “And who is this oh so powerful leader?” Alistair calls out.

 

“The only one with the brains to outsmart you! Hans Westergaard!”

“Well, I’ll admit that he’s at least smart enough not to give away his allies… at least not so easily.”

“It doesn’t matter! You will be dead soon enough! Kill him!”

 

The soldiers raise their guns and aim them at Alistair. Alistair uses his mind to activate the holowatch. His long sword materializes in his hands just in time for Alistair to knock away a bullet. He deflects two bullets with his sword then jumps out of the line of fire. The bullets all penetrate the ground. Alistair lands behind two of the soldiers and cuts their heads clean off. He looks over at a group of four a few meters away, and raises his hand under them. Fire erupts underneath them. Their skin starts to bubble and crisp up. They scream in agony, then fall to the ground.

 

Alistair doesn’t focus on them. They aren’t the first ones he’s watched die slowly, and he cares not for them. No reason to mourn. Besides, bullets are about to head his way. Alistair spins his sword in circles in front of him. He catches the bullets one by one with his blade. The men stop firing and stare at Alistair.

 

Alistair smirks, and drags his blade across the ground. The bullets he caught perfectly line up across the ground. The soldiers shudder with a mix of fear and disbelief. Alistair quickly drags his swords towards the men, sending the bullets towards them. Each bullet hits one man, thus ending the conflict. The only men still standing are Alistair and Jafar – one of which is filled to the brim with fear.

 

Alistair clicks his holowatch which dematerializes his sword and returns his attire to his signature suit. Alistair calmly approaches Jafar, fixing his sleeves. Jafar staggers back a little, but still tries to look macho. He pulls out a pistol and points it at Alistair. Alistair looks at it for a moment then chuckles.

 

“Please refrain from escalating this into a more… messy situation. I’d hate to get my suit stained with your blood.”

Jafar keeps the gun pointed at Alistair.

“Stand back!”

“I’m getting a little déjà vu right now,” Alistair smiles, stopping in front of Jafar. “Except last time I let you live.”

“No, please! I’ll do anything! Anything!”

“You already told me enough. Now I know who my next bug is.”

 

Alistair grabs Jafar by the neck and lifts him in the air.

“Be thankful I didn’t save you for Juno. Who knows what she would have done to you.”

“Wait! Wait!” Jafar yelps, his voice crackled due to Alistair’s hand around his neck. “He’s after your son and his friends!”

Alistair raises his brow.

“Is he now? That’s not a surprise. Sorry, you’ve proven how worthless you are.”

 

He crushes Jafar’s neck in one movement, killing him. He tosses the body away and stares at it. He urgently starts speed walking towards the gas station he told the pilot of. While walking, he activates his holowatch and clicks an icon. He hears ringing from it.

 

“Gothel? What do you want?”

“I am just confirming the transfer of the Dragon’s Tear,” she says.

“Transfer?” Alistair questions. “I didn’t order a transfer.”

“You didn’t? Hans said you did. You two have been working together lately so…”

“Lock down the building. Do not let Hans escape. I’m inbound to deal with him.”

“I… yes, sir.”

 

Alistair disconnects his call with Gothel and clicks someone else.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“I have the job? Really?” Juno asks, her face lit up with surprise.

“Yes. I was going to call, but then I saw you here. So, can I count on you?” Elsa smiles.

Juno nods. “Of course, Elsa. Thank you very much. My husband will-“

Juno’s phone starts to ring. She grabs it and looks at it.

“Oh, speak of the devil.” She accepts the call. “Hello honey, how are you?”

Elsa finishes her squats and walks beside Juno.

 

“Juno, did you get the job?”

“I did,” she pleasantly states, smiling at Elsa. “I’m actually with Ms. Anderson right now. We just finalized it.”

“I would comment on how strangely happy you are, but I’ll save it for now. Listen, you have to keep Elsa safe.”

“Why?”

“Hans’ little rebellion is larger than I predicted. He had Jafar, which means he seized a large portion of our military prowess. That doesn’t threaten me, but Hans is after Elsa. You cannot allow him to capture or kill her,” Alistair commands.

 

Juno giggles. “That’s interesting. Alright, leave it to me.”

“Thank you Juno.”

“No problem, honey. I’ll see you soon.”

“Yes, you will. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Juno repeats.

 

She hangs up the phone and looks at Elsa with a smile.

“My apologies for interrupting our workout.”

“It’s not a problem, really. So, do you think we can meet tomorrow and settle on a schedule?”

“That sounds great.”

 

“Well, now it’s my turn to apologize. I must go. I’ll meet you tomorrow at nine?” Elsa confirms.

Juno nods. “Nine, got it. Nice talking with you Elsa.”

 

Elsa waves and leaves Juno alone. Juno watches as Elsa leaves the building. She waits a few seconds and proceeds to follow her.

“Alistair is so interesting sometimes. I absolutely love him,” she says to herself.

 

Juno walks outside and watches Elsa’s car drive away. Juno looks around to see if anyone is watching her. There is nobody, which gives Juno an opportunity. Juno looks down at her own holowatch, and activates it. Her gym clothes are replaced with a black, tight pair of jeans, and a leather jacket. She points the watch to an open parking spot and clicks the button.

 

A black motorcycle with a full-face helmet appears in the spot. Juno smiles and mounts the bike. She puts on the helmet and starts up the bike. She zooms out of the parking lot. She keeps one eye on Elsa’s car, and the other stays attentive. Right now Elsa is under Juno’s protection. Anyone who threatens her… will die. Juno smiles at the thought. She does have some torture techniques she wants to try out.


	34. A Rat in a Maze

Chapter 34: A Rat in a Maze

 

Hunter leans on the wall outside of the music store. He can hear the thunder of the drums as you hammer away on it. He taps his foot to the beat, as he listens.

“Meh, he’ll be fine. It’s music, and he’s playing well.”

Hunter pushes himself off the wall and walks away. He blends in with the people of Corona, and disappears in an instant.

 

He keeps his hands in his pockets as he walks. Hunter makes his way from the music store to Gaia’s shop. He enters Tiger Plaza and marches through to the end. Gaia is outside her shop, waving to a happy customer. She sees Hunter and sighs. He extends his arms to the side.

“What? Can’t even feign happiness when you see me?” He complains.

“I don’t need to feign happiness. I just didn’t get much sleep last night,” she says.

 

Hunter comes face to face with Gaia. He leans on one of her flower stands and crosses his arms. Gaia turns away from him and fixes up one of her stands. Hunter stares at her for a moment in silence.

“I, uh… are you doing anything… tomorrow?” Hunter asks.

Gaia looks over at him with her brow raised.

“Why?”

“(Y/N) is preforming in the CMF. I’m sure (Y/N) would appreciate more of his friends being there.”

 

Gaia laughs. “You know (Y/N) doesn’t consider me a friend. You could just say you want me to go with you.”

Hunter looks away. “You know what? Forget it. Never mind.”

Hunter gets off the stand and starts to walk away.

“Don’t be a baby Hunter. Of course I’ll come,” Gaia smiles.

Hunter turns around to face her. He smiles. Gaia shakes her head and rests her hands on her hips.

“I don’t know why you’re so nervous about asking me somewhere.”

 

Hunter crosses his arms and looks away.

“I wasn’t nervous.”

“Uh huh, I’m sure.”

Gaia walks up to Hunter and kisses his cheek. The two hear a whistle, and they look over. Matt has a big smile on his face, while Rain is staying quiet.

 

“Kick up the romance! Is it just me or is it getting hot in here. Oh, it’s just me,” Matt laughs to himself.

“I can cool you down, if you want,” Rain offers.

“It was just an expression. Boy, you’re so cute,” Matt smiles, poking Rain’s nose.

Rain crosses his eyes and looks at his nose. He looks up at Matt and lets out a small chuckle.

“You know my nose is sensitive.”

“Why do you think I tapped it?”

 

Gaia and Hunter exchange looks while they listen to Rain and Matt talk. Gaia moves her eyes towards the store. Hunter eagerly smiles and nods. The two take very small steps back. Matt and Rain don’t notice. Gaia almost starts giggling but covers her mouth before she can utter a sound. Hunter looks back at the door and slowly opens it.

 

After there is an ample space, the two slip into the shop and run upstairs.

 

Rain chuckles and shakes his head.

“You get your stubbornness from your father.”

“Not the worst thing I could have gotten from him. Oh, that reminds me, we have a family dinner coming up,” Matt reminds.

“I’ll remember, I suppose. But we should get bac-“

Rain turns to where Hunter and Gaia were. They aren’t there anymore.

 

Rain shakes his head once more.

“Those two left us.”

Matt looks over, only to see nobody.

“Hm, those two. I bet their rustling up the bedsheets right now.”

 

“Maybe… those two are complicated. Gaia’s told me about it. I THINK they love each other, but I can’t be certain,” Rain expresses.

“So… are you going to tell me about it?” Matt presumptuously asks.

Rain shakes his head. “Sorry… I have to respect their wishes. They don’t want it to be talked about.”

Matt pouts. “You’re just mean to me sometimes. So… what should we do?”

 

Rain shrugs. “Whatever you want to do.”

Matt moves his hand over Rain’s shoulder and starts walking away.

“Come on. We’ll find something to do.”

 

The two walk away from Gaia’s shop, and two people watch them. Hunter and Gaia observe them from the top floor. Hunter snickers, and Gaia giggles. She smacks his chest and walks away, still laughing.

“You’re so bad. Why do you take advantage of Matt’s ability to talk?”

Hunter turns around with a smile.

“I’m fantastic at using people’s weaknesses against them. Besides, it’s not hard to get Matt talking.”

 

Gaia sits down in a chair and finishes her giggling.

“Yes, that’s very true. He’s a good guy though. Really skilled, too.”

“Ah yes, that he is. I bet his father would be furious if he knew what Matt has done,” Hunter ponders.

“His father already did enough.”

 

Hunter can hear the seriousness in Gaia’s tone. He looks at her, and she’s simply staring at the ground. He sighs and walks towards her kitchen.

“Got any beer?”

Gaia stays silent for a moment.

“Gaia!”

 

She shakes her head.

“What?”

“Do you have anything to drink?”

Gaia thinks for a second.

“I have some rum and vodka. You could be a dear and get me a rum and coke.”

“A dear, huh?” Hunter chuckles.

“Just get me the damn drink.”

“There she is!”

 

Hunter grabs the drinks and brings them to Gaia. He sits them on a small coffee table then slips beside her. He starts by adding a small bit of rum at the bottom of the glass. He grabs the can of coke and pours it on top the rum. He then proceeds to top it up with a little bit more rum. He spins the glass in small circles in order to mix the drinks. Gaia watches as he does this. He always does it the same way with no deviation. The way he does it is superb, though. He always makes the perfect blend of coke and rum.

 

Of course he had to be good with his drinks. At one time or another Hunter was a bartender. It was one of the actions Hunter did that showed he really did care about Gaia. He then played it off and said he was there to get information on the Hierarchy. Gaia doesn’t believe that one bit. The timing was too perfect. It was much too close to when he said he would settle down with her. But that never happened, and now they’re here. Now Hunter is out fighting and spying almost every day, and Gaia his running her quaint little shop.

 

Hunter finishes twirling the drink around. He places the glass on the table and looks at Gaia with a smirk.

“Here you go.”

He grabs the vodka and fills a portion of a separate glass. He sets down the bottle and sits on Gaia’s couch. Gaia grabs the glass and sits back. She takes a small gulp. Hunter swigs the vodka around in the glass, then downs the entire thing. He lightly slams the glass on her table.

 

Gaia stares at him while he does that. She sighs and leans back in her chair. Hunter leans onto his legs and intertwines his fingers with one another.

“Gaia, can I ask you something? I  know it won’t end well, but I still need to ask.”

“You can ask anything, Hunter.”

Hunter stares at his hands for a moment.

“I want to know why you won’t help me. A real reason.”

“Hunter-“

“No, please. I need to know why. You know I need your help with this,” Hunter snaps.

 

Gaia drifts her eyes to the floor.

“It’s not that I don’t believe in your cause… it’s… I’m just worried what this will do to you,” she says, a disturbance in her voice.

“What? What are you talking about?” Hunter questions.

“Hunter, you’re a brave man. You care about your friends and you’re one of the best people I’ve ever met. However… this war you have… this fight… it’s slowly destroying you. Twisting you.”

 

Hunter snickers and looks away.

“I’m fine, Gaia. I’ve taken a few bruises, but that’s it.”

“I’m not talking physically. I can see you withering away like one of my flowers, except I can’t just wave my finger to help you.”

“I don’t need your help in that way, Gaia. Once I stop my father I can-“

“And how do you know you can stop your father?” Gaia says. “It’s been years for you, Hunter. Years of fighting can destroy your mind.”

 

“I can beat them! With (Y/N), Matt, Rain, and you, I can do it. We can do it.”

“You’re lying to yourself, Hunter. I can hear doubt in your voice. You don’t really know if you can beat them. Lying to yourself is just running away from a truth you can’t accept.”

Hunter shakes his head and licks his lips with obvious irritation.

“I won’t help you because I want you to stop. But I know you can’t… I know you shouldn’t. I can see why you need to do it. But you want me to take life, or help in taking life. I won’t do that anymore. I will only give life,” Gaia speaks.

 

“So you doubt me?”

“No, Hunter. I don’t doubt what you and (Y/N) can do. I’m just worried what all this will do to you. In the end, will you still be the Hunter that I fell in love with? The one who wanted to settle down with me and-“

“Gaia!” Hunter shouts.

Gaia stops and shrinks into herself a bit. Hunter calms down.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled. I… I’m going to go.”

 

Hunter stands up and starts walking away. He passes Gaia, but she grabs his arm.

“Hunter… please be careful. I… I want our dream to become a reality. I…”

Hunter backs up and kneels down to Gaia’s level. He moves some of her green hair out of her faces and softly plants his lips on hers. She is surprised, but does not resist. Hunter backs off and gives her a smirk.

 

“When his is all over, I’ll be with you till I die. I promise.”

 

Hunter stands up and begins to walk away once more. Gaia stands up and rushes behind him. He hears this and stops walking.

“Do you want another drink?” Gaia smiles.

Hunter rolls his eyes with a smirk.

“Just don’t want to get rid of me, do you?”

“I don’t know… I just think you owe me after you just brought my mood down back there,” Gaia jokes.

“And what do I owe you, huh?”

 

Gaia pulls Hunter back to the couch and grabs the bottle of vodka for him.

“Stay awhile, and you might find out.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Matt and Rain stroll down the street with two ice cream cones. Rain’s ice cream is still in perfect condition, while Matt’s cone is starting to melt a bit. Matt gazes at Rain’s cone and sighs.

“How is yours still so fresh?”

Rain snaps out of his trance and looks at his cone.

“Oh, I use my powers. Hold on, I’ll fix yours.”

 

Rain stares at Matt’s cone, and it starts to harden up again. The dripping ice cream wraps around the solid parts and adds a thin layer.

“How did you do that? I thought (Y/N)’s girlfriend was the only one who could do things like that. I mean, you could say she’s just that cold,” Matt jokes, laughing to himself.

“She’s not mean, Matt.”

“I know, I’m just teasing.”

 

Matt and Rain continue to walk. Rain keeps his voice down, as to not draw attention.

 

“To answer your question, I can freeze some things, though it takes time. It’s still a form of water, just in a different state. I can also control mist. Of course I can’t manipulate the ice quite like Elsa can, or summon ice at will, but I can somewhat control it,” Rain explains.

 

“Well, doesn’t that make Elsa’s powers somewhat irrelevant?” Matt suggests.

 

Rain shakes his head. “Not at all. As I said, I can’t summon ice like she can. I can’t even summon water at will. Gaia has the same problem; she can’t just summon earth at random. Though water and earth are very easy to find, so we aren’t that behind. But Elsa, Tempest, and Pyro had the ability to just summon their respective power. Though… I think I’m the most dangerous.”

 

Matt giggles and taps Rain on the shoulder.

“You’re about as dangerous as a drop of rain.”

Rain snickers. “But those drops of rain can flood a city.”

Matt detects the seriousness in Rain’s voice.

“Honey, what’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing,” Rain lightly snaps.

Rain stays silent as they walk. Matt respectively leaves it alone. He knows what to press on with, and what not to. After walking a few blocks Rain finally decides to speak up.

 

Matt thinks back for a second. His mind goes through all sort of circumstances where Rain’s power would be extremely dangerous. There is the possibility of his sending tidal waves at people, but that seems something normal he could do.

 

The two come to a side walk and wait for the light to change. Matt continues to think on what Rain could be talking about. Rain stays silent and licks his ice cream. He starts to regret ever bringing the subject.

 

It was extremely uncomfortable when he found out what he could do. Hunter was nice about it though, and Rain was appreciative about that. Rain always hears some of the complaints Gaia makes of Hunter. Rain doesn’t always see Hunter like that. Rain basically broke down crying when he first used that power. Hunter told him that he would never have to use that power again, and he won’t let the Hierarchy get control of his power.

 

It’s partly Rain’s fault too. He was desperate, and Hunter would have died. He had to do something, and… well he isn’t proud of what he did. He has exceedingly more control over his powers than any other living elemental. It was just easier for him, and that’s probably why he can use his powers to such a great extent.

 

Rain looks inside a building and sees something interesting.

“Hey Matt, look.”

Matt follows Rain’s gaze and sees you inside of a building. You’re shirtless, sweaty, and going hard on the drums. However the two can’t really see that you’re shirtless.

“We should go see what he’s up to,” Matt states, walking towards the entrance.

 

Matt and Rain enter the building right as you hit the final note. You’re breathing heavy, and staring down at your feet. You put down the drum sticks and click your holowatch. You stand up and place your arms on your sides, taking a break. You have your eyes closed as you get your breath. You shake your head and walk to the side. You grab a guitar and pick, then strap it around you. You slide the pick across the top strings and start playing an impressive tune. You slide into the beginning of a song, or so it sounds like. You’re so into the guitar playing that you don’t notice Rain and Matt.

 

Hey kid! Do I have your attention? I know the way you’ve been livin!

 

You’re about to start the next line but you look up and see Rain and Matt. Rain quickly blushes and looks away. Matt raises his brow with a smirk.

 

“Jeez (Y/N), you’re actually pretty hot. Then again, I hear you can use some fire powers. Suppose you’d burn down more curtains than I do,” Matt smirks.

You shake your head.

“God… damnit… Matt.”

 

Matt laughs, and Rain keeps to himself.

“I’m just teasing you (Y/N), though you do sound amazing. I’m guessing this is all for the concert tomorrow?”

You nod. “Yeah, I have to win so I can get into Dysa Co. I’m preparing a hell-of-a show for everyone.”

“Any chance we get to see a little something before the show?” Matt says, gesturing you to bring it on.

 

You shake your head.

“Sorry Matt, you’re gonna have to wait till tomorrow. Trust me, it’ll be something to see. But I got to get back to work. If you don’t mind, could you two go?” You politely request.

Matt and Rain both nod.

“That’s alright, we’ll leave you alone,” Rain agrees.

 

Rain quickly shoos Matt away from you and they both head towards the door. Matt exits first, but Rain stays for a second.

“Hey (Y/N), maybe you should give Elsa a call, huh? The CMF is broadcast worldwide, and I’m sure they’d all love to see you play.”

You glance over at Rain and smile.

“Yeah, I’ll do that. Thanks Rain.”

“Anytime, my friend.”

 

Rain leaves you alone in the building. You sit down on the side of the stage. You wipe some of the sweat off of your body. You look over at the instruments and sigh. You know you have a lot of work to do. Even though you only need a few songs, you would rather use all the time you have and keep under a dozen songs under your belt.

 

You slap your legs and stand up.

“Might as well get back too it. If I sit around for too long I might as well call myself Hunter,” you chuckle. “Or Hans… or even Kristoff.”

You laugh some more then walk back to the guitar.

“Goddamn, I’m hilarious sometimes.”

“No you’re not,” Shadow denies.

“Shut up! Who asked you!?”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Alistair and the helicopter pilot sit quietly in a limo. The limo is making its way through Corona. Alistair is in deep thought. His mind is looking at every angle and every factor in this. Who could side with Hans? Who could pose a threat? Between he and Juno there is little that could permanently stop them, but Alistair does recognize the power in numbers. Two people can only be in two places, and who knows how many schemes Hans could pull off at once.

 

Hans himself isn’t dangerous, but the schemes he can pull can severely affect the progress of Alistair’s plan. He’s more concerned about that than the entire Hierarchy turning against him. He can handle that with little problem. But he hates being delayed for ridiculous reasons. Hans is one of those ridiculous reasons.

 

It’s a simple matter to fix, however. All Alistair has to do is find Hans – cut off the head of the snake. Without him there is no rebellion. To find him, he has to get a hold of his scent. As far as Alistair knows, the last place Hans was seen was at Keralu. Perhaps he’ll catch a break, and Gothel caught Hans while he was there.

 

The limo pulls up to Keralu. Alistair looks out the window then to the helicopter pilot. He clicks his holowatch and pulls out a small piece of paper. He holds it in front of the pilot.

“Take this to the Corona World Bank. I have no need for a pilot right now, but you should be compensated for your hazardous work conditions. Withdraw everything from this account; it should be around two hundred thousand dollars.”

 

The pilot marvels at Alistair he slowly takes the piece of paper and stares at it.

“Truly? You’re not joking?”

“I don’t make jokes that often, so no. Be with your family. Family is what’s most important, after all.”

The pilot smiles.

“Yes sir, thank you sir. I will. You’re the best, sir!”

“You’ve been with me for years, I think you deserve a bonus. Now go. Relax,” Alistair comforts, patting the pilot’s shoulder.

 

Alistair turns his attention from the pilot to the task at hand. He exits the limo then walks to the passenger window. The driver rolls it down.

“Take this man home, he’ll give you the address. After that you’re done for the day.”

The man nods, then drives off. Alistair watches the limo drive away, then walks into Keralu.

 

He enters the building and walks right past the secretary. He approaches the elevator and activates it. After a small wait he arrives on the top floor. He walks through the corridor and reaches Gothel’s office. He walks in only to be greeted by Gothel and Hook. They both turn their gaze to Alistair.

 

“Monarch,” the two greet in unison.

Alistair walks in stand on the edge of the table.

“Gothel, what happened to Hans?”

“He took the Dragon’s Tear. My apologies Monarch. When I sent guards after them he just set them ablaze. I’m working on fixing the damage he caused,” Gothel reports.

 

Alistair turns his attention to Hook.

“And why are you here?”

“I brought some of my augmented men to help. We were also discussing Hans,” Hook replies.

“What about Hans? If you’re also planning to go against me I’d just say it now. I’d spare your life if you just told me up front.”

 

“Also? What do you mean? If I may ask,” Gothel inquires.

“Jafar shot down my helicopter and attempted to kill me. He and his men are dead, obviously, though he had a small army backing him. I suppose that’s under Hans’ rule now. Such a shame too. I was on my way to congratulate him about his 10 year anniversary. Pity he’s petty. Anyhow, I assume Hans has recruited more people to his cause, else he wouldn’t have the gall to rise up against me. Now, answer my question. Are you with, or against me?”

 

“I am with you, sir. I can’t see any reason why I’d aid Hans,” Gothel says.

Hook nods. “I agree. It’s evident that you’re more powerful than Hans is.”

 

Alistair stares into their eyes. He snickers then leans back.

“Very well. Gothel, do you have any idea where Hans went? Did you keep any tabs on him after he broke in?”

“I had a few men follow him, yes. They have yet to report back. Could still be-“

 

A cell phone starts ringing, interrupting the conversation. Alistair and Gothel turn their heads towards Hook. Hook is ignoring them and listening to his phone.

“What do you mean?” He shouts.

Alistair raises his brow.

“Contain the situation! We need the building to be presentable for the CMF winner! I can’t have a situation like this!”

 

Alistair quickly walks away from Gothel and towards the door. Gothel is about to protest, but she knows better than to question what the Monarch does. She sits back in her chair and sighs. Gothel goes into deep thought. She isn’t really sure who to side with anymore. Hans seems to be a step ahead of Alistair right now, but he’s taken away her step to eternal youth. At least Alistair left her alone on that regard.

 

There’s also the third guy, the new one. His intentions are unknown, but he seemed reliable enough. He didn’t seem like someone who was going to deceive them. He just wanted their loyalty, which is debatable at the moment. Gothel is stuck between three people. The mystery man wants her to play both sides, Hans wants her to be a double agent against Alistair, and Alistair just wants to know who’s on his side.

 

Hook is in the same situation, but Gothel knows who he’s chosen. He’s a fan of neither Hans nor Alistair. That only leaves the mystery man left. He has a certain charisma that swayed Hook. The mix of honestly, his blunt tone, and the power he has. Hook is attracted to power. He hates being helpless. It’s the reason why he’s focused so much of his time on human enhancement.

 

That very fact is the reason Hans wanted to go there. Alistair obviously doesn’t know, but Gothel and Hook let Hans take what they want. What Hans wants with the Dragon’s Tear and some tech from Dysa co is anyone’s guess. Gothel really doesn’t want to know. In the end, she’s probably going to side with either Alistair or the mystery man. Hans just doesn’t compare.

 

Hook turns off his phone and looks around. He checks in the hall to see whether Alistair is there or not. He isn’t. Hook sighs and walks back into the room. He makes small circles with his synthetic arm while he sits down.

 

“Hans took some of my suits. Who knows what he’s going to use them for. He only took three.”

Hook stares at Gothel, who is lost in thought.

“Gothel?”

Gothel shakes her head and looks over at Hook.

“Well, I have some work to do. I’d appreciate it if you found your way out.”

 

Gothel regally stands up and leaves Hook in the meeting room. He stares at her as she walks away. He’s confused, so he starts to twirl his moustache.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Alistair casually walks on the sidewalk, keeping his cool and acting normal. Unlike the men and women in the Hierarchy, Alistair enjoys a stroll through the streets. Its one thing he hates about nearly everyone in the Hierarchy: they never take the time to enjoy their leisure.

 

Everyone in the Hierarchy are wealthy, powerful, and have a chunk of the world under their belt, yet they don’t know the simple pleasures in life. Alistair rarely uses his wealth for personal pleasures. Hell, he rarely uses his wealth for anything. Most of the time he just pays his employees, or pays off anyone he needs to. Other than that, he doesn’t do much.

 

Though, that’s not the only thing he hates about the Hierarchy. There are dozens of reasons why everyone who works for him makes his skin crawl. They’re self-righteous without any actual power to back it up. Yes, they can send legions of men against their enemies, or use their influence to absolutely destroy one’s reputation and life. But they can’t really do anything on their own.

 

Alistair and Juno are basically a small army when they fight together. They have weight in their steps, bark to their bite. They don’t need anyone else to back them up. The only one that can somewhat fight on their own is Hook, but that’s simply because of his hand. He’s worked on it over the years, giving it some use. Alistair smiles every time he sees the hand. He remembers cutting it off when Hook tried to shoot him in the back. Alistair is fully aware of the grudge hooks holds against him, but cares little about it. Hook wouldn’t dare oppose Alistair. Then again, he thought nobody would. Now it seems Hans, Jafar, and who knows how many others are rising up. In Alistair’s eyes, they’re basically lining up for Alistair to stick his sword through every single one of them.

 

Alistair ignores almost everyone he passes by. However, there is a pair that catches his attention. He looks a bit ahead and sees a duo eating ice cream. One has a short, messy, blue head of hair. He’s slimmer than the average guy, and his face is soft. Alistair doesn’t even have to look at the other one to know who that is.

 

“Little Rain is all grown up. It’s been years since I’ve seen you,” Alistair whispers to himself. “He seems very casual at the moment. Strange. With his personality I would assume he’d be a little more paranoid. Who’s he with? Is that… Matthew Colvard?” Alistair chuckles. “The son of Dexter Colvard is with an elemental? His father would not be pleased. Hm… Maybe that is someone who I should get in contact with. Dexter has always kept an eye on the Hierarchy’s affairs. He might know who Hans is conspiring with. It would make my job easier.”

 

Alistair nonchalantly walks right past Rain and Matt. They don’t interact with one another. Neither bats an eyelash. Rain doesn’t even recognize Alistair at all. Surprising, as Rain has indeed seen him. But it doesn’t really bother Alistair at all. It makes things less complicated this way.

 

Alistair keeps his pace as he comes closer to his destination. He passes by a music store which is being abnormally loud. Alistair shakes his head and continues on. After little time, he makes it to Dysa co. Alistair passes the main entrance and cuts into an alley beside the main building. Alistair walks towards the back of the building, then takes a left when he reaches the corner.

 

The first thing he sees is a dead body. He raises his brow and crosses his arms.

“I can only assume this is Hans’ work. Well, might as well inspect the corpse.”

 

Alistair walks up to the dead body and kneels down beside it. He examines the body carefully. The man was in custom body armour unique to Dysa co, but one wouldn’t be able to tell in the current state. There is a large whole in the middle of his chest. Alistair lightly rests his hand on the hole.

 

“Hans used a fireball. Body is warmer than it should be. Blood is dried up around the wound too. If he didn’t die from the pain, he probably would have lived. No way he would’ve bled out. But I suppose something happened in the heat of the moment.”

 

Alistair chuckles to himself, then shakes his head. He flips the body over and sees a small pool of blood, which the corpse was covering.

“Blood? A fireball wouldn’t have caused him to bleed.”

He looks closer. He sees a small hole in the back of his armour.

“A bullet hole?”

Alistair lowers his head closer to the hole.

“He was shot in the back, no doubt. There wouldn’t be a mark like this otherwise. But why would Hans shoot him in the back, then hit his chest with fire? It doesn’t make sense. Use one or the other.”

 

Alistair turns his attention to his surroundings.

“Maybe the bullet is around here. It could be useful to have. Nobody can have a gun in Corona without some sort of license. That bullet can get me a lead”

 

Alistair scans the area. He steps over the body and stands right over it. He looks down at the body to try and get a good idea of where the bullet could have gone.

 

“If he was shot in the back…”

Alistair turns his body around and his arms in a ninety degree angle, with his fingers straight.

“He would have had to be facing away from the door. So… Hans opened the door and fired? It makes the most sense. So…”

 

Alistair turns to the door and walks to it. He turns away from the door and looks at the dead body. Alistair feigns being shot in the back and stumbles away from the door.

“He was shot. The shock made him move away. He would turn around and pull out his gun…”

Alistair mirrors his words with his body.

“But he was hit with a fireball, which flew his body back and into the position he’s in. Which means the gun should be over there.”

 

Alistair points down the alley. He can see the shine of a pistol. Alistair smiles.

“But that means the bullet… should be somewhere around here. The wall is pretty close, so it may have bounced off. No… the body armour would have slowed it down.”

 

Alistair approaches the wall parallel to the door. He surveys the wall.

“No dents… Bullet must be on the floor around here.”

Alistair squints his eyes and kneels down. He looks all around the ground until he notices something small. He walks over to it and kneels down right over it. He picks up a small, misshapen bullet and smiles.

“Gotcha.”

 

Alistair stands up, keeping his eye on the bullet. He tosses it in the air then catches it. He activates his holowatch and places it inside.

“Well, I’ll have that looked into. Now to the building itself.”

 

Alistair enters the building through the back door. He discreetly brushes off his suit as he walks in. The way Alistair takes is a tunnel that branches off in a few places. Most of the alternate paths are just elevators to different workplaces where Dysa co. produces their products, public ones or otherwise. Dysa co. is a biotech corporation, which means they deal mostly in things revolving around flesh and machine. It’s ironic to Alistair that Hook leads this division of the Hierarchy. Hook has an obsession with making himself better using technology. His hand in particular.

 

However, his research has been invaluable, no doubt about that. His research has really kept Alistair’s project going. Of course Alistair could have done all the work on his own, but it would have impeded other projects of his. Also, Hook was the one who “gave” Alistair the plans for Power Man – Alistair’s pet project. As much as Alistair despises Hook, he has been useful. He’s like Hans, except slightly more tolerable.

 

Alistair finds the right elevator and hits the button. The elevator appears, and he enters it. It brings him to an upper floor, and he exits the elevator. He walks into a more cubicle-looking area. One man looks over at him and runs towards him.

 

“Monarch? How can I help you, sir?” He meekly says.

“Why are you approaching me?” Alistair bluntly asks.

The man recoils a little bit.

“Well, um, sir, Duke Hook left me in charge. As you are a VIP I just assumed I should-“

 

“Alright, I get it. If you want to be useful then tell me about Hans. Where did he come into the building, where did he go, and what did he do?”

“Well… Sir Hans didn’t really do anything. He came in, requested some equipment, then left,” the man answers.

Alistair raises his brow.

“I heard there was some sort of explosion, or break in.”

 

The man shakes his head.

“No sir. Well, we did have a slight malfunction with our technology that caused an explosion, but other than that-“

“Was it while Hans was here?” Alistair snaps.

“Yes… sir.”

 

Alistair crosses his arms.

 

He wanted me to come here… He didn’t really do any damage or steal anything. But why would he want me here? Damn, I was played like a fool. It won’t happen again.

 

Alistair turns towards the man.

“Bring me to where the system malfunction happened. I’d like to see what and where it was.”

“Yes, sir.”

 

The man leads Alistair back into the elevator and down to the basement. Once on the proper floor, the two leave the elevator and walk into the room. It’s a large room with grey, steel walls that don’t leave much room for the imagination. It’s only decorated with computers, three desks, and some broken technology.

 

Alistair walks towards the source of the explosion.

“What were they doing here?” Alistair asks aloud.

The man doesn’t recognize that Alistair is talking to him. Alistair turns back to the man.

“Hey! What were they researching here?” He shouts.

 

The man shakes with fear at Alistair’s assertive voice.

“It was musical technology, sir!”

“Musical technology?”

“Yes, sir. With the CMFs coming up, we have to show our advancements for musical technology. We’ve been working on some instruments that will play themselves, gloves that will enhance your speed for guitar, drums, and more.”

 

Basically useless... Hans wouldn’t lose anything valuable for blowing this shit up.

 

“And Hans was here, no?” Alistair asks, walking out of the room.

The man scurries to Alistair’s side.

“Y-yes, he was. But he didn’t really do anything here.”

The two leave the room and enter the same tunnels that Alistair was in when he first arrived here.

 

Alistair walks out of the tunnel, and right back to the alley where he started. The man sits beside him. He sees the dead body and rushes towards it.

“Oh no! Did… who did this?” He yells.

“Hans. He tried to fight back with his weapon but… it was useless,” Alistair explains.

“Weapon..? Tony never used a weapon. Never used a gun,” he whimpers.

“How would you know?”

“He’s… my brother. He was supposed to be on break, stupid idiot always needed a smoke. Now look at him.”

 

Alistair thinks to what the man said.

“You said… Tony… never used a weapon. He never used a gun?”

“No. He just had a baton and pepper spray.”

“Which means…”

 

Alistair walks towards the location of the gun he saw earlier. He finds it and kneels down over it.

 

“If the guard never used a gun, then that must mean Hans left it behind. But… why? That’s an idiot decision.”

“It is. You’re right.”

 

Alistair looks up and sees Hans. He has a giant grin on his face. Alistair is about to react but something explodes behind him. Alistair is hit by the shockwave, flinging him into a nearby wall. Alistair hits it hard and falls on his back. He doesn’t lay on his stomach, however. He instantly gets up and faces Hans, who hasn’t moved. Alistair cautiously approaches Hans. He doesn’t move whilst Alistair approaches him.

 

Alistair drops his guard and pokes Hans. His finger goes right through him.

“A hologram to distract me. Fantastic. But why?”

 

Alistair slowly turns around and looks at the explosion. There is a large black spot right where the dead body was. Both the man leading Alistair around and the dead man are completely gone, however there are no sign of them even being there. No blood splattered anywhere, no body parts around. Nothing. There is fire spreading around the alley. He looks up to see the smoke is already pretty high in the air. No doubt someone will call the fire department. Alistair needs to leave. Alistair throws his hand forward, sending water flying out of his hand. The water flows onto the fire, putting it to bed.

 

Alistair looks to his suit jacket, which is torn up from the blast. You wipes his pants and sighs.

“I liked this suit. I like the black and white. Now I have to change…”

Alistair clicks his holowatch and selects a new suit. It’s relatively the same except Alistair is wearing a black dress shirt instead of a white one. He runs his fingers through his blond hair, making sure it’s still slicked back.

 

“How fun to see the powerful Monarch become nothing more than a foot solider. “

Alistair turns around and sees the hologram of Hans. He’s leaning back on one leg and has a grin on his face.

 

Alistair clenches his fist. He feels like a rat in a maze while Hans is watching over him, laughing. Alistair is usually the one watching people scurry around, and he’s not too fond of the role reversal.

 

“Hans… what is it you’re hoping to accomplish?”

“Nothing much, really… maybe just to see you and everyone you care about either kneeling or dead before me,” Hans snarls.

Alistair’s eyes widen for a quick second, then he clenches his fist even tighter. He clenches so tight some blood starts to drip out of his hand. Hans doesn’t notice this, however.

 

“But I’m not here to taunt you. I’m here to give you a choice. Right now I’m transmitting my coordinates to you.”

Alistair’s holowatch beeps three times. He ignores it.

“You’ll see that I’m at least a full day away. I will wait for one day before leaving,” Hans states.

“So what’s the catch?” Alistair questions, crossing his arms.

Hans smirks.

“Tomorrow is the CMFs, as you know. Take a guess who’s taking part in it.”

 

“If I’m supposed to know them, I’m assuming it’s (Y/N),” Alistair blankly guesses.

“Well, that’s a smart guess. Anyhow, I think I’m going to send a few men to take him out. You and I both know (Y/N) wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. He’ll die, of course. Can you let him die? We’ll see.”

 

Hans ends the message with a smile. The hologram disappears from sight. Alistair stares off into the distance for a moment. He leaves the alley then starts wandering around aimlessly. His mind is debating on what to do.

 

I can end Hans, right now. I can get there and kill him; he knows it. But… damnit… I can’t stand the thought of him using (Y/N) against me. I want him dead too, eventually, but I want to do it myself. This could kill two birds with one stone but… I’m not going to let the Westergaards win like this. Not again. He’s not touching my family.

 

 

 


	35. A Performance That Could Kill

Chapter 35: A Performance That Could Kill

 

You slide your fingers down the metal strings of the guitar. The calluses that have formed on your fingers hold strong, even though your fingers have become red. You’ve been playing guitar, bass, drums, trumpet, piano, and other instruments for hours now. Your body is overall tired. Your voice is among them, as you’ve been singing for as long as you’ve been playing. It’s been tough, but worth it.

 

You finish off the song and end with one strong downward strum. You’re breathing heavy, and staring at the ground. Some sweat scurries down your face and droops off your nose. You see it, but don’t react. It clings onto your nose for as long as it can before giving out and falling on the stage. You smile at the fact that you just finished it all. You finally completed all these songs with so much hard work.

 

You stand up straight and look around the stage. It’s filled with small water marks around the separate playing areas; mostly around the drum set, however. That one killed you, but probably one of the most fun for you. You take a step near a guitar stand and rest the guitar on it. You check your holowatch and hit one of the buttons. The holowatch beeps and scans the room. It beeps one more time, signaling that it’s done. You smile.

 

“So, I’m done. Nobody will have the same type of concert as I will.”

 

You hop off the stage and walk over the desk where the cash register is. You grab your shirt and pat your body in attempt to get rid of the sweat. You do this until you’re satisfied, then put on the shirt. It’s damp, but not to a degree that discomforts you. You walk back to the stage and sit on the side of it. Your feet dangle just above the floor. You think of what you’ve played and saved. Even though you only need three songs, you ended up practicing about ten different songs. You don’t know when you’ll need them, but it’ll be a neat party trick some time.

 

As you blankly stare out the window of the store something comes into your mind; Rain advised you call Elsa and let her know about the concert. It’s a good idea, and you do want to talk to Elsa again. You click your holowatch and select your phone. You pull it out of the watch and it materialized in your hand. You unlock it and search through your contacts. It’s easy to find Elsa for two reasons: it’s in alphabetical order and “E” is pretty early, and you don’t have that many contacts to begin with.

 

You select her contact and call it. You hold the phone up to your ear and wait.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Kristoff!” Anna yells, slightly coughing. “Why would you leave it in for so long?”

“It’s not MY fault the timer didn’t go off!” He cries out.

“It did go off, you were just too busy!”

“Well you helped with that! I didn’t see you telling me to go away,” Kristoff smugly states.

“It’s hard to say no to you sometimes,” Anna admits, her voice not as loud.

 

Elsa shoots a light amount of snow into the oven, cooling it down. More steam and smoke burst out, making Elsa cough. She grabs a towel and waves it randomly in the air. The smoke clears up a bit, allowing Elsa to see again. She looks over to see Kristoff and Anna flirting in the living room. Elsa sighs and turns her head to the food in the oven. It was some lasagna, but now it’s just pure black. How both Anna and Kristoff didn’t notice is beyond Elsa.

 

“Are you two even paying attention?” Elsa questions.

Anna and Kristoff break off and look over at Elsa.

“Yeah, of course. We’re paying attention,” Anna nods.

“What did I just say then?” Elsa asks.

“You were saying how we should pay attention more,” Anna confidently states.

Kristoff raises his brow at Anna’s statement.

 

Elsa shakes her head.

“I haven’t said anything, Anna!”

Anna’s cocky face drops.

“You… didn’t?”

Elsa shakes her head once again.

“Sheesh, can you two ever not be all over each other?”

 

Anna bursts out laughing for a second then throws her hand over her mouth. Elsa moves her hand on her hips and squints her eyes.

“What was that?”

“Nothing,” Anna states, her voice muffled by her hand.

Elsa’s face turns somewhat sour.

“What are you trying to say Anna?”

 

“Nothing. That’s why I have my hand over my mouth,” she retorts.

Kristoff snickers but quickly regains his composure. Elsa darts her eyes between the two but is distracted when her phone starts to ring. Elsa grabs it out of her pocket and looks at it. Happiness takes over as she sees a picture of you on her screen. She accepts the call and puts it to her ear.

 

“Hello?”

“Elsa? That really you?” You ask.

“Yeah, it’s me,” she softly replies.

 

Anna lets her hand fall off her mouth. She wiggles in beside Elsa.

“Who’s that?”

Elsa raises her free hand to shush Anna.

“It feels like forever since I heard you. Your voice is as angelic as always.”

Elsa lets out a blush.

“Flatterer.”

“I would spice it up a little more if I was trying to flirt. Besides, you’re my fiancée. There’s little reason to flirt anymore. Well, other than those role play-“

“Alright, alright, I get it,” Elsa giggles.

 

Anna stays close to Elsa, prodding her a few times.

“Elsa, who is it?”

Elsa moves the phone away from her ear and covers it.

“It’s (Y/N).”

 

Elsa rests the phone against her ear once more.

“So how’s Corona? Is Rapunzel treating you well?”

“Yeah, I’d say so. They took me all around town the other day, so that was fun. I met her parents too. They’re really nice as well. I’ve met a few old friends here too. Matt and Rain are here.”

Elsa chuckles. “And how has that been?”

 

You sigh, but lightly chuckle.

“Matt is… well he’s Matt. He basically takes over every room he’s in, and he never fails to make me smile.”

“Oh is that right?” Elsa jokes.

“Ha. Ha. Not like that.”

 

Elsa wraps her arm around herself and starts slowly wandering around the house. Kristoff and Anna back off of her and wait for the conversation to end.

 

“I know, I know.”

There is a moment of silence between you two. It’s not an awkward one or one that appears when neither person has anything to say. This silence is one of appreciation. You haven’t talked to Elsa in a while, and don’t have the chance to see her at all. Just knowing that she’s on the other end of the line is perfect for you. Same thing goes for Elsa.

 

You decide to break the silence.

“Gaia is here too.”

“Gaia? The women who tried to kill us?” Elsa clarifies.

 

Anna and Kristoff’s ears pick this up. They look at each other.

 

“She’s not harmful at all. She’s actually going to help us,” you inform.

Elsa pauses. Her eyes dart around the floor.

“I don’t like that, (Y/N).”

“I know… but Hunter says she’s trustworthy. It’ll be on him if anything does happen.”

“If you say so… on the subject, how is your adventure going?” Elsa says, trying to change the subject.

 

“Meh, it’s alright. We haven’t really gotten anywhere, but I’m hoping that’ll change tomorrow.”

“Why is that?”

“Well, it’s part of the reason I wanted to call you. I have to perform in the Corona Music Festival tomorrow.”

Elsa giggles.

“You can never stay away from playing music, can you?”

You chuckle.

“No, that I can’t. But I heard it’s televised, so maybe you, Kristoff, Anna, and Olaf could watch me play?”

 

Elsa smiles at the idea.

“Of course. I’ll be looking out for it tomorrow. You sound tired,” Elsa points out.

“Oh, yeah,” you laugh. “I’ve been practicing and recording all day. Without Kristoff, or anyone else for that matter, I’ve had to play all parts of the songs I choose. All layers of guitars, bass, drums, oh god the drums. I have to commend Kristoff for his work.”

 

“Well, maybe you’ll show him up tomorrow. I’ll let you know his reaction when he sees you. So… how are you going to play it all? Just a backing track?” Elsa inquires.

“In a way. You’re going to have to see. It’s going to be great,” you say, your voice filled with excitement.

Elsa can’t help but smile at your enthusiasm.

“I’m sure it will be.”

 

“Well… I have to get back to Rapunzel’s place. It’s getting dark.”

“Scared of the dark?” Elsa teases.

“No, not really. But I already have been attacked,” you nonchalantly state.

“What!?” Elsa yelps.

“Oh, nothing. I’ll see you later Elsa. Love you!”

“(Y/N) you better not-“

 

Elsa hears the phone disconnect. She pulls it away and sighs.

“I love you too.”

 

Anna and Kristoff get into a position somewhat near Elsa. Elsa looks up at them and smiles.

“Is everything alright?” Kristoff asks.

Elsa nods.

“He’s fine. I hope you two are free tomorrow.”

Kristoff shrugs.

“I don’t have to work tomorrow. Why should we be free?”

 

“Because (Y/N) is playing in a music festival tomorrow. I’m going to watch it, and he wants you guys to see it too. He also wants… hm…” Elsa’s mind wanders for a moment.

“What is it, Elsa?” Anna questions.

Elsa crosses her arms and looks around the house.

“Have you guys seen Olaf recently? I haven’t really seen him at all lately.”

 

“I heard his school had some sort of flu epidemic or something and has a week or so off. Maybe he’s just spending that week there?” Kristoff mentions.

Anna raises her brow and turns her upper body towards him in a sassy manner.

“And how would you know this?”

“One of the guys I work with brought it up. He has a son that goes to the same school. His kid has been home all of this week.”

 

Elsa sighs.

“Olaf’s independence is such a double edged sword. I like it, but I barely know where he is all the time. It’s unnerving to me.”

“I kinda have the same feeling. It’s just cause he’s our little brother.”

“I’m sure he’s fine. We’ll call some of his friend’s houses. For now, how about we all get some rest for tomorrow? It is late.”

 

Anna bursts out laughing.

“It’s not late, silly.”

“Well it’s late for me. Work is tiring, so I’m going to head to bed.”

Kristoff turns and heads upstairs. Both Anderson sisters watch as he goes into his room. Anna turns to her sister and lightly shrugs with one shoulder.

“I’m going to join him, I suppose. Don’t stay up too late, Elsa.”

 

“Didn’t I always say that to you?” Elsa questions.

“Not listening!” Anna shouts as she runs up the stairs.

 

Elsa sighs and takes a seat on the couch. Her mind races with thoughts of you, and whether or not her future husband is going to be okay. She looks down and notices the snowflake ring that’s resting on her finger. Another thing that come into her mind is something Juno said. She went more in depth about how she and her husband have stayed together for so long even with her husband always on the move.

 

Elsa moves from sitting up straight to lying down on the couch. She extends her arm and grabs the TV remote. She turns on the TV and switches to a movie channel. She puts the remote down and relaxes.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You hang up the phone and chuckle.

“Elsa would probably kill me if she found out I was shot at. I always find that weird. Why do people always threaten to hurt me if I get hurt? That’s kind of counterproductive.”

 

You shrug and toss your phone back into the holowatch. You look around and move your hands on your hips. You think of anything that you could do to make the show any better. There really isn’t, however. You’ve done a lot, and the show will be amazing. It’s going to end with a bang, that’s for sure. You are the last person to play, so you have to be sure to wow everyone.

 

You hear a little bell ring. You look over to the door and see the shop owner walking in. He looks so innocent in his little sweater vest over a white sweater. He walks in and looks at you.

“You’ve been playing hard, haven’t you?”

“How do you know?”

“I was a musician once too. I know the sweat one gets with playing instruments. Besides,” he continues, looking past you at the stage. “I see you’ve played a lot of instruments. Good on you though.”

 

You smile and rub the back of your head.

“Thanks. I try.”

The shop owner chuckles.

“So, how is the playing going?”

“I’m actually done. You can use your shop again.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that lad. There’s only about an hour until the store would close. There’s no point,” he says.

 

You shrug.

“I suppose. Well, I should get going. It’s getting dark.”

“Alright. I’ll be watching at the festival tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to seeing you there.”

“Well, thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow then!”

 

You wave at the shop manager as you walk out of the store. You exit the store and step onto the sidewalk. You’re about to take a step towards Rapunzel’s house but you stop dead in your tracks.

“I have no idea how to get back to her house… god…damnit…”

 

You try to think of how to get back, but your mind was drawing a blank. However, you need to go somewhere.

 

“Well… Gaia’s place is close by. I know how to get there… I hope she doesn’t mind me dropping by.”

 

You put your arms in your pocket and start walking. Corona is almost eerie at this time. Darkness took over a lot faster that you thought it would. Corona and Arendelle aren’t that far away, but it’s obvious that they’re far enough away for it to get darker faster. The street lights have turned on, giving only certain sections of the street some actual light. There’s also a surprising lack of people around. It’s like some sort of horror movie. It sends a small chill down your spine.

 

You keep to yourself as you walk through the streets. It may affect you more because you still aren’t used to Corona. Arendelle is basically your city. You know that place inside out, and it’s unlikely that anything would make you jump, or make you uneasy. Corona is different. It’s new. This is a place unfamiliar to you, and that isn’t the best feeling to have.

 

After a truly unnerving walk you reach Tiger Plaza. You walk through the deserted area and reach Gaia’s shop. You see that there are lights still on upstairs.

“Gaia must still be awake,” you say to yourself.

 

You rest your hand on the shop entrance and push. Surprisingly, it’s open. You shrug it off and walk into the store. You quietly close the door behind you and start to head towards the back.

“Gaia really needs to lock the doors. What is she even doing?” You ponder.

 

You go through the next door and start walking up the stairs. You get into Gaia’s living area. You see Hunter walking around without his shirt. You raise your brow.

“Huuuuuunter?”

Hunter looks over at you and smiles.

“(Y/N)! What’re you doing here?” He asks in a very friendly manner.

 

A little embarrassed at the real reason you’re here, you decide not to elaborate.

“I…was in the neighborhood. Now, what’re you doing here? And without a shirt!?”

Hunter looks down at himself. Before he can answer Gaia walks in. She doesn’t have a shirt on either. You turn away and put a hand up to block Gaia from your peripheral vision. Gaia looks over at you. She notices your gesture and is confused for a second. She realizes what you’re doing and snickers.

 

“You don’t have to do that (Y/N). I have my bra on.”

“Why do neither of you have a shirt?” You overdramatically shout.

“Oh, that was my fault. I ended up knocking my drink on Hunter’s shirt, so I threw it in the dryer,” Gaia elaborates.

“And I told her she couldn’t wear a shirt, just to make it fair,” Hunter finishes.

 

You slowly lower your hand and look at them.

“So you two… didn’t… you know…” You mumble, beating around the bush.

Hunter laughs. “We did that too.”

Gaia smacks Hunter’s chest, leaving a red mark.

“Shut up, we did not. Only in your dreams,” she laughs.

“Well we always try to make our dreams a reality, no?” He proposes.

 

Your eyes dart back and forth between the two.

“So… did you or not?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

Gaia and Hunter respond at the same time. They look at each other and squint their eyes.

“Liar,” they both say.

 

You raise your hands and shake your head.

“You know what, I don’t care anymore. Gaia, can I crash on your couch?”

Gaia shrugs.

“If you want to, I suppose it’s alright. Not to sound rude, but why not go back to Rapunzel’s house? She probably has a much comfier furniture than I do.”

You walk towards the couch as Gaia asks this. You stop and turn around. You rub the back of your head and lightly chuckle.

 

“Can’t you run faster than most people can see? You should be able to get back there in no time,” Hunter comments, walking towards the kitchen.

“Meh, only in short bursts. Besides, I already said I have no idea how to get back to their place.”

“You really don’t pay attention sometimes, do you?” Hunter chuckles.

You make a mocking face and fake laugh.

“Ha ha, shut up.”

 

Gaia sighs and shakes her head.

“You two are some of the most immature people I have ever met.”

“Hey! He’s the one that’s immature!” You both shout, pointing towards one another.

“Exactly my point,” Gaia says, disappointed.

 

You and Hunter stare at each other for a moment before bursting out into laughter. You both continue to laugh even when you turn away and continue doing what you were doing. You take off your shoes and lie on Gaia’s couch. It’s pretty comfy. Not as comfy as the couches at Rapunzel’s house, but these have their own appeal to them.

 

You cross your arms and close your eyes, getting ready for sleep to overtake you. Gaia quietly walks over to you and kneels down to your height. You open one eye to acknowledge her.

“I can take you back to Rapunzel’s house if you want.”

“You have a car?”

Gaia lightly moves her head from side to side.

“Not exactly, but I can still get you there quickly.”

 

You sigh and hop off the couch.

“Alright. Wouldn’t want to intrude on you two.”

Gaia blushes.

“Nothing was happening!” She softly shouts.

You shrug and start walking away.

“Alright, I believe you.”

 

Before Gaia stands up she notices your shoes on the ground. She picks them up and starts following you. Hunter comes out of the kitchen area and sees both you and Gaia leaving the building.

 

“Where’re you two going?”

“I’m taking (Y/N) home. Don’t wait up for me,” Gaia responds, waving.

Hunter pouts and lets his shoulders slouch.

“My girlfriend is taking my little brother home… if he was drunk this would actually be a somewhat normal situation. A situation that Gaia would actually like… a normal one.”

 

Hunter’s thoughts trail off and so does his gaze. He stares at the ground for a moment before shaking his head.

“No. There are more important things to do right now.”

 

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Gaia leads you out of her building and to a small patch of land. It’s all grass with one grand tree in the middle. There are some purple and yellow flowers that decorate specific areas around the square of land. Gaia kneels down by the tree and places her hand on the ground.

“Come close to me, and place your hand on my shoulder.”

 

Without hesitation you move beside her and plant your arm on her shoulder. In less than a second you two are engulfed by a plant. You take your hand off Gaia’s shoulder and get ready for a fight. Gaia stands up and turns towards you.

 

“Nothing to worry about. We’re just traveling under the ground. It won’t take long before we’re at our destination.”

“We’re moving? It doesn’t feel like it.”

“No, it doesn’t. But it’s my means of transportation, and it’ll get you around faster than any car,” Gaia claims.

 

You look at your surroundings. It’s a very enclosed space with not much room for both yourself and Gaia. You place your hands on your hips and admire it.

 

“(Y/N), can I ask something of you?”

You look over to Gaia, who seems to have a sad face.

“Sure, what is it?”

 

Gaia stays silent for a moment. This situation is a little confusing for you. What would Gaia want with you?

 

“I… need you to look after Hunter for me.”

“I think he can look after himself, but sure. I can do that,” you reply.

“That’s not what I mean. You… have to keep him grounded for me.”

“Grounded? What do you mean, Gaia?”

“He’s obsessed (Y/N), and it’s going to get him killed.”

“Obsessed? Obsessed with what?” You ask.

 

Gaia pauses one again.

 

“He’s… obsessed with your father. Obsessed about stopping him. He’s so driven by his need to fight his father that it’s starting to really change him. It’s worse than Tempest and Pyro had to fight the Duke and Duchess. He’s swallowed so much by that need to stop him that it seems like he doesn’t really care about me as much as he does about that. I can’t be with him if all he’s going to do is put himself in harm’s way, and I don’t think he’ll be a real brother to you if he’s on this quest.”

 

“But… don’t you understand why he does it?”

“I understand, but at the same time it’s taken over his life. As much as I love him, we’ll never be together so long as he is like this,” Gaia says, her eyes beginning to tear up. “I’ve tried to talk him about it but he just brushes it off as a joke. You’re his brother, so maybe you’ll be able to talk some sense into him or something. Anything.”

 

Where is this coming from? I wasn’t picking up a hint of this earlier. Does that mean Gaia cares more about Hunter than I thought? What about Hunter? Maybe this is something worth looking into.

 

Even though Gaia’s talking about Hunter, it’s almost like she’s talking about you. Rapunzel mentioned that Elsa thought the same thing. It’s weird. You never saw it that way. You felt like this was something that needed to be done. That you served more than just yourself, but the billions of people on this planet. But… is it worth losing the one person you care about the most? Is that what Hunter feels? Is it his belief that the greater good comes before your family and loved ones? What does that mean for you? You and Elsa are in a different situation than Hunter and Gaia but the question still stands; could this make you lose her?

 

You shake your head to rid yourself of those thoughts. You walk up to Gaia and place your hand on her shoulder.

“I’m sure Hunter will be fine, but I’ll talk to him for you.”

Gaia smiles.

“Thank you (Y/N).”

 

I don’t know if what she’s saying is completely true… but I might as well talk to Hunter. If he cares, he’ll have something to say about it.

 

Not one minute later you hear something burst above you. The flora around you releases its grip, and lets you see the world around you. You see Rapunzel’s house a small bit ahead. You look back at Gaia, who is nonchalantly staring at you. She uses her eyes to tell you to get going.

 

“You aren’t going to say anything?”

Gaia shrugs and raises her hand once more.

“I’ll see you later (Y/N). Stay safe.”

 

Another plant engulfs Gaia then disappears. You walk over to the spot she was standing and examine the spot where the plant appeared. You actually can’t find the exact spot where she left. The ground is untouched and undisturbed. It makes sense, as she is the one who controls earth. Rain was able to hide under a pond and make it look completely normal. You kneel down and rest your hand on the ground. You pat the ground in a few different spots to see if there is any difference at all. The only difference you can gather is that a few parts feel fresher than others.

 

“(Y/N)? What are you doing out here?” A woman shouts.

You quickly stand up, spin around, and face the woman who called out to you.

“Oh, Rapunzel. Hey!” You shout as you begin to walk towards the house.

Rapunzel is in some yellow pajamas and is leaning against her from door. She doesn’t look too tired yet, so she might have just been getting ready to sleep. However she looks very much awake. In fact she looks amused. She has a smirk on her face and one eye brow raised.

 

You make it to her door and stop in front of her. Her eyes stray from your eyes down to your feet, then back.

“Where were you? Your clothes look damp.”

You look down at your attire. Once you realize you really are that damp you look up at Rapunzel, close your eyes, and rub the back of your head.

 

“You’re doing that a lot more recently. It makes you look like a jackass,” Shadow comments.

 

“Shut up!” You quietly snarl.

“Oh… sorry. I didn’t know that offended you. I was just pointing it out,” Rapunzel states.

“What? Oh no, no, no, not you! I didn’t tell you to shut up. Sorry, I guess I was just out of it,” you say, rubbing the back of your head.

Rapunzel giggles and points at you.

“You do that a lot.”

You realize what she’s talking about and stop instantly. You put both hands behind your back and throw on a goofy smile.

 

Rapunzel stares at you suspiciously then starts laughing. She turns around and walks in the house.

“What? Why’re you laughing?” You question, following her.

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” she chuckles, waving her hand close to her face. “It’s just that Elsa describes you perfectly.”

You raise your brow whilst still following her.

“You’ve heard of me a long time ago…”

“And yet she’s still right, even after all this time.”

 

You cross your arms and pout like a child. Rapunzel looks back at you and laughs once more.

“Yep, got that right too.”

“You know what!”

“What?” Rapunzel jokingly challenges, turning back at you.

 

You both stare into each other’s eyes for a second. There is a friendly tension that echoes between you two. Your eyes stay locked, though slightly fidgeting around.

“Shuuut uuup,” you childishly say, turning away and leaving.

 

Rapunzel holds in her laughter and watches you march upstairs. She shrugs and goes back to the TV. You, on the other hand, go to your room. You don’t take any time to find Eugene or Rapunzel’s parents. You just head straight to bed. You open the door to your room and close it behind you. You click the holowatch and cycle through your different outfits. There is one that’s just boxers. You click it and watch your clothes dissolve off your body, leaving you in only a white and blue stripped pair of boxers.

 

You hop in the ever so embracing and warm bed. You wrap the blanket around yourself and close your eyes. No distractions. No reason to stall. You just fall asleep and await the concert tomorrow.

 

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Three Hours Later

 

Gaia slowly starts to toss and turn around her bed. She’s whimpering and at the brink of tears, yet even she doesn’t know it. Her nightmares are taking over once more, and she’s just a victim again. She has no control over herself, or the dreams she’s placed into. It’s her own little hell that she visits almost every night. The nightmares have been present ever since she was young. She never understood why until recently. When she was younger it was just pure hell. It was basically flashbacks of the torture she was put through. All the elementals had it, to Gaia’s knowledge, anyway. Elsa is out of her knowledge, so she has no idea whether or not she experienced any sort of nightmares. Pyro, Tempest, and Rain all experienced them. Rain still has them as well.

 

Like always, Gaia is woken up by her nightmares. Her eyes shoot open, and her body wakes up. She sits up and arcs her hands on her knees. She’s breathing heavily, and there’s sweat all over her. Gaia stares at her bedsheets as her composure comes back. She looks over to Hunter for support, but he isn’t there. Gaia looks around, but there’s nothing. It’s like he wasn’t even there.

 

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1 Hour Later

 

Hook and Gothel sit across from each other. Gothel has her arm resting on the table, and has her head resting on her hand. Hook is leaning back in his chair, lightly feeling his synthetic hand.

“To think that Jafar is dead…” Gothel mumbles.

“It shows Monarch’s ruthlessness. I believe it’s supposed to be a sign to the other ones who’ve betrayed him or those who’re thinking of betraying him.”

 

“What a topic for you two to be discussing,” someone comments.

Gothel and Hook immediately turn their full attention towards the sound of the voice. The same man as before stands prominently at the door. He walks into the room and begins pacing around the room. Hook and Gothel keep their eyes on him.

“I wouldn’t worry about pairing with Hans anymore. He’s gotten what he wants from both of you. You’re useless to him now.”

 

“What?” Hook snarls.

“The Dragon’s Tear from you,” he says, pointing at Gothel. “And the suits from you,” he finishes, pointing at Hook. He crosses his arms and closes his eyes. “Frankly he’s played you both for fools. Now you must stick with Alistair. He’s bound to win anyway.”

Gothel raises her brow.

“Why do you say that?”

 

The man snickers.

“Call it a hunch. If I were Alistair, there’s one thing I know I would do. If he’s smart, and sees the entire field, he’ll do what I predict.”

“And then we’ll lay a trap for him,” Hook assumes, smiling deviously.

“No,” the man instantly denies. “There’s already a plan for that. Right now we focus on Hans. All I ask is to keep your eyes and ears open. If my intel is right, there’s going to be some interesting developments coming soon.”

 

The man interlocks his fingers together and starts walking towards the door. Hook clenches his fist and is about to say something.

“I refuse to be a pawn,” he whispers under his breath.”

 

“A pawn?” The man asks.

Hook very slightly turns his head to the right. He sees the man right beside him. The man’s face stays blank.

“You’re not a pawn. You can fight back whenever you wish. This is like working for Alistair, or the bastard before him. Just know it’s for me. If you want I can back off and let you do whatever it is you want. However, when I defeat Alistair and take over I will remember that you didn’t stay loyal to me.”

 

Hook bites his tongue and looks away. His eye brows are the most obvious sign that he’s displeased with the result. Gothel sighs.

“Very well. We’ll keep our eyes and ears open. How should we contact you if we find something?”

 

The man looks at Gothel with a smirk.

“I’ll come find you.”

 

The man makes his exit from the room. Hook is clenching is synthetic as tight as he can. He’s just about to crush his own hand. Gothel sees this and walks across the room to Hook’s side. She places her hand on his shoulder. Hook begins to shrug her off but then relaxes. He slams his fist on the table.

 

“Twenty years Gothel! Twenty years we’ve been here and for what!?” He shouts. “We had a stable control over everything when Westergaard was Monarch, but then he had to go fuck it up! Now we have this new one who’s only focus is his secret project! Now we have this bastard trying to take over! Will it ever end!?”

 

Gothel stays silent in order for Hook to calm down.

 

“And what’s worse is who that is… he’s basically another Alistair,” Hook finishes.

 

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The Next Day

 

“Come on, come on, get up!” A voice shouts.

You feel yourself being shaken. You grab the nearby pillow and throw it at the source of the voice.

“Ha! You missed me!”

You lift your head up and looked at the person. Eugene is standing across the room, standing sideways. He looks like he’s showing off how he dodged the pillow. He stares at you with such a glow to his face that it rivals the sun.

 

You flop back down into the bed and groan.

“(Y/N) if you don’t get up I’ll go get Rapunzel. You do NOT want her to try and wake you up, believe you me.”

You push your upper body up once more.

“Believe you me?” You repeat in a questioning tone.

Eugene shrugs. “It’s a saying. Look it up. On that note,” he starts, rushing towards you. “GET UP!”

 

He begins shaking you even more.

“Alright, alright,” you quietly say.

Eugene doesn’t hear you, and continues to shake you.

“Alright!” You shout. “I’m getting up!”

 

Eugene backs off to let you get up. You push off your bed and flip onto your back. You rub your eyes to try and wake yourself up. You’re extremely tired for some reason. It doesn’t make sense why you would be. You went to sleep at a decent time last night. Perhaps you overslept? No matter what it may be, it won’t keep you down. You shimmy over to the side of the bed and turn yourself. Your legs dangle off the bed whilst your upper body rests on the mattress. Before you can move someone barges into the room. You look and see Rapunzel. She’s dressed and ready to go. She looks over at you and pouts.

 

“Why are you still in bed? Come on!” She commands.

Rapunzel runs up to your feet and pulls you out of the bed.

“Whoa! Wait!” You yell, but it’s too late.

 

Your body slides off the bed and down to the ground. You smack the ground with your hands in order to take the initial impact. You don’t lose your breath when you hit the ground, so it was successful. Eugene bursts out laughing at your predicament. You slowly stand up and brush yourself off. You turn your attention towards Rapunzel and bear an unamused face. Rapunzel is jittery and happy.

 

“What’s with you?” You ask.

“It’s concert day! You should have been there an hour ago!” She says.

Your eyes widen.

“Oh shit! I completely forgot!” You yell.

 

Eugene shakes his head at your statement.

“Am I actually late!?”

“No, Rapunzel’s just exaggerating. You still have a few hours.”

You let out a breath and put your hand on your chest. You then look to Rapunzel.

“Why would you scare me like that?”

Rapunzel smiles.

“I just wanted to see your reaction. It was worth it.”

 

You shake your head and head for the door.

“Where’re you going?” Eugene inquires.

“Shower. We’ll head out after that.”

 

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Gaia’s body begins to awaken. She doesn’t do this because she’s had enough rest, however. She’s waking up because she smells something. She opens her eyes and quickly gets out of bed. She goes to her kitchen to see what the source of the smell is. When she arrives she sees Hunter’s back. He’s in front of the stove making eggs, by the smell of it.

 

“You’re here,” she comments.

Hunter turns around to acknowledge Gaia. After looking at her he returns to his cooking.

“Of course I am. We went to bed together.”

Gaia raises her brow.

“So you never left during the night?”

 

Hunter pauses for a split second. It’s barely noticeable.

“I think I got up to pee once. Why?”

Gaia cross her arms and looks away.

“Never mind. So are you ready to watch (Y/N) play?”

 

Hunter picks up the eggs with a utensil and places it on a plate.

“Yeah, I can’t wait. I heard him play a bit, and he sounds good. It’ll be quite the performance.”

Gaia goes to the refrigerator and grabs a carton of orange juice. She takes a glass cup from the cupboard and pours some orange juice in it. She takes a sip and looks over at Hunter. He’s moved to the kitchen table and is happily eating his eggs. Gaia stares at him while she drinks her orange juice. Once she finishes she leaves the room and heads to her room to get changed.

 

Hunter finishes his eggs pretty quickly and drinks all of his milk. He wipes his face and tosses the dishes in the sink. He stands up and cycles through his holowatch for his outfit for the day. He selects one and watches it materialize on his body. It’s a black t-shirt with jeans; simple attire. He stretches a little bit then hears someone enter the building. He waits a moment and sees Matt and Rain walk up the stairs.

 

“Hey you two. What’re you doing here?” He nicely asks.

“Oh, hey Hunter,” Rain greets. “Gaia invited us here. She said we’re all going to (Y/N) concert together.”

“And we can head out right now, if you want,” Gaia says, coming around a corner.

 

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Elsa finishes getting dressed. She stares at herself in the mirror. She’s dressed in a white blouse and blue jeans. She has her own version of a snowflake necklace wrapped around her neck which goes with the ring you bought for her. Once she’s satisfied with how she looks Elsa leaves her room and goes downstairs to the living room. Kristoff and Anna are already there, cuddled up together. Elsa sits on the loveseat diagonal from them. Anna looks over at her sister and smiles.

 

“Are you ready to watch your hunk perform on live television?” She jokes.

“My hunk?” Elsa chuckles. “I never, and will never, call him that. It might inflate his ego too much.”

“Giving him a pat on the head will inflate his ego,” Kristoff laughs.

 

Elsa shrugs and gets comfy on the couch. She’s truly excited to see what you have in store.

 

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2 Hours Later

 

You await the last band to finish up their song. In truth you do like the song they’re playing, but you’re up next. It’s been real interesting watching all the bands perform. There are some singers that far surpass you. Thankfully this isn’t about singing, so you’re not going to be eliminated right away. Your skills with instruments should really help tip the scale, as well as your presentation. The music was also pretty good. Right now the band is coming close to finishing “Carry On My Wayward Son” which is one you enjoy. There were also covers of bands like Pink Floyd, Billy Talent, Rush, Boston, Korn, and even a Linkin Park song. You knew all of them, and enjoyed most of them.

 

The band finishes up the song and takes a bow. The crowd is roaring for their excellent performance. They take their instruments and exit the stage. The singer walks up to you and offers his hand to shake. He looks like a punk rocker with a white t-shirt, ripped jeans, dark sun glasses, and gelled hair. You got into a small conversation with him while another band was playing, and he’s actually really nice.

 

You smile at him and shake his hand.

“Good luck out there (Y/N).”

“You gave me a tough performance to follow,” you chuckle.

“Not our fault. We’re just that fucking good, am I right boys?” He shouts to his band members.

“Damn right!” They cheer.

 

You laugh and take your hand back. You walk onto the stage, and the glare of the sun hits you. You cover your eyes and look at the massive crowd. The festival is taking place on the streets, and there are people filling it up. You can barely see where the crowd stops. You notice cameras all over the place, all looking at you.

 

Hunter, Gaia, Rain, and Matt are all pretty close to the stage. They’re all cheering you on quite heavily. Eugene, Rapunzel, and her parents are closer to the stage. They are also cheering you on really loud; Rapunzel in particular. The one shocking thing is that you don’t have a guitar… or drums… or any instruments with you. Everyone is slightly confused at that.

 

Hunter stares at you for a second then looks at the rooftops. He sighs then leans into Gaia’s ear.

“Gaia, I’ll be right back.”

Gaia turns to Hunter. Some of her green hair blocks her vision. Before she can say anything Hunter is already gone. She stares off into the crowd for a moment before shaking her head and focusing on you once more.

 

“Where’d Hunter go?” Rain asks.

Gaia shrugs.

“Maybe to the little boys room. Then again, I’ve heard he’s no ‘little boy’,” Matt chuckles.

Rain and Gaia look at Matt with unamused faces.

“You two just don’t get my humour,” he states, feigning that he’s insulted.

 

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“Elsa! Look at (Y/N)! He looks so overwhelmed. It’s actually pretty cute.”

Elsa giggles. “He really does look overwhelmed.”

 

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“So ladies and gentlemen,” the announcer states with a booming voice. “Right here is (Y/N) Knight. Says here he’s part of the Ice Harvesters – a band from Arendelle.”

A selection of the crowd starts cheering. Mostly girls.

“So, let’s give him a warm, Coronian welcome!”

 

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Alistair opens his eyes when he hears the name “Knight”.

“I didn’t realize he went by my last name. Hm…”

 

Alistair stands atop one of the highest buildings in Corona. He’s balancing on one of the poles that stand tall in the air. It takes skill and concentration to even get on one, let alone balance on it with all the wind. His main goal is to keep an eye out for any of Hans’ henchmen. It is possible Hans was bluffing, but Alistair doubts it.

 

He keeps his attention on anything and everything that comes on these buildings. Nothing will harm you during the concert.

 

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Hunter rushes up the stairs of one of the buildings that surrounds the stage area. During his little escapades he learned that Hans has a plan to take you out during the concert. The only way he could do that is with snipers. Anything else would draw too much attention. All Hunter has to do is reach the top and keep a look out.

 

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“So, let’s give it up for (Y/N) Knight!” The announcer shouts, pointing at you.

 

You smile and wave.

 

“Unfortunately my drummer, Kristoff, couldn’t be here. So, I decided to fill in for him. As you may have noticed,” you begin, gesturing your arms as if you are displaying the stage. “I don’t have anything with me. Well, I have a good reason why.”

 

You click the holowatch and cycle through some options. You find the one you want and smirk.

“You’re all about to be amazed.”

 

You hit the button. The holowatch’s hologram expands across the entire stage. A drum kit, amps, microphone, and everything you need appears in a hologram form. You click it once more to materialize a guitar and pick for you. The crowd coos in amazement. You smile. You walk up to the mic.

 

“First song I’m going to be playing for you is Satellite by Rise Against.”

 

As soon as you say it a hologram of yourself appears at the drum kit, and another one beside you. The hologram beside you also has a guitar, and starts strumming. The one at the drum kit begins the beat. The song starts.

 

The rhythm plays for a little before it’s your time. You play a few notes then stretch towards the mic.

 

You can’t feel the heat until you hold your hand over the flame

 

You play a few more notes then continue.

 

You have to cross the line just to remember where it lays

 

You once again play some notes. The drums start to pick up a little more.

 

You won’t know your worth now, son, until you take a hit

 

Couple more individual notes. A second hologram of you with a guitar appears on the other side of you. He begins making a distorted noise. One more hologram appears, holding a bass guitar.

 

And you won’t find the beat until you lose yourself in it.

 

The drums go loud and smash away. You kick up your distortion and strum a few times. All guitars begin playing the same cords. The crowd begins to go wild as the intensity flares.

 

That’s why we won’t back down, we won’t run and hide.

Yeah, cause these are the things that we can’t deny

I’m passing over you like a satellite

So catch me as I fall

 

You begin doing a different tune than the rhythm and back up.

 

That’s why we stick to your game plans and party lives

But at night we’re conspiring by candlelight

We are the orphans of humanities dream

So shine your light on me

 

You play a small melody before starting again. The tone goes to a slightly easier one for now. You wink to the crowd, making the closer ones cheer. This causes a ripple effect, making everyone cheer.

 

You can’t fill your cup until you empty all it has

You can’t understand what lays ahead

If you don’t understand the past

You’ll never learn to fly now

Til you’re standing at the cliff

And you can’t truly love until you’ve given up on it

 

You turn up the intensity once more for the chorus.

 

That’s why we won’t back down, we won’t run and hide

Yeah, cause these are the things we can’t deny

I’m passing over you like a satellite

So catch me as I fall

That’s why we stick to your game plans and party lives

But at night we’re conspiring by candlelight

We are the orphans of humanities dream

So shine your light on me

 

You play a different melody from before. The guitar holograms mirror each other perfectly, whilst the bass keeps the beat. The drums slow down a little bit too.

 

She told me that she never could see the world again

So I offered up a plan

 

You end your melody there. The two guitars stop completely, but the bass keeps a light riff going. The drums remain silent for the most part as well. This is just one guitar and the sound of your voice.

 

We’ll sneak out while they sleep and sail off in the night

We’ll come clean and start over, the rest of our lives

When we’re gone, we’ll stay gone

Out of sight, out of mind

It’s not too late

We have the rest of our lives

 

You slide your pick across the top string and start playing some chords. The drums start to pick up once more as well. Even the holograms of you are smiling and enjoying themselves. You and the hologram guitarists play the same chords.

 

We’ll sneak out while they sleep and sail off in the night

We’ll come clean and start over, the rest of our lives

When we’re gone, we’ll stay gone

Out of sight, out of mind

It’s not too late

We have the rest of our lives

The rest of our lives

 

You play a little melody half way through until you start singing again. Everything else but the drums stay silent.

 

That’s why we won’t back down, we won’t run and hide

Yeah, cause these are the things we can’t deny

I’m passing over you like a satellite

So catch me as I fall

That’s why we stick to your game plans and party lives

But at night we’re conspiring by candlelight

We are the orphans of humanities dream

So shine your light on me

 

The song picks up once more, heavier than ever.

 

Because we won’t back down, we won’t run and hide

Yeah, cause these are the things that we can’t deny

I’m passing over you like a satellite

Cause these are the things that we can’t deny now

This is a life that you can’t deny us now

 

Everything ends on that one note. You all let it ring for a bit before stopping it all together. The holograms of you disappear, leaving you standing in the middle of the stage, alone, smiling.

 

The whole crowd goes absolutely wild. Your friends are no exception.

 

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“He’s basically proven that I’m useless in the band now,” Kristoff says, stunned.

All three of them have their jaws dropped. The TV is showing your smiling face. Elsa shakes her head and stands up. She begins cheering, even though you can’t hear her. Anna stares at her sister, then decides to follow her lead. She stands up and starts clapping. Kristoff follows suit.

 

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“Huh… not bad. Not bad at all, kid,” Alistair compliments.

 

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You wave at the crowd.

 

“Thank you. Thank you all so much.”

The crowd continues to roar for you. You have to take a little control on move onto your next song.

 

“So, I think we should all take a trip, huh? It’s hot out here and you’ve been standing for long enough. I think…”

Two guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer appear in hologram form; all of them still you. You start retuning your top string to drop D.

“It’s time we take a trip to Bat Country. Now there’s one unspoken rule there.”

 

You begin lightly playing the opening chords.

 

“He who makes a beast out of himself, gets rid of the pain of being a man!”

 

The drums, bass, and other guitars kick in. All the guitars play the same thing. The bass has no easy part either. The drums look amazing as always. It’s no joke either. You actually had to play all instruments every time. These are more recordings rather than holograms. You can even see some sweat on the holograms if you look close enough.

 

Caught here in a fiery blaze

Won’t lose my will to stay

 

The guitar switches from the intro a simple melody. The drums keep the beat going, along with the bass.

 

I try-ie-ied to drive all through the night

The heat stroke ridden weather, the barren empty sights

No oasis here to see, the sand is singing deathless words to me

 

 

The holograms start to sing in the background. You change up the strumming again to fit the chorus. Small bits of sweat start to sully down your face. You don’t really care. You’re having a blast right now.

 

Can’t you help me as I’m starting to burn (all alone)

Too many doses and I’m starting to get an attraction

My confidence is leaving me on my own (all alone)

No one can save me and you know I don’t want the attention

 

You repeat everything for the next verse.

 

As I-I-I-I adjust to my new sights the rarely tired lights will take me to new heights

My hand is on the trigger, I’m ready to ignite

Tomorrow might not make it, but everything’s alright

Mental fiction, follow me; show me what it’s like to be set free

 

All instruments go silent for a moment. You decide to skip the slow part and go right to the solo. You hold your pick in the air for a moment to build up suspense. The drum counter part of you spins the drum stick in the air for a second before continuing. You follow with the guitar.

 

Caught here in a fiery blaze, won’t lose my will to stay

These eyes won’t see the same, after I flip today

 

You hold that last word for a couple seconds. The two holograms back you up as you start the solo. You strum and bend the string three times, progressively going down the neck. After you reach a certain point you let your fingers loose. They hit some notes pretty fast and land on the sweet spot. You proceed to play the whole solo, using your fingers as best you can. People marvel at the speed you’re going at, especially near the end. You finish off that part only to enter the second part of the solo. One of the holograms. The hologram just harmonises with you the entire time. You both finish the segment and get back to it. Through the next section you play small bits of bends and such while singing. The holograms keep the pace going.

 

Sometimes I don’t know why, we’d rather live than die

We look up towards the sky for answers to our lives

We may get some solutions but most just pass us by

Don’t want your absolution cause I can’t make it right

I’ll make a beast out of myself, gets rid of all the pain of being a man

 

Can’t you help me as I’m starting to burn (all alone)

Too many doses and I’m starting to get an attraction

My confidence is leaving me on my own (all alone)

No one can save me and you know I don’t want the attention

 

You do a maniacal sounding laugh as you end it with one drum slam, and one guitar strum. You remain in that position for a second to regain yourself. The crowd, however, is going crazy. Gaia and Matt have red faces from screaming so much. Rain is excited too, except he doesn’t scream much… or be loud at all. Rapunzel is hopping up and down, shaking her hands and screaming her head off. Her parents aren’t much different. They seem to be having a great time too. Eugene’s into it as well. You’ve gotten almost all of Corona cheering for you.

 

You stand up straight and see the hordes of people cheering you on. You smile at this. It’s something that just leaves you completely satisfied. All these people are liking you for your talent, and your skill. It’s something you kind of missed from back in the day.

 

You wave at the crowd.

“Thank you. Seriously, thank you all so much.”

 

You look over to one of the cameras. It zooms in on your face. You can tell because there are some giant TVs down the road so people who are far away can still see. You blow a kiss into the screen, intending it for Elsa.

 

“Look at that ladies, he’s showing his love for all of you,” the announcer shouts. “Was that directed to anyone?”

You crack a smirk and look in the camera once more.

“They know who it’s for.”

 

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Anna shrieks and shakes Elsa.

“Anna… Anna…”

Anna squeezes Elsa in a hug and won’t let go.

“He’s so awesome!” She shouts.

 

Kristoff pouts and looks away.

“He’s not all that special. I can drum like that.”

 

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(A/N: A little author’s note for everyone. This next song is actually a song I wrote and recorded. Because there’s no way for you to imagine an instrumental song, I’m going to put the link for it here: <https://soundcloud.com/chinsangan> or you could just look up Chinsangan on soundcloud. No, this is not an advertisement in anyway. I make no money if people listen to it, but I’m super proud of it so I might as well use it in a story I’m super proud of. So, if you want to know what the next song will sound like then listen to it while you read or something. You don’t have to, of course, but I’m just throwing it out there. Anyway, enough from me. Continuing on!)

 

You grasp your guitar and shoot your hand out to the crowd.

“Are you ready for one more?”

The crowd cries out in excitement. You smirk.

“That’s what I thought. I got one more for you all,” you say, playing a few slick notes. “One song that I wrote myself. It’s a gamble, but I hope you all enjoy.”

 

The normal holograms come up – the two guitarists, the bassist, and the drummer – but this time there are more. A piano, a trumpet; all sorts instruments. You smile and start it. You pluck the high E string and let it ring for a moment, then pluck 7, 5, 3, and then 5 on the same string.

 

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Hunter is watching not only you, but all other buildings in the area. He’s a little worried at what he sees. Dozens of the Hierarchy’s men are taking position on multiple rooftops. They all have light tactical gear on, and are in all black. They have balaclavas covering their faces, along with sniper rifles on their backs. Hunter clenches his teeth then gets to work. He uses the building’s design in order to get up a little higher. He finds a decent amount of space in order to get a running start for a jump. He backs up and shakes his hands in hopes to get rid of some of his nerves.

 

He starts running as fast as he can. Right at the edge of the building he jumps. Hunter launches himself over the street and to another building. He windmills his arms to try and get a little more distance. He gets close to the building, so he reaches out. His upper body makes it, but his legs dangle down to the street. Hunter quickly pulls himself onto the building and starts running again.

 

He sprints to the closest sniper and attacks. Hunter stops running and slides a little past him. He spins around and brings his elbow down on the assassin. He crushes his skull between Hunter’s elbow and the side of the building. Hunter then grabs the man’s head, spins around to get momentum, and throws him into the next sniper.

 

The rest of the ones on the building notice Hunter at this point.

 

“The other brother is here! Take him out, but don’t shoot him! We can’t alert the target!” One says over the radio.

The six men on the same roof as Hunter put down their guns and pull out knives. They rush Hunter all at once. Hunter notices that the ones who aren’t on the building are still setting up to shoot you. He has to rush through these guys fast.

 

Hunter keeps every single one of the assassins in his sights. One goes for a straight stab but Hunter pushes the knife holder’s arm away from him. He has no time to attack, as there are more already on him. Hunter bobs and weaves through most of the men, coming out more or less unscathed. The last one attempts to stab Hunter’s face. Hunter grabs his wrists and stops the attack. They struggle for a few seconds. Hunter hears the others coming in for another attack, so he acts fast. Hunter stops fighting and instead guides the knife somewhere else. It arcs right down into the man’s leg. Hunter pulls out the knife then slices his throat. He falls to the ground and bleeds out.

 

The others keep running at Hunter, however. Hunter dodges the first attack then jabs him in the stomach eight times. He commandeers that knife as well, giving Hunter two knives. He spins and kicks the dead man into his friends, making them stagger and lose their momentum. Hunter uses this opportunity to rush in. He gets in between two men and shoves the knives in the back of their throats. He purposely falls onto his back to drag the bodies with him. The last two look at Hunter and go for him. Hunter smiles and throws both knives at them, effectively penetrating their skulls.

 

He flips onto his feet and pulls out the two knives from their faces. They stand up straight for a second before falling onto their backs. Hunter wastes no time and heads for the next group. He runs across the top of the building and jumps to a lower one. He rolls a few times after hitting the ground in order to break his fall. He looks up to see one of the snipers ready to take a shot.

 

“No!” He shouts, knowing he’s unable to reach him in time.

 

Before the shot could fire someone lands right on top of the shooter. The shooter is crushed under the sheer force being thrown on him. Hunter stands up but keeps his guard up. Everyone is staring at what just happened. Before the dust can even clear someone bursts out from it and thrusts his fist into an assassin’s face. The assassin goes flying across the building and slams into a wall. Hunter’s eyes widen as he sees his father. He clenches his teeth and rushes at him.

 

Alistair looks over at Hunter just in time to catch his punch.

“I don’t think this is the time,” Alistair comments.

“It’s always the time!” Hunter snarls.

 

Alistair pushes up on Hunters arm, sending him into the air. Alistair then turns his attention to the assassins.

“It’s the Monarch! Get him!” One says over the radio.

The assassins in proximity to Alistair start going after him. He easily dodges and blocks anything they throw at him.

 

Hunter lands on the gravel and looks up at Alistair, who’s fighting off some assassins. Hunter rushes him once more and attacks. Alistair notices and sighs. He kicks three assassins away, then blocks Hunter’s attack.

 

“We should be working together right now.”

“Like hell we should!”

 

Hunter throws his other fist at Alistair, which hits him. He slides back a bit but regains his composure easily. Hunter jumps into the air and throws a kick. Alistair catches in, spins, and throws Hunter to a completely different building.

 

Hunter spirals through the air. He knows he can’t get back to Alistair at this point, so he looks to where he’ll land. There are other assassins on the building that want are attempting to kill you. Hunter snarls.

 

“Damn… I have to deal with them first.”

 

Hunter pulls out the two knives he stashed away. Unknown to Hunter Alistair threw him with enough force to easily make it to the next building. Hunter makes it over the edge and tumbles across the ground. The assassins turn their attention to him, and attack him. Hunter – in a weakened state – throws the knives once again. Instead of hitting the head, both knives enter one man. They penetrate both shoulders, leaving the arms practically useless. Hunter gets on his feet and gets into a fighting stance.

 

Alistair, on the other hand, is having little trouble with any of the assassins. He’s been able to clear two rooftops now, and is on his third. He grabs the last man’s cheek, moves behind him, and spins it 360 degrees, effectively killing him. The body falls to the ground, and the rooftop is clear. Alistair looks around to see how Hunter is doing. He’s cleared one building, leaving only one rooftop left. Hunter’s already on his way there, and now Alistair is too.

 

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You move into the first solo, making a somewhat echoing sound. You have a huge grin on your face as your fingers move all over the fret board. The piano is keeping a beautiful melody behind you, and the drums are keeping it all together. You slip into a little slower solo and blast through that.

 

The whole crowd is in awe. They haven’t heard this before, and it’s the first time it’s been played live. Eugene and Rapunzel are cheering you on through the whole thing. Rain, Gaia, and Matt are no exception.

 

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Elsa and Anna are jumping up and down while their arms are wrapped around each other. They’re cheering their heads off for you. Kristoff is in on it too, just not hopping around or anything like that.

 

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Hunter and Alistair both close in on the last rooftop. They both jump and aim for the same man. They throw their fists forward and crush the man’s head between them. Hunter has a killer look in his eye whilst he looks at Alistair. Hunter pushes the middle man out of the way and starts throwing himself at Alistair. He throws a straight, then a side kick, hook, straight, roundhouse. Alistair blocks everything except the second straight punch. Alistair returns with a good knee to Hunter’s stomach. Out of the corner of his eye Alistair notices an assassin come at Hunter with a knife. Alistair kicks Hunter aside, causing him to smash into a wall. He then turns his attention to one of the last assassins. Instead of actually putting effort into this fight, Alistair simply launches an ice spike into their stomach.

 

Hunter shakes his head and looks around. The only two people left are Alistair and one other assassin. He is backed up in a corner by Alistair. Hunter gets up and walks closer to the assassin. Alistair grabs the assassin by the neck and holds him over the street.

 

“Who do you work for? What branch?”

“Duke Jafar! I work for him!” He cries out.

Alistair crushes the man’s neck and tosses him onto the roof.

“I already killed Jafar, so you’re useless.”

 

Alistair turns around to face Hunter. The sound of your song is echoing in the background. They stare intensely at each other until Hunter disturbs the peace. He pounces off his back leg and throws a kick. Alistair grabs it and slams Hunter to the ground.

 

“I’m not here to fight you, even though it would provide some entertainment. In fact…” Alistair looks down at the stage. “I might be able to use you two…”

Hunter laughs. Or at least laughs as much as he can with his face firmly in the ground.

“You may not agree… but maybe (Y/N) will.”

 

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You and one of the guitar holograms play side by side. You both play the same thing but harmonized. It’s the main riff, and you end on that last note. You let it ring until it naturally dies off. The holograms disappear, leaving you alone. You stand up straight and hold your guitar in the air. The crowd bursts into a cheering fit.

 

“I don’t think the crowd has cheered so hard all day!” The announcer shouts.

 

You smile as you hold the guitar up. Everyone can see that you’ve truly been enjoying yourself. Everyone can see that you’re genuine.

 

“Alright folks its time for the vote. Who do you think won this year’s CMFs? Voting stations are all down the street. Get there and vote for your favourite!”

 

You bow and exit the stage. The same group you spoke to earlier greets you.

“(Y/N), man, that was epic! You deserve to win this one. I haven’t seen a show like that before.”

You lazily throw your hand at him.

“Oh stop.”

“No, seriously. I mean, holograms and shit? That’s awesome! How did you even pull that off?”

“You know,” you shrug. “I have my ways.”

 

“May all participants in the CMFs please make your way to the stage now,” the announcer requests.

 

All the bands come onto the stage and line up. You stand a little left to the middle. You see Rapunzel and the entourage waving at you. You smile and lightly wave back. Everyone in the crowd is gathering around the voting stations. The TVs all over the street show the poll. Right now, you’re in the lead by ten points. All the other contenders keep their eyes on the TVs, but you keep your eyes on the crowd. You just stare at everyone’s happy faces and glowing expressions.

 

After almost half an hour the votes final come in. The TV turns off before you can see who won, but everyone keeps bugging you that you were the obvious winner. You brush it off. You don’t want to brag or be too cocky.

 

The announcer squeezes his mic and spins around.

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, the results are in! The winner of this year’s Corona Music Festival is… (Y/N) Knight!”

 

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Anna and Elsa jump into the air.

“Yeah! Go (Y/N)! He did it!” they both cheer.

Kristoff chuckles and claps.

“Good job man, you earned it.”

 

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The crowd commences an uproar. All the people on stage walk up to you and shake your hand, congratulating you for your win. You shake all their hands as they walk off the stage. You stay on the stage and wave at the crowd. You look to your left and see someone walking up to you. He has a weird moustache and a suit. You turn your whole body to face him.

 

“Mr. Knight, my name is Hook. I’m the CEO of Dysa co.”

Hook shakes your hand. You grip his hand and squeeze a sufficient amount, but you notice something about his hand. It’s strong. Very strong. His grip is almost abnormal. You pull your hand away and cautiously stare at him.

 

“You have won the privilege to tour my building and see some of the wonders we are making. However, it’s obvious you need to freshen up. You’re sweating and… have a scent. Come to my building in two hours and we’ll show you around. Until then, I bid you farewell.”

 

Hook regally walks off the stage. You stare at him until the crowd draws your attention. You look over at them and start waving once more. You try to find Hunter in the crowd, but you can’t see him with Gaia, Rain, and Matt. You scan the area to try and find where he could be.

 

You finally find his distinct white hair farther back than everyone else.

 

Why the heck is he back there? And who’s he with..? Wait… is that… DAD!?


	36. When Family Comes Together

Chapter 36: When Family Comes Together

 

“What the hell is he doing here?” You shout.

Hunter forces his hand over your mouth to muffle your voice.

“Shut up. I don’t like it either,” Hunter remarks, looking out the large window at Alistair.

Alistair is calmly standing in the streets with his hands in his pockets. He’s whistling something that you can’t hear; the reason being you’re indoors and he’s not.

 

After you saw Hunter and Alistair you quickly made your way to them, ignoring all of your other friends. You still have some time before you go into Dysa co. but this wasn’t the way you imagined spending it. Alistair led the three of you to a coffee shop a few blocks away, but Hunter kept him outside while he talked things over with you.

 

“Then why is he here?”

“He wants to talk with us. I think he wants us to do something,” Hunter guesses.

“Fantastic… I’m surprised he didn’t kill me while I was playing.”

“Actually… he kind of saved you.”

Your face slightly drops in a disbelieving way.

“He what?”

 

“Well, Hans sent assassins after you. I learned about it last night and decided to-“

“Whoa, whoa, you knew and decided not to tell me? That’s something I’d like to address,” you interrupt.

Hunter sighs, places his hands on his shoulders, and turns away.

“You just needed to win the concert. Knowing that people were going attack you might’ve thrown you off your game. Besides, I was there to save you.”

“And so was he!” You yell, pointing at Alistair.

 

Alistair sees you point and shakes his head.

“It’s impolite to point!”

You stare at him for a second then turn your attention back to Hunter.

“Look, I don’t trust it either. Truth be told I attacked him on sight.“

 

Attacked on sight? Even I wouldn’t do that. I don’t think Alistair or Hans have ever done that either.

 

“So you two fought?” You ask.

Hunter shook his head.

“Mhm, but he was winning. We did manage to take out all the assassins, however.

 

You turn once more and stare at Alistair.

“He said he’ll leave if we don’t want to hear his offer. I say just send him fucking packing,” Hunter states.

You shake your head.

“No… I want to hear him out.”

“What!?”

“It’s obvious we’re on different sides, and yet he still tried to save me. There’s got to be a reason.”

“(Y/N)! What the fuck!?”

 

You focus your attention back to Hunter, who looks genuinely upset right now.

“I brought him here cause I thought we would both tell him to piss off. Now you’re saying you actually want to hear him out?”

“I heard you out, didn’t I?” You mention.

“I didn’t try and kill you!” Hunter shouts, throwing his hands in the air and stomping away.

“Hunter, where are you going?”

“Bathroom. Maybe I can drown myself there.”

 

Hunter pushes the door open and disappears from sight. You sigh and look back to Alistair. He’s staring at you with his hands crossed and a smile on his face. You don’t see what’s so amusing. You wave for him to come in, and he does so.

 

“(Y/N). Thank you for at least listening to my proposal. Good to see I have one reasonable child,” he says, some disdain in his voice.

 

“Two, actually,” Shadow remarks.

 

“Nevertheless I think this is something I think would interest both you and Hunter. Shall we have a seat?”

 

Alistair leads you to a small table beside the window. You both take a seat and stare at each other. You lean back in your chair a bit whilst Alistair remains completely upright. From what Hunter was saying Alistair was just in a fight, but he doesn’t look like it. Apart from his clothes – which you assume he just switched out, knowing he has his own holowatch and likely knows how to use it far better than you – his overall persona is just so calm at this moment. Maybe the killing doesn’t bother him, but he’s not even fazed by you or Hunter. Last time you met him he at least had a little excitement about fighting you. Then again, you get that same feeling too, sometimes. But now he’s just normal. Not even normal. He has this aura that shouts “confidence” yet he’s also so secretive that you wouldn’t even know he’s around. It’s like his personality takes over a room but only when he chooses to; only when he deems it necessary to be imposing. There’s no doubt that he has complete control where ever he is, and he acts like it too.

 

“So, what is it that you want?”

Alistair stares at you with a smirk. He isn’t letting that smirk go.

“I’m offering a temporary partnership between myself, you, and Hunter.”

“A partnership? Ahahaha,” Hunter laughs, walking towards you. “So what do you want from us. That’s the only reason you’d ever do something like this.”

“Hunter, you think too little of me,” Alistair snickers.

Hunter clenches his fist but keeps a somewhat friendly face.

“I’m asking you this because we have a common enemy. Hans.”

 

“Hans? I thought he was your lap dog?” You query.

Alistair shakes his head.

“No, he’s much too headstrong; his mind full of dreams. He wants revenge on me for killing his father, and he’s going to attempt to kill you and Elsa on the way.”

“Elsa!?” You let out.

Hunter quickly darts his eyes to you, then back to Alistair. Alistair is nodding.

 

“Yes, Elsa. He’s already attempted to go after her twice now. Don’t worry, she’s safe. You can count on that.”

“You’re… protecting her?” You question.

“Yes, I am. He’s going to use her to get at you and I won’t allow that. It’s the same way he’s using you to get to me. You see (Y/N),” Alistair says, leaning into the table. “We have a common enemy. Let’s destroy him together instead of getting in each other’s way. If you help me, I’ll ignore whatever plot you’re cooking up by going to Dysa co.”

 

Both you and Hunter react to his words. Alistair notices this.

“You two really think you’re that subtle? It’s an obvious ploy to enter the building and steal information. I could attempt to stop you, but if we’re working together than it would be counterproductive to have my partner die.”

 

You look down at the table as you contemplate Alistair’s words. He has truth to them, and not in the part where he threatened you. From what you know Alistair is a genius, not only with his intelligence but his fighting. He’s an excellent ally to have, even if only for a short while. He is also your father. It may be abnormal, but it could be some demented form of bonding. Maybe you can learn more about him and why he does the things that he does. Maybe you can get him to stop whatever schemes he’s been cooking up for you.

 

There’s also the fact that Elsa’s in danger. You can’t just let that slide. Alistair said he will – and is – protecting her. If you don’t work with him there is the possibility he won’t protect her. You can’t go back and help her either. It would be pointless to just sit on your butt in Arendelle rather than go after the source of it all. Originally the source was your father, but now that has to change. Elsa is, and always will be, your top priority. There’s also an upside, as you won’t really have to worry about what Alistair is doing. He’ll be helping you this entire time and won’t have time to do anything to undermine you. You can keep an eye on him.

 

You look up at Alistair, whose eyes are still locked on you. You raise your hand and leave it in the air.

“You have a deal,” you state.

Hunter angrily turns away and walks out the door. Alistair shakes your hand.

“Good. Go talk to your brother, I’ll find you later.”

You give Alistair a questioning look. You want to ask him more questions but Hunter is getting farther away every second.

 

You get up and rush out the door. You bump into someone as soon as you get on the street.

“Sorry!” You shout.

You run after Hunter, who is simply walking down the street with his hands in his pockets. You catch up to him and grab his arm.

“Hunter! What’s gotten into you?”

 

Hunter chuckles then breaks out of your grip. He turns around to face you.

“You’re actually going to team up with him?”

“It’s a temporary alliance Hunter. I'm not joining him. Hell, maybe I can convince him to-“

“No, no, there’s no convincing to be done,” Hunter interrupts. “He’s using you somehow, someway. You’re teaming up with a man who used children as test subjects. One who sent those very children after me, and forced me to kill them. You’re teaming up with a man who incarcerated me for years! Taking away any chance of having a normal fucking life! Alistair Knight is a manipulative man, (Y/N). He isn’t doing this out of the goodness of his heart. He’s doing it so his agenda can be pushed.”

 

You look away from Hunter as he speaks. Hunter stops and lets out a breath.

“If you work with Alistair…”

“I know this might suck for you but… if what he said was true, about Elsa, than I need his help. Hunter please just do this for me. Not for Alistair. For me. If he tries anything we can beat him!”

 

Hunter crosses his arms and looks at you.

“You’re really doing this for Elsa?”

You nod.

“I am. Besides, I think it’s time I finally finish Hans.”

Hunter looks across the street for a second.

“Let me think about it. I’ll meet you at Rapunzel’s house after you do your thing at Dysa co.”

 

You smile and pull Hunter in for a hug.

“What the hell are you doing?” He shouts.

“Giving you a hug. That’s a brotherly thing to do.”

“Get off me,” he chuckles, pushing you off of him.

 

You both laugh for a bit then settle down.

“I’ll see you later (Y/N). Just be careful with Alistair, alright?”

You nod. “I will.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Elsa finishes up the dishes and dries her hands on a towel. She looks across the counter and sees her phone going off. A picture of her, Anna, and Rapunzel is displayed. Elsa strolls over to the phone and picks it up.

 

“Hello?”

“Hey, Elsa! Did you watch the concert?” Rapunzel joyously asks.

Elsa nods her head, even though she knows Rapunzel can’t see that.

“Yeah, I did. (Y/N) did an amazing job. I think I saw you screaming your head off in one of the shots of the crowd,” Elsa giggles.

Rapunzel bursts out laughing.

“Yeah, I was. I couldn’t help it. All the bands were so awesome! But those hologram things (Y/N) did blew… my mind. Seriously. There were like… four of him on stage.”

“That there were. It was truly amazing,” Elsa admits.

“Probably the best music festival to date! He’s put up high standards for next year. You think he’ll come back for the next one?”

 

“Knowing him he’ll probably bring Kristoff along to play,” Elsa says as she leaves the kitchen and takes a seat on the couch.

“That means you’ll all HAVE to come out! You and (Y/N) will be married by that time, no?”

“What? I mean… maybe but we… I just…”

Elsa can’t even form a sentence.

“Elsa? Did I catch you off guard?” Rapunzel giggles.

“No, not at all. I just haven’t been thinking about the details of the wedding yet,” Elsa admits.

 

This was an odd thing for Elsa. Usually she’s on top of everything; planning it before she even knows she needs to. Anna calls her a micromanager, and she is right. But when it comes to the wedding Elsa’s been putting it off. She doesn’t know if she’s doing it on purpose. Maybe a part of her is just scared of what will happen to you. Scared whether you’ll come home or not. Even if she always says she has full trust in you and what you do, she also has a sense of realism. You’re going up against near impossible odds. You’re going up against people who wouldn’t hesitate to kill you. She doesn’t want you to die, but she’s well aware that it may happen. She simply prays it won’t.

 

“That seems odd. Well maybe you can have the wedding here in Corona!”

“Yeah, maybe. I’ll have to ask (Y/N) when he comes back. Speaking of him, is he at the house?”

“Hmm, no. After the concert he just kind of disappeared. I assume he went to Dysa co. for the tour,” Rapunzel says.

“Right… well, I’ll talk to you later, Rapunzel.”

“Alright. See ya!”

 

Elsa hangs up the phone and puts it in her pocket. She sighs then looks over at the clock. It’s not too late. Maybe Elsa can go for a little jog or something. Elsa nods to herself, confirming that she’ll go out for a light jog. Elsa starts to head upstairs. At the same time, Anna comes out of her room and starts to go downstairs.

 

“Oh hey sis! Whatcha up to?” Anna happily asks.

“Oh, I was just about to go for a run. Do you want to come?” Elsa offers.

Anna thinks on it for a second then nods.

“Yeah, I’ll come. I’ll get Kristoff to come too!”

“Willingly?” Elsa asks, a brow raised.

Anna laughs.

“I doubt it.”

 

Anna turns around and rushes into her room. Elsa walks into her room and grabs a blue and white track suit. She slips into it and ties her hair back into a pony tail. Elsa leaves her phone in her room and leaves. She approaches Anna’s room and knocks.

 

“Are you two coming?”

“Yes!” Anna shouts. “We’re just getting dressed.”

“Actually she’s just getting dressed. I’m ready,” Kristoff comments.

 

A moment later Kristoff walks out in a white tank top and cargo shorts. Elsa’s eyes look into Anna’s room to see her slip on a dark pink tank top. She has short, black track shorts on as well. Anna does her hair up in two pony tails then spins around to face the door. Elsa and Kristoff stand at the door, awaiting her. Anna bounces over to them and smiles.

 

“Ready to go?”

Elsa and Kristoff nod. The three go down the stairs and head for the door. They all put running shoes on and leave the house. They walk down the drive way, and as soon as they reach the street they begin running. Elsa is in front while Anna is in the middle, and Kristoff at the end of the line.

 

“So how far are we running?” Kristoff shouts.

“Until I think we should stop and turn around. Didn’t you and (Y/N) work out all the time in school?” Elsa teases.

“Hey, that was like… a year ago! Besides, I wasn’t an endurance guy.”

“I beg to differ,” Anna remarks.

Kristoff blushes.

“Anna!”

“What?” She giggles.

Elsa rolls her eyes and keeps running.

 

Unbeknownst to Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff, there is a black van parked down the street. The van turns on and begins slowly following them. They keep a smooth pace as they follow them.

“Alright, let’s get them. Remember, the Ice Queen is our top priority. Kill her first, then the others.”

“Yes sir,” the soldiers state.

“Sir, there’s someone walking in the middle of the road,” the driver informs.

 

The officer moves to the front of the van and looks out the window. There is a blonde woman limping across the road. She’s holding her stomach and there’s a blood trail leading from the other side of the road.

 

“Should we drive around her?” The driver asks.

“No. She’ll witness what we’re about to do. Let’s bring her inside the van and end her.”

“Yes sir.”

 

The van stops right in front of the woman. She looks over and waves at the van. One of the soldiers exits the van and walks up to her.

“Are you okay, ma’am?”

“No… I was stabbed… Can you take me to the hospital?” She moans.

“Of course, of course. Come with me, we’ll get you there.”

 

The soldier leads the woman around the van and into the back. The officer notices that Elsa and company are already a significant distance away, and that he needs to catch up pronto. The soldier helps the woman into the van and sits her down. She looks around and notices all the guns and armour.

 

“Are you police?” She asks.

The officer comes to the back and stares at her.

“Somewhat. At the very least we’ll help you make the pain go away.”

The woman smiles.

“Unfortunately that’s not what I do.”

 

The officer lifts his eye brow in a questioning manner. His eyes widen at the revelation.

“Juno..? One of the monarchs! Get her!”

 

Juno pulls off one of her high heels and slams the heel into one soldier’s throat. He reaches for his throat but he can’t pull it out. The heel has pierced through his spine. He can’t pull it out. Juno then kicks the man on the other side of her. She once again shoves her heal into the man’s neck. The other soldiers attempt to grab guns but Juno is much too fast for them. She grabs one of their arms and pulls him towards her. He somewhat spins to face her. Juno smirks and throws her arm right through his stomach. She tosses him behind her and looks to the last three. One grabs their gun and aims it at Juno. She quickly guides his hand away as he fires. The bullet enters the man who’s still struggling with the heel in his neck. He dies instantly.

 

Juno locks her leg on the bench close to her. She grasps the gunman’s face and places the other hand on his waist. She pushes him back onto her knee and forces him to wrap all around her leg. She moves her hands around and intertwines her own fingers, signaling the move is complete. She lets go and allows the man to fall on the floor. She stands up straight and looks at the two remaining men. The officer has a knife in his hand, while the other soldier has nothing.

 

Juno smirks.

“So, why go after Ms. Anderson?”

“Ms… Anderson?” The officer repeats.

“As her dear secretary I cannot allow you to hurt her,” Juno sarcastically says, placing her hand on her chest. “Now walk away now or… ha, who am I kidding. I’m not going to let you walk away. It robs me of the chance to see the life drain out of your eyes.”

 

The officer observes Juno for a moment.

“But… how did you simulate the blood for us to pick you up?”

“Simulate? I didn’t simulate anything,” she says, lifting her shirt up a bit to show a stab wound that’s still bleeding. “All genuine. Must hurt your pride, huh? Got beat by an injured woman.”

 

She grabs the officer’s neck and throws him out the back of the van. The doors fly open when he hits them, and he tumbles across the ground. The soldier behind Juno tries to take advantage.

 

“It’s just pathetic when you think because you’re big strong men,” Juno catches the soldier’s punch without looking. She pulls it a little then twists her upper body towards the arm. She uses her left hand to pull the arm even further than breaks it with her right. She quickly turns to the soldier and shoves her fingers into his eye socket.

 

“Yet you cry like little girls when someone resists you. You really do take after Hans.”

 

She pulls the man’s eye out of his socket. She looks at it for a second then turns her attention towards the officer. He is beginning to stand back up. Juno looks at the eye ball in her hand. She lightly tosses it in the air, catches it, the whips it at the officer. He looks towards Juno and has no time to react to the eye ball. The eye smashes into the officer’s left eye, pushing his in and replacing it with the dead one. He falls back on the ground and holds his eye.

 

“Oh god! What did you do to me you insane bitch!” He shouts.

Juno walks out of the van and places her foot on the man’s neck.

“I told you… I’m not one to end someone’s misery. I create it.”

She moves her foot from the man’s neck to his hand. She slowly crushes the hand beneath her foot, listening to the satisfying cries. The officer attempts to punch her leg, but it does nothing at all. She chuckles and slams her foot down on his hand again. He screams in agony.

 

Before Juno can do anymore her watch begins to light up. She looks over at the watch and sees Alistair is calling. She reaches to her ear and clicks a small Bluetooth device.

“Yes, my love?” She starts.

“Just have a little update, if you want to hear it. Mostly wanted to hear your voice though,” Alistair states.

“Oh I can talk for you if you want. But how about you go first?”

 

“Have it your way. It looks like Hans has more allies than I thought. That, or he’s somewhat clever. Some assassins went after (Y/N) today. I easily dispatched them but I noticed that their insignias were different. Each Duke has a different one, and there are at least five different ones here. My guess is that Hans has been stockpiling these for a while in order to send me all over the planet.”

 

Juno stays silent but takes what Alistair says to heart. She steps off the officer and grabs his neck. She lifts him into the air and checks his insignia.

“The old Westergaard one… Alec’s…” She whispers.

“Hm? What was that?”

“Oh, I had some vermin try to attack Elsa,” Juno says, crushing the officer’s neck and causing him to make a brief noise. “Alec’s insignia is on this officer.”

 

Juno tosses the body aside and walks back into the van. She examines all the other bodies.

“Jafar… Alec… Gothel,” she lists. “Seems like you’re correct. No surprise, of course.”

“Yes… I suppose I’ll just have to do some detective work and figure out where he is. (Y/N) and Hunter should come in handy too.”

“They’re helping? How’s my child?” Juno asks, a slight hint of worry in her voice.

 

Alistair sighs.

“Carnage is dead, Juno. I think (Y/N) and Shadow eradicated him completely.”

Juno clenches her fist for a moment than relaxes.

“Well, do what you will with them then. Neither of them have any use for me.”

“What about me? Do I have a use?” Alistair jokes.

“Come here and you’ll find out,” Juno seductively says.

“You know I’d love to. As soon as I’m done. And how is Elsa doing?”

“Good enough. Nobody is going to kill her, and that’s all that really concerns me.”

 

Juno exits the van and walks back to the officer’s corpse. She picks it up and tosses it in the back of the van.

 

“Has she attempted to access any of our information?”

“No, that’s safe. I’ll let you know if something comes up.”

“Alright, let’s get back to it. I love you, Juno.”

“I love you too, Alistair.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You brush some dust off your jeans and look up at the humungous building that is Dysa co. Its not only a tall building, but it spans almost an entire block. W.A. Industries may be taller, but this one is overall bigger. This basically means there’s going to be a lot more room to search, which is bad for you. You have to find something related to Alistair’s plan. You already have schematics for some sort of distribution device. What would be amazing is to know what they’re planning to distribute. It’s possible you’ll find that here, and that’s what you’re betting on.

 

You take a breath and shake your head a bit. You walk into the building to see a huge reception area. It barely looks like a reception area, however. There is a round desk with three different employees sitting in the middle. There is a glowing sign that says “Reception” on the front of the desk, which was only about waist high. The rest of the space was taken up by couches, plants, and large towers with a hologram exterior that is changing every few minutes. They show different images every few minutes. It seems like one of the six always have a picture of Hook. The towers seem to loop through different items Dysa co. is making, some of the contributions they’ve made to the world.

 

You walk around with no clear direction. It looks like you don’t belong there, and that you’ve wandered into the wrong building. One of the receptionists sees you.

“Excuse me, sir? Can I help you?” She asks.

You hear her and looks towards her. She’s staring at you with a warm smile on her face. You nod and walk towards her. You get to the counter and lean on it.

 

“Hi, my name’s (Y/N) Knight. I, um, won the music festival and-“

“Ah yes, Mr. Knight. Wait on one of the couches. I’ll page Mr. Hook.”

You give her a smirk and walk away. You take a seat on a red couch and relax.

 

“So Shadow, you got any advice for me here?”

“How would I know? I haven’t been here, idiot.”

You huff.

“I didn’t mean like that, jerk. I mean… actually what did I mean? Alright, just keep an eye out for anything that could be interesting.”

“I always do,” he says, very snarky.

 

You roll your eyes and place your hands on your stomach. You stare up at the ceiling which isn’t actually far from you. There’s another floor right above, so it’s not as spacious as it could be. That doesn’t really bother you, however. It’s just a ceiling. Who really cares?

 

Someone walks behind you and clears their throat to get your attention. You roll your head back on the couch and see Hook. You quickly get off the couch and turn around.

“Glad to see you made it. Shall we begin?”

You nod.

 

Hook begins walking away, and you catch up with him in no time. You walk beside him as he leads you to an elevator.

 

“Dysa co. is the world’s leader in all biotechnical studies. We’ve been able to produce much to aid war veterans, cripples, and others with disabilities. We also work on how to enhance people. We have gloves that allow people to play instruments much more efficiently. I think you’ll find that one quite interesting.”

 

You and Hook come to an elevator he swipes his keycard and the elevator opens. You both enter it and he clicks a floor. The elevator closes and begins to descend.

“Now, I’ll only be able to accompany, you for so long. You must understand that I do have a company to run after all.”

“I completely understand that,” you say, attempting to hide the fact that you want him to leave.

“For now I’ll be showing you some of the technology we’ve created here. Once we get to our music department I’ll be leaving.”

 

He leads you through a confusing maze of hallways. You try to make note of any rooms that might interest you. However, every single one of them has some sort of keycard lock. You’d need one like that to get in.

 

Hook stops in front of a door and swipes his keycard. You both enter a large room with at least six different projects going on at once. Something does seem odd about the room though. One of the walls seems out of place. It’s like this room should be bigger than it actually is, and part of it is simply cut off.

 

“Why is the wall weird?” You ask.

Hook looks at the wall then you.

“Renovations.”

You stare at him. You can tell he’s lying. He’s part of the Hierarchy after all. You wouldn’t be surprised if he sent people to kill you whilst you were here.

 

“Well, here is a keycard,” he says, handing you a card. “This will gain you access to all the technology in this room, and use of the elevator. When you’re finished tell my secretary. She’ll send you up to my office to receive a prize. I’ll leave you to it.”

 

You smile and nod your head as Hook walks away. You wait for him to leave the room before nonchalantly checking out the technology being created.

 

“Something’s wrong,” Shadow says.

“Why?”

“What kind of tour is like this? Why would he give us free access in this manner? I don’t like it.”

“Well we should get some information quick, then,” you advise.

“Let me take over then,” he requests.

“Right.”

 

You relax and allow Shadow to take over. Your body almost falls to the ground but Shadow’s consciousness grabs hold of it. He stands up straight and looks around the room. He looks down at the keycard and starts to think up some sort of plan.

 

“Maybe… if I can gain access to a computer I can change the purpose of this keycard. Might be able to open more doors. But… I would need an administrative computer. The head of this division would work.”

 

Shadow looks around the room to see if there’s an obvious sign of who the division head would be. All he can see is some average looking men and women working on whatever they were assigned to. They actually look like their having some fun working on what they’re working on. Shadow rolls his eyes and walks up to the closest group. They look at Shadow for a brief moment then go back to what they’re doing.

 

“So, what’re you up to here?” Shadow inquires.

“Well, we thought it was groundbreaking until you went on stage,” one hisses.

Shadow raises his brow. Another sees Shadow’s expression and shifts in front of him.

“We’re attempting to make a device that allows people to play with holograms of their favourite bands, singers, or any other musicians.”

“And I just did that… The difference was mine was pre-recorded. Besides, yours would take a lot more effort.”

“How would you know,” the annoyed one asks, turning to face Shadow.

 

“Well, not only do you need to properly record every detail of each person you want, you also need their signature. Almost all famous musicians have a signature that you need to capture. Plus you need to find the right balance between their studio versions and live versions. I have to say, you have your work cut out for you,” Shadow explains, a condescending smile on his face the entire time.

 

The man stares at him for a moment.

“You’re… right. We really need the time to bring in each band.”

“And there are so many of them,” Shadow adds, sympathizing with him.

“Exactly. We can’t just have someone cover the song. We need the people. It’s not a matter of money, it’s a matter of contact. Our manager just isn’t getting around to it. He’s too busy with other projects.”

“Where is the manager, anyway?”

 

The man looks to the workspace close to the door.

“Well his work space is over there. But it looks like he’s not here right now though.”

“Oh, where is he?” Shadow inquires.

“Oh, he’s on the other side of that wall. The room used to be bigger but we had a… er… malfunction.”

One of the workers nudges the one talking.

“I don’t think we should be telling him that,” he whispers.

Shadow raises his brow then shrugs.

“Huh… well good luck with your work,” Shadow says, smiling and waving as he walks away.

 

“What the hell was that?” You ask, almost chuckling.

“Shut up. Sometimes putting on a smile is the best way to work people,” he states with evident irritation.

“Aww, did it hurt to actually show some kindness?” You taunt.

“It’ll be hard to hold in my irritation when I come in there and beat you senseless, now shut up.”

“There he is! I was worried,” you laugh.

 

Shadow snarls as he closes in on his target. He passes the desk and leans against the wall beside it. He scans the area to see if anyone is watching, or could see what he’s doing. He stays against the wall for a couple minutes to try and pick up any patterns he can. So far it seems like most of them are focused on their work, but whenever disagreements arise they tend to step away from a project for a bit. That means they look around the area. If they saw Shadow tampering with computer they would kick him out. He needs either a lucky break, or a distraction. Since Shadow doesn’t believe in putting his plan in the hands of lady luck, he needs a distraction.

 

Shadow pushes himself off the wall and starts walking around. He needs something that can gather the attention of the people working here. He looks around the room while he tries to think of something he can do. Then something pops into his mind.

 

“Maybe… if I can open that wall then the entire room would rush over to fix it.”

“What about the people on the other side of the wall?” You bring up.

“They would be too busy focusing on the wall.”

 

Shadow nonchalantly strolls towards the corner of the wall. He places his hand on the wall and starts walking alongside it. He feels the cool metal on his fingertips. Being Shadow, however, he cares little about these things. He ignores this sensation and focuses on his task. He reaches the end of the wall and walks away from it to make it seem like he was just walking around.

 

“No hidden pad at all… Possibly no way to open it manually. Maybe a computer… But if it was on a computer than I’d wager it’s on the manager’s. Either way, I need to get on that computer.”

 

Shadow aimlessly wanders around the room until he reaches the manager’s desk once more. He looks at the contents of his desk to see if there’s anything to help him out. There is a couple of documents scattered about, as well as his computer.

 

“Not the most organized man I’ve ever seen,” Shadow hisses.

 

Shadow looks around to see if anyone is watching him. He quickly sits down and starts going through some of the files. At the same time, he uses his other hand to turn on the computer. He darts his head back and forth during his little escapade. As he awaits the computer to turn on he flips through the files on the desk. One is filled with the projects being worked on, which doesn’t interest him in the slightest. Once the screen boots up Shadow sees a password is required. Shadow snarls and turns his full attention to the documents. He flips through the last document. This one if full of recent reports. He flips to the most recent entry. Shadow breezes over the document and makes note of all the interesting parts.

 

“Seems it was no malfunction that ruined this place. Someone purposely set off the explosion. It also seems that there’s a quick way to open the door in case of emergencies. All I have to do…” Shadow executes a series of commands on the locked computer. “And it should work even if the computer is locked.”

 

Shadow finishes the code and looks up. He instantly hears the door start to unlock and slide open. It’s slow, and gains the attention of everyone. It delivers the perfect distraction to get into the computer. Shadow acts fast and starts typing in possible passwords. He starts with the manager’s name, as she was mentioned in one of his more personal notes. The screen flairs up and the desktop stands prominent. Shadow shakes his head in disgust at how easy that was.

 

He pulls out his keycard and swipes it through a little device. A window pops up with details of what he wants to do with the card. Shadow goes through the list and grants as much access as he can to the card. Shadow takes a quick look behind him to see what’s happening. Everyone is gathering around the door, trying to find a way to get it shut. He can see what’s on the other side, and it’s not pretty. There are body bags in one corner, along with scorch marks all over the place.

 

Ignoring that, Shadow goes back to his work. He rapidly taps the desk as he waits for everything to settle. As soon as the computer gives the green light, Shadow grabs the card and bolts out of the room. He rushes out the door and looks around the convoluted hallways of Dysa co. Shadow thinks of all the different rooms he passed by, and what he could exploit. He goes through his mind to find the answers but is disrupted by someone.

 

Someone taps Shadow on the shoulder, which gets his attention. Shadow looks over to see an average looking guy standing next to him. He has short brown hair with brown eyes to match. He’s quite skinny, but it suits his face. The man looks a little nervous around Shadow, as he’s constantly looking over Shadow’s shoulder.

 

“Can I help you?” Shadow asks.

“No, no… I can help you. You’re with Monarch… right? You’re with the new one?” He mumbles.

“The new one? You mean Alistair?” Shadow clarifies.

“No, even better! He’s on your side, you know. He wants you to win.”

 

Shadow backs up a bit.

“So… what do you want?”

“I’m here to help. You want to know what Alistair’s up to? Well I’ll bring you to it.”

 

The man begins to walk away, though his walk is quite odd. He seems to stumble around and limp more than anything. He turns back to Shadow and urges him to follow. Shadow shrugs and starts following him.

 

Shadow is brought through a confusing array of tunnels. You would be completely lost but Shadow has been keeping a close eye on everything. He knows his way back. The man leads Shadow to a door and quickly turns to face him.

 

“Do you have a keycard?”

Shadow brushes past him and swipes his keycard. The device lights up and the door unlocks itself. Shadow smirks and opens the door. He walks in and looks around. The room is filled with servers and data banks. Shadow raises his brow.

 

“Why would he bring me here… and I don’t think I gave this much access to the card.”

Shadow turns around to see if the weird man is still behind him. He isn’t. Shadow slowly walks towards the exit and takes a peek into the hallway. The man isn’t around anymore. Shadow backs into the room and returns his attention to the task at hand. He approaches the main computer and starts attempting to access the system.

 

“I’ll just deal with him later,” he mutters under his breath.

 

Shadow passes through the firewall of the servers and gains access. He quickly begins going through everything that could be of interest to him. However, something is making him suspicious.

 

“Wow… you’re a lot better at this than I thought,” you compliment.

Shadow’s face is completely unsettled. He continues to pound at the keys for a bit before he answers you.

“I’m really not, and that’s what’s wrong with this. I’ve practiced hacking before but this shouldn’t be easy. This is supposed to be the servers of one of the biggest companies in Corona, and yet it’s too easy. It’s almost like…”

 

Shadow’s focus on the conversation dwindles as he tries to maneuver around the system.

 

“Almost like what?” You press on.

“It’s almost like some parts of the system are available to me… and some parts aren’t.”

“Like a security system or something?”

“No, no… It’s like it’s purposely leading me around. It’s like someone s in the system with me,” Shadow predicts.

 

“If someone else is in the system then couldn’t you trace him?”

“Christ (Y/N), I’m not a genius when it comes to this. I can get through a passable firewall and find the files I want, but I can’t trace someone through a computer system.”

“Wait… so someone is accessing this remotely?” You inquire.

Shadow lightly bobs his head back and forth while he works.

“I suppose. Why?”

“Well, if this place can be accessed remotely couldn’t we have just hired a professional hacker to get the information we want?”

 

Shadow pauses for a second.

“That… actually could have worked. But it’s likely that whoever is doing this has already been in the system. It could be Hook himself.”

“But… if he knew we were going to hack into his company then why would he let us?”

Shadow shrugs.

“Who knows, but I’d rather finish this and get about before anything happens.”

 

Shadow presses on with his hacking and finds something interesting. He raises his brow and smiles. He activates the holowatch and pulls out a USB stick. He looks around for a place to plug it in. He finds it quickly and shoves it in the slot. He begins the download of the information. While it downloads he carefully reads over it.

 

“Right, we got it. Let’s go.”

 

Shadow pulls out the USB and quickly walks out of the room. He walks back through the convoluted hallway. He keeps his eyes out for any guards or other forms of security. He quickly reaches the elevator and swipes his card. He enters the elevator and clicks the main floor. He leans against the wall and waits to get to his destination. He keeps his eyes close and his hands crossed as he waits. However it seems to be taking too long for him to reach the main floor. He opens one eye and takes a look at the floor number. Its passed the ground floor and keeps going up. Shadow gets off the wall and click the floor he wants to go once more. It does absolutely nothing. He snickers and leans against the wall once more.

 

“Seems someone wants to see me.”

 

The elevator comes to a stop. The doors remain closed, but Shadow can hear them begin to open. He awaits the oh so shocking reveal of who dragged him up here. The door opens to reveal Hook, who’s waiting with his hands behind his back. He looks up at Shadow and chuckles.

“Oh, my apologies (Y/N). I was just coming down to see you. Well, no matter. Come with me. You have one more prize.”

 

Hook spins around and begins walking away. Shadow gets off the wall and follows Hook. Hook leads Shadow through a standard looking business area. It’s similar to W.A. Industries’ upper floors. Hook brings Shadow to his office. He immediately walks to his desk and grabs a small check.

 

“It’s the prize money; twenty thousand. Use it as you wish. You can take it to Corona International Bank to cash it. Thank you for participating in the CMFs and I hope you enjoyed the tour of our facility.”

 

Shadow grabs cautiously grabs the check from Hook’s hand.

“Thank you. I’ll be on my way.”

 

Shadow turns for the door and walks out. Hook waits a few seconds after he leaves and walks out of his office. He goes to his meeting room where Gothel is awaiting him.

“So that was (Y/N), huh?”

“Shadow, actually. You can tell by his walk. Shadow has a much more arrogant walk than (Y/N) does.”

“Hmm” Gothel moans, taking in the information. “So you let them leave with the information?”

Hook nods. “I kept them away from everything except the nanobots, though I only let them see the prototype version.”

 

“Ah, so they don’t know what they’re actually going to be used for?”

“Do we even know what they’ll be used for?” Hook redirects.

Gothel turns away and stares at the ground. She stays silent for a moment then comes to a realization. She turns to Hook.

 

“Why did you give him money? I thought the city gave the winner a small donation, not you.”

Hook doesn’t return Gothel’s gaze.

“Hans asked me to do it. His own money too. Why? I have no idea.”

“I hate this. Why do we follow three different people?” Gothel snarls.

Hook sighs.

“Because if we don’t, everything we built will shatter before us. Don’t you want to live to see your anti-aging formula become reality? To never age again?”

 

Gothel rests her head on the table.

“I do, yes. I’ll live to see the repercussions of the winner."

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Sean,” a bulky man with an eyepatch says as he walks into a dimly lit room. “Someone’s here to see us.”

An almost identical looking man sits on a dark red couch. He’s rubbing a golden gun with a piece of cloth. He looks up at him, no eyepatch on his face.

“Who is it Sheen?” He questions with a deep, monotone voice.

“Some snobby looking asshole. He says he’s the one who’s supported us.”

 

Sheen stops for a moment. He lifts his slick, black jacket and places his gun in a holster. He flicks his jacket to look normal and stands up. He walks past Sean and into the hallway. The two walk down the hallway and see a bouncer standing near one of their private doors. The two walk into the room and see an auburn hair man in a white suit. He turns around and extends his arms to his side.

 

“Quite the nice establishment, I must say. Glad to know my advisors helped you out. Even if this is just a… mens club,” Hans greets.

“So you’re the one who’s been sending your support. Why?” Sheen asks.

“My motivations are my own. All I’ve ever asked is for my men to have one room. I’m glad that you haven’t meddled with it. The Stabbington Brothers seem to keep their word.”

The Stabbingtons stay silent and keep their eyes locked on Hans. Hans shrugs and smirks.

 

“I have something for you. I want to make a deal.”

Hans grabs a suitcase that was hidden behind a chair. He holds it in both hands and approaches the two. He stops in front of them and flicks his head at them.

“Open it.”

 

Sheen reaches out and clicks the suitcase. It opens, revealing two silver, tech-like suit. The Stabbingtons look the suit, then at Hans.

“What is this?” Sheen asks.

“Something that will really put you over the edge. I gave you guns so you could become the only gang in Corona. Now you’re going to pay me back. Besides, it comes with a little treat for you.”

 

“What kind of treat?”

“I’ll give you Flynn Ryder.”

 

Both brothers develop a sinister smile on their faces. They look at each other then at Hans.

“What do you want us to do?”

Hans grabs another suitcase and places it near their legs.

“There are… devices in here, along with my plans. Follow them. But make sure to wear the suits. You’ll be killed if you don’t.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Shadow leaves Dysa co. and leans up against the wall. He takes a deep breath and relaxes. He slips out of control and allows you to take the wheel once more. You open your eyes and stretch a little.

“So, we’re good to go?” You ask aloud.

“Yes. I suppose we should cash the check. Nothing wrong with having some money in our pockets.”

 

You throw your hands in your pockets and start walking down the street.

“Hey! (Y/N)!” Someone shouts.

You turn around to see Rain, waving. You smile and give a slight wave back.

“Hey Rain. Where’s Matt?”

“Oh… he had somewhere to be…” He mumbles.

You raise your brow.

“Is he okay?”

 

Rain shrugs.

“Maybe. His father is in town, and demanded Matt to see him. Matt… wasn’t happy about that.”

You smile and place your hand on Rain’s shoulder.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine. How about you come with me? I can get your mind off of it.”

Rain cracks a smirk.

“Sure. That sounds nice.”

 

You pat Rain’s shoulder then move beside him. You two start walking down the street.

“Hey, do you know how to get to-“

“(Y/N)!” Yet another man shouts.

Both you and Rain look around for the source of the voice. Rain taps your arm and points towards a car. Eugene is there, waving to get your attention. You and Rain jog up to the car. You notice Ragnar and Irena in the front seat.

 

“Hey Eugene. What’s wrong?” You inquire.

“You’re what’s wrong! Why didn’t you come see us after the concert? I mean, it’s probably good that you ran away, but still!”

“Why was it good that I ran away,” you ask, chuckling.

“Rapunzel gets… carried away at concerts,” Irena giggles.

 

“So! Anyway, are you coming home?” Eugene asks.

You nod.

“I am, right after I drop by the Corona International Bank. You mind driving my friend and I there?” You ask.

Ragnar waves his hand.

“Of course we can! Jump in.”

 

You turn to Rain and bob your head towards the car.

“Wanna come with?”

Rain shrugs.

“I suppose so. Only if it’s no trouble.”

“It won’t be. Come on. We’ll go get something to eat afterwards.”

 

You and Rain get into the back seat of Ragnar’s car. You scooch into the middle between Eugene and Rain. Rain closes the door and buckles up. You do the same. Ragnar pushes on the gas and begins the journey to the bank. You let your body rest a bit. You lean your head back and stare at the bland roof of the car. Eugene looks over at you, ready to talk. He holds his tongue when he sees your expression. You seem so out of the world. It’s like you’re not in this car, or anywhere for that manner. Yet you look so… happy. Eugene can’t help but crack a smirk just looking at you.

 

“You’re basically the definition of happy-go-lucky, aren’t you?” He whispers.

 

Rain hears Eugene and looks over at you. He sees you not giving a care for the world. He envies you for that. Both you and Matt have that personality that Rain wishes he had. You both have this upfront and bold personality. You say what’s on your mind, and you both stand up for everything you believe in. It’s something Rain just can’t seemed to do.

 

“Huh… why is that road closed? Sorry guys, we’ll need to go a different way,” Ragnar informs.

“So (Y/N), did you really make that song up yourself?” Irena asks.

You don’t answer her. Eugene darts his eyes between you and Irena. He nudges you, getting your attention. You shake your head and look around.

 

“Yeah? What?” You rapidly ask.

Irena chuckles.

“Did you make that song yourself?” She repeats.

You nod.

“Yeah. I just wanted to try something a little different. I’m pretty sure I was the only one who played an original song.”

 

“Oh come on,” Ragnar complains.

“What’s wrong?” Irena asks, turning her attention to Ragnar.

“All the roads are blocked off. What’s going on today?”

 

Ragnar takes a right turn and drives down one of the larger streets of Corona. The Corona Freeway spans above the road. It blocks out most of the sun. You look out the window and see all the cars going at such a slow speed. You know for a fact that you could run faster than this. Suddenly the car comes to an immediate stop. Everyone somewhat flinches forward

 

“Sorry everyone! Traffic just stopped for some reason,” Ragnar states.

“No problem,” you cough.

You brush off some of your clothes and look through the window. You see someone standing on the sidewalk. He’s staring at the car.

“Rain, move out of the way,” you say.

 

Rain raises his brow. You unbuckle your seat belt and crawl over Rain. You open the door and get out of the car.

“(Y/N)! What are you doing?” Eugene shouts.

 

You take a few steps towards the man. You instantly recognize him. It’s Hans. He looks cocky and smug. You clench your fist and are ready to chase him down. He raises his hands and places his index and middle finger to his head. He points towards you with the same fingers, then turns his upper body towards one of the Freeway pillars. He points at it and smirks.

 

You raise your brow and turn your attention towards where Hans is pointing. You look take a closer look at the pillar. On the outer side there is something blinking. You squint your eyes and really see what it is. The blinking becomes faster and faster. It suddenly stops and holds the light once more.

 

You widen your eyes at the realization of what it is.

 

Boom


	37. Down & Out

Chapter 37: Down & Out

 

Your mind is racing faster than it ever has before. You’re trying to think of what to do in this situation. There’s all the people around – the possible casualties. You try to-

 

Boom

 

The device explodes, sending a shockwave around it. The pillar it was attached to gives out and starts to fall. The cars that were around its proximity are pushed away; either flipping over or smashing into other cars. People begin screaming when they realize what has happened. People run as fast as they can in any direction that isn’t where the explosion originated.

 

The shockwave of the explosion sends you flying into a civilian’s car, crushing their door in, making it a useless piece of metal. Your ears are ringing and your head is pounding. You’ve experienced explosions before, but not ones that are man-made. They were created by the elements, tools of the earth. These are unnatural and have unnatural side effects. You hold your head as it pounds. It’s like having a really bad headache. Your head feels heavy, and you barely have any control over it.

 

You slowly start to stand up, using the car behind you for support. You turn back and notice the person inside is scared and stuck.

“Hold… on,” you shout.

You grab the door and rip it off its hinges. You toss it where nobody is then wave your hand towards the driver.

“Come on! Get out of the car!”

 

The man unbuckles his seat belt and bolts out of the car, tripping over himself. You stand up straight and look around for anyone else that’s in danger.

 

“(Y/N), look around the bridge,” Shadow advises.

“Why?”

“I doubt Hans only placed one bomb. There has to be mo-“

 

As Shadow predicted, there is. You see another explosion originate from the pillar ajar to the first one. Then, dozens seem to go off, all around the one area of the bridge. All under the foundation where the freeway holds the cars, and all along the pillars. The freeway starts to give out, and begins to crumble and fall. Bits of cement drop like rain. Larger blocks hit the roofs of cars and almost hit the populace running under it. It’s not their fault. They’re all trying to get out of their cars and run.

 

The freeway starts to collapse, but you notice something. Ragnar’s car is still filled with everyone, and the freeway is about to crush them! You bolt as fast as you can to their location. You leap off your leg and land on the car’s roof. You spread your legs, lower your back, and throw your arms into the air. The freeway lands right on top of you, only being held up by your arms. It pushes down on the back of your head and your back, but you’re able to keep it hold it.

 

“Get out of the car!” You scream. “I can’t hold this thing… forever!”

 

Everyone in the car gets out and runs closer to the sidewalk. You push on your legs a little bit, raising the freeway by mere inches. You use this gap to jump forward, allowing the cement to crush Ragnar’s car. You land on your back, facing the remnants of the freeway. You look towards it and notice cars beginning to slide down. You use your arms and legs to scurry back and plan to get out of the way. You turn around and get on your feet, but see something. A woman and her child are unconscious and lying on the road. Judging by where they are, there’s no doubt they were hit by the shockwave. You turn back to the cars falling down the broken freeway like some demented avalanche.

 

You turn and run to the infant and her mother. You pass by some rubble and attempt to pick them up. One car is uncontrollably coming straight at you. You grab the two and hop right over the car, barely escaping in time. Once your feet hit the ground you once again jump, but this time to the side. You land on the sidewalk and put the two down. Rain, Matt, Ragnar, and Irena run towards you. You look up at them, then back to the two you just saved.

 

“(Y/N), that was amazing! How did you do that?” Irena questions, awestruck.

“Lots of hard work. Now, you should all get out of here. I feel like something worse is coming.”

“Something worse?” Ragnar shouts. “(Y/N) this is a terrorist attack!”

You snicker. “Not quite.”

 

You look towards the group and notice Eugene isn’t with them. You look around and find him slowly walking down the street. You can only see the side of his face, but he seems scared or surprised. You stand up and walk towards him. The small group keeps their eyes on you. You approach Eugene and stand beside him.

 

“What is it?” You ask.

Eugene points. “We’ve… got to get out of here.”

 

You look to where Eugene is pointing. There are two men walking menacingly towards you. Slowly. Heavily. Every step they take is taunting someone. You focus a bit and see who they are. It’s actually more like what they are. Two bulky figures in light suits of armour. One is black, and the other is dark grey. Their outfits seem almost skin tight, and small bursts of colours pump through specific areas – starting from the neck and spreading to the arms and legs. Their faces are exposed, revealing people who you feel you’ve met before. They look almost identical. The only difference in the one in the black suit has an eye patch.

 

“Wait… aren’t those-“

“The Stabbingtons,” Eugene finishes. “We’ve got to get out of here. Rapunzel’s parents have to leave right now. They can’t be seen with me!”

You take another look at the Stabbingtons, who are staring straight at you with devilish smiles. You move in front of Eugene and place your arms on his shoulders.

“Eugene, it’s going to be alright. I’ll distract them, you get Ragnar, Irena, and Rain out of here.”

 

Eugene takes in what you say. He slowly nods his head and begins to run away. You turn back towards the Stabbingtons and spread your legs a little bit, getting ready for some movement. You quickly soak in the environment you’re in. Rubble and debris litter most of the open space on the road. Anything it doesn’t cover is instead blocked by cars. You were in traffic after all, so the street is filled with them. There isn’t much space around you, as the street is very narrow. There are four lanes for road, a few meters for the sidewalk, and the buildings that stack across. There aren’t any alleyways either, so you aren’t going anywhere. The only place to go is the way you came, which leads to multiple other streets that can be used for escape. Almost everyone who aren’t your friends are taking that way out.

 

You tap the ground twice with your dominant foot then burst off of it. You gain some momentum in the space you have then hop over the first car. You send one foot forward while raising the other one closer to your body. You land on the extended foot and use it to keep your momentum going. You take two steps before taking another jump, this time executing a front flip over the car. Your nose just grazes the metal of the car you pass. Your feet land atop a different car, and you decide to attack. You push yourself forward and up, putting yourself at a decent height. You begin spinning like a top as you approach the Stabbingtons. When you approach them you increase the speed and let your dominant leg go in for a kick.

 

Your leg approaches the one with the eye patch’s head. He raises his arm and catches your shin. You’re extremely surprised that he had the speed to catch it. Your other leg is in a perfect spot to deliver a kick, however. You quickly snap your leg to try and kick his face. Sheen lets go of your first foot and grabs the one trying to kick him.

 

“You know… this isn’t how I planned this going,” you comment.

 

He gets fed up with you. He grips your leg tight then grabs hold with his other hand. He spins around once then lets go, sending you flying into one of the pillars that hold the freeway. Your body smashes against it then falls to the ground. You take a knee when you land, and use one hand to keep yourself up. You cough up a bit of blood, leaving some on your lips. You wipe your mouth then wipe your pants, leaving mild blood stains on your jeans.

 

Sheen watches you slam into the wall and fall to the ground. He joins his brother as they continue to approach Eugene. They see him running away, and want him.

“Brother, you know we must kill the other. Take care of the annoyance while I claim the true prize,” Sean states.

“As long as you don’t kill him. I want some for myself,” Sheen emotionlessly states.

 

Sheen turns around and begins approaching your position. The suit beeps and it covers his face in the same material. There is small spots that are dark grey. The size resembles sunglasses, and are indeed used for sight. Through Sheen’s eyes, there is combat data and a HUD for him to see. The suit locks onto you and reads you.

 

You stand up and see the black suited one walking towards you. There’s no doubt you’re going to have to fight him, but it concerns you that only one of them is in your sight. You stretch your neck both ways and smile. Sheen Stabbington cracks his knuckles then starts running at you. There is a car that bars the path between you and him. There’s room to go around it, but none for a direct approach.

 

Sheen begins running towards you. Once he reaches the car he shoulder charges it, forcing it towards you. You start running and slide underneath it. The car tumbles over you and slams into the pillar, landing on its side. You get on your feet and come in for your attack. You push off the ground and flip over Sheen. His suit follows you and gives Sheen an opening. As you flip over him he sends his hand straight into your stomach. You cringe at the strength of his hit. He keeps his fist at your stomach and grabs your shirt. He turns around and slams you on the ground, resulting in a crack in the cement. He lifts his hand off of you and goes in for another punch. You roll out of the way and attempt to sweep his feet out from under him. He lifts his leg closest to him and waits for your foot to get under it. He slams his foot down, crushing your shin. You clench your teeth and flip your body over, rolling your leg under him. You send your other leg into his stomach, effectively getting a hit on him.

 

He stumbles back a bit leaving him open for an attack. You tuck your legs in and ready your hands behind your head and lock them. You push them forward and spring towards your opponent. Your legs connect with his chest. Once you feel his stomach on the bottom of your feet you extend your legs and send him back. You curl up into a ball when you spring backwards, spin once, then open your body up again and land on your feet. You don’t give him any leeway and go in for another attack. You rush at him and launch your fist at his face. The suit detects this and helps him guide your hand away from his body. You attempt a hook with your other hand, but he catches your fist. You raise your knee towards his stomach, but he uses the first hand to palm the knee down. Immediately after he pulls the same hand back a bit to charge it, then thrusts it right into your stomach. Everything but your hand is sent back by the punch. He pulls you back in and brings his leg to your face with a clean roundhouse kick. You spin through the air and smash into a car.

 

You fall flat on your stomach; your body feeling the beating you just received. You push your upper body up and look at the Stabbington. You crack a small smirk and get to your feet.

 

“It’s almost like… no… it can’t be…”

 

You ignore the thought for now and rush at him.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Eugene approaches Rapunzel’s parents and Rain.

“Listen, we have to go. Now!” Eugene says with urgency.

“We can’t go. (Y/N) is still here,” Irena argues.

“There are other people still trapped in their cars. We can’t let them stay there,” Rain says, looking over at you. “Especially with what’s going on.

“Why? What’s going on?” Ragnar asks, moving beside Rain to see what he’s looking at.

 

Eugene rushes in front of Ragnar and pushes him beside Irena.

“Eugene!? What is the meaning of this?” Ragnar shouts, regaining his balance.

“You two have to go. Now. Please trust me. If these guys see you with me they’ll-“

 

The three are suddenly pushed behind a car by Rain. He places his finger over his mouth, telling them to stay quiet.

 

“Ryder,” a voice says, dragging out the name. “Come out. I know you’re here.”

“Ryder? Who is that?” Irena questions, looking at everyone.

Eugene sighs.

“I- I’m… Ryder. He’s looking for Flynn Ryder. It’s a long story, but you have to trust me. If he sees you with me then you two, and Rapunzel, will be in danger. I won’t let that happen!” He says with conviction.

 

Rain peeks out from the car. He sees Sean Stabbington walking across the opposite end of the street.

“He’s over there. We have to think of something, or you aren’t getting out of here.”

Eugene stares at the ground, thinking of what to do.

“Rain,” he says, turning to Rain. “Will you stay with me to help the people still in danger?”

Rain nods. “As long as violence isn't a part of this plan.”

 

Eugene turns back to Ragnar and Irena.

“Listen, as soon as I get his attention you two run. You got that? You run as fast as you can.”

“We’re not-“

“Please!” Eugene loudly whispers, cutting off Ragnar. “Please trust me. Get back to Rapunzel, alright?”

 

Irena places her hand on Ragnar’s chest.

“Dear. I don’t like this either, but I think we should listen to Eugene. Let’s trust him. Rapunzel would.”

Ragnar looks at Irena. He stares into her eyes for a moment then sighs in defeat.

“Fine… Just don’t get hurt. Rapunzel would get mad at ME!”

Eugene smirks.

“I won’t. Just go.”

 

Eugene runs out from behind the car. He stays moderately silent as he maneuvers through the cars. He gets an ample distance away from Ragnar and Irena and gets closer to where you are.

“Hey Sean!” He shouts.

 

Sean turns around and devilishly smiles.

“Ryder… Glad to see you aren’t trying to weasel away again.”

 

Ragnar and Irena notice that Sean’s attention is completely focused on Eugene. Rain lightly pushes them.

“Sorry for that. I didn’t mean to be rude, but you should probably get going now.”

Ragnar and Irena nod. They stay low and begin scurrying away from all the commotion. Rain watches them for a bit then looks around for people to help.

 

“You know, I could give you an eyepatch just like your brother,” Eugene confidently threatens, placing his hand on his hips.

Sean smiles and starts making his way towards Eugene. Eugene slowly backs up, keeping distance between him and Sean.

“What’s wrong Ryder? Scared?”

“No… I just appreciate my personal space. You wouldn’t understand that though, and I get it. Brother likes to spend a lot of time together. People like you can be touchy feely you know,” Eugene rambles.

 

Sean clenches his teeth and looks to the nearest car. His suit lights up on his arms. Sean picks up the car and throws it at Eugene. Eugene’s eyes widen. He dives to the side, keeping himself out of the way.

 

“I really have to think things through sometimes.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Ragnar stops running. Irena passes him then stops. She turns back to him and motions towards her.

“Come on. We have to go.”

“I don’t like leaving those three behind. They’re just kids.”

“They’re in their twenties, sweety. Well, I’m not so sure about that Rain fellow, but Eugene and (Y/N) are. They can handle it.”

 

Ragnar shakes his head.

“I’m not allowing my son in law and my soon to be nephew in law to be in danger. I just can’t do it.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Rain opens the door for some people and directs them where to go. He looks around for anyone else that’s in danger. Well, obviously other than the two who are in clear danger. He cringes when he sees you and Eugene placing yourselves in danger. He wants to help, and he’s fully capable of. But he hates the violence. He can’t stand it, but he can’t stand watching you all in danger either. It’s a double edge sword, and he’s unsure what edge of the blade he’d rather be on. Which one pierces deeper?

 

He sees some people still trapped on the fallen part of the freeway. He makes his way up there to help them.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Sheen grabs your throat and lifts you into the air. You’ve barely hit him, but you’re bleeding and bruised. Your nose and mouth are letting blood flow, while your legs and back have a few bruises. He tightens his grip on your neck. You yelp in pain. You kick his stomach, but he pushes away every kick you throw. He shoves his fist into your stomach and lets go of your neck. He uppercuts your stomach with his free arm then hits you with a hook. You fly to the side, bouncing across a couple cars and landing near the other Stabbington brother.

 

Eugene sees you land near Sean.

“(Y/N)!” He calls out.

Sean looks over at you. You’re coughing up some blood and getting back on your feet. Sheen slowly walks towards you. His mask retracts, showing his face.

“You should fight this one brother. He’s impressive.”

 

Sean smirks. He changes his course from Eugene to you. You get on your feet and look at the two men approaching you.

“Two’s some fun, three is a crowd man. How about you let me finish here?” You chuckle.

“Funny guy, huh?” Sean remarks.

 

Sean gets to you first. He throws a punch at you. You duck under it and punch him twice in the stomach. You see Sheen make his way in from the other side. He tries to hit you with a hook, but you guide it away from him. You use the momentum to spin and kick Sean in the stomach. You pivot your leg on the ground and spin back towards Sheen. You drive your heel into his ribs. Unfortunately this did little to either of them. Before you can react Sean hits you with a good punch to the face. Sheen follows up with a hit in the gut, then Sean with another punch to the face. You stumble onto your knees after the hit to the face. Sheen walks in front of you, putting his feet right in front of you. He snaps his foot at your face, sending you onto your back.

 

Sean lifts his leg and hovers it over your face.

“Good night.”

 

Eugene rushes at them with a pipe. He strikes Sean’s ribs, which disrupts him. You take this time to get on your feet. You roundhouse kick Sheen, which he blocks. You bring your leg back quickly so Sheen doesn’t grab it. You jump and front kick Sheen back, making him stumble back. You turn around and attack Sean. He’s already recovered from Eugene’s hit, and his attention is on Eugene.

 

“That… was unwise, Ryder.”

“So was attacking us!” You shout.

Sean turns around only for his stomach to be punched by you. You drive your fist as deep as you can into his stomach. You charge your free hand and punch Sean away. He flies into a car and lands on his behind.

 

You drop to one knee and breathe heavily. Eugene comes to your aid and helps lift you up.

“Are you okay?” He asks.

“I’m… I’ve been better. Tell me, have they always been this skilled?”

Eugene shakes his head.

“They used to fight as any normal person would. Why?”

 

You gently push Eugene away, standing on your own.

“Their technique… it’s like I’m fighting my father, but with a more brutish style. Still, the resemblance is there. Thankfully their nature has made them slightly easier to fight, but… I can barely fight one of my father, and now there are two of them.”

 

You notice Sheen pick up a car and slam it vertically in front of him. He starts running at you, using the car as some sort of wall. You look back and see Sean doing the same. You push Eugene out of the way, then jump up. You just make it over the cars. You land on top of them, placing one foot on each car. The two pull back their cars, stealing your footing. You fall between the cars. In midair, the brothers slam the cars together once more, crushing you.

 

You howl in pain. Eugene shakes his head and sees what’s happening.

“(Y/N)!” Eugene shouts, anger taking over. “You bastards!”

The Stabbingtons back off from you and toss the cars into the closest building. You fall to the ground, unresponsive. Eugene wants to help you, but the Stabbingtons make it difficult for him to reach you. He begins to slowly back off as the two approach.

 

“We don’t like being reminded that we didn’t have a father,” Sean says.

“Your insensitivity is annoying,” Sheen adds.

 

Before Eugene can act Sean grabs him by the throat and lifts him up. He holds him for a second then tosses him into a pillar. Eugene slams against it then falls to the ground. Sean touches his ribs and the suit responds. A small holster pushes out of the suit and exposes a golden revolver. He points it at Eugene.

 

“Goodbye Ryder.”

 

He pulls the trigger. Sean’s face droops in disappointment. Ragnar stands in front of Eugene, his arms spread apart. Blood begins pooling around his chest. Eugene sees this and tries to stand up.

 

“Ragnar!” Irena screams.

 

Ragnar tries to speak, but he just falls on his side. Irena rushes to him, flipping him on his back. Rain sees this occurrence and rushes to the scene. The Stabbingtons ignore the sentimentality and focus on Eugene.

 

“Lucky break Ryder. You won’t get another.”

“Yeah… he will,” you struggle to say.

The two look at you. You push yourself onto your feet and assume a lazy fighting stance.

“You’re an annoyance,” Sean states. “We’ll deal with you right now.”

 

Both Stabbingtons approach you. You smile. You want them to focus on you and not the others. Sean attacks you, but you block it. Sheen, however, gets a hit in, and the two start a combo against you, which you can barely defend yourself from. You have no doubt in your mind. The way they move and the way they fight are too similar to Alistair. This fact alone make it almost impossible for you to fight.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Eugene manages to crawl over to Ragnar.

“What did… I tell you?” He chuckles.

Ragnar lets out a smile but says nothing. Rain reaches Ragnar and examines his wounds.

 

He’s going to bleed out…

 

Rain sighs. He can save him.

“Everyone, back off him for a moment.”

Irena takes her hands off Ragnar and watches Rain. He takes off Ragnar’s shirt and looks at his wound; he’s bleeding heavily and needs medical attention. Rain lifts Ragnar up and looks at his back. There’s a hole there too, but it's slightly misaligned with the one in the front. The bullet must have been thrown off-course inside Ragnar, and made a new way out.

 

At least it isn't lodged in there. That makes it easier. Alright.

 

Rain takes in a breath and raises his hands in the air.

“I said I would never do this… but this is to save a life. It’s different,” he says aloud.

Irena and Eugene have no idea what he’s talking about. Rain’s hands start to shake a bit as he slowly moves them through the air. He focuses on Ragnar’s wound and begins manipulating something. Irena looks at Ragnar and notices that blood isn’t flowing out of the wound anymore. Rain moves his hands around a little more then stops. He looks at Irena and smiles.

 

“He’ll be okay. Use something to cover his wounds then take him to a hospital.”

“Wha-what did you do?” She stutters.

“I… I manipulated his blood flow. It’s all water, when you think of it. It’s just… red…”

Eugene thinks quickly. He rips off the sleeve of his shirt and begins wrapping it around Ragnar’s chest. It can only go around him once, but Eugene makes it tight enough.

 

“What’s with all of you? How can you stop bleeding and h-how can (Y/N) fight those men?” Irena asks, on the verge of tears.

Eugene raps his arm around Irena and hugs her. She accepts it.

“It’s complicated. We’ll explain when we aren’t… (Y/N)!”

 

Eugene stands up and looks around for you.

 

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You jump out of the way of a punch and land on a car. Sheen jumps in the air and brings his fist down upon you. You push off the car to dodge it. Your feet hit the side of another car, giving you an opportunity. You push off the side and dash towards Sean. You’re able to land a solid punch, but Sheen grabs your leg and throws you into a car. Sean walks up to you and starts beating you into the car even more. You cough up blood every punch.

 

Eugene takes the same pipe as before and goes in for another attack. Sean turns to Eugene and catches the pipe.

“I’m done with you Ryder.”

Sean punches Eugene, making him bounce across a few cars. Eugene rolls off the final car and lands on the ground. He holds his stomach and coughs. He can’t get up at all. The pain is too much.

 

With the window Eugene gave you, you get back in the groove. Sheen throws a barrage of punches at you, which you somewhat keep up with. You dodge his last attack and throw your foot at the side of his head. You somehow use enough force to make him flip in the air and fall to the ground. You instantly turn to Sean and Eugene. You start running. Sheen grabs your leg, making you fall on your face. Sheen gets to his feet before you can. His arms start glowing more intensely. He lifts you over his head and smashes you on the ground beside him. He quickly does the same thing but on the other side of him. He smashes you around eight times before holding you in front of him by the leg. Your body limply dangles from your leg. Sheen smirks. He punches you in the stomach, making your eyes open and you to spit out blood. He spins you around then grabs your neck. He holds you a little higher than him as he chokes the life out of you. You try to kick his face, but you have neither the strength nor the momentum to get enough force to hurt him. He simply strangles you more intensely.

 

At the same time Sean is tossing around Eugene like he’s nothing. Eugene has no strength to fight back at all. He can’t combat something like this, so he’s basically just a practice dummy. Sean shoves Eugene to the ground and rests his foot on Eugene’s head. He puts a little bit of force on Eugene.

 

“Come on Ryder. No quips, puns, jokes, or even a sarcastic comment? I’m disappointed.”

“I’ve just got… a lot on my mind right now.”

Sean snickers.

“There he is.”

 

From a distance Rain and Irena witness everything. Irena is in tears of disbelief, while Rain is shaking to his core. His whole body is on overload thinking of what to do. You’re both about to die, and there’s nothing Rain can do about it. He’s thrown in this situation – a situation he doesn’t want to be in. He’s not a violent person. He’s not a person who wishes harm on others. He hates to see people hurt, and seeing one of his close friends being killed in front of him is driving him insane. He’s holding his double edged sword… and he stabs himself with one of the edges.

 

He lifts both of his arms up – one towards Sean and the other towards Sheen. Tears are falling down his eyes.

“I’m so sorry… Please… Stop… I don’t want to do this,” he whispers, hoping the two will hear him.

Instead he hears your screams, as distorted as they are from being choked. Rain yelps as he goes through with his action. He starts controlling the blood inside both Stabbingtons.

 

Suddenly Sheen’s grip loosens. He lets go of you and starts screaming. You fall to the floor, barely able to keep yourself awake. Sean removes his foot from Eugene’s head, and he starts screaming as well. Rain does his best to ignore the screams; they only make it worse. He closes his hands together, which makes the two brothers fly towards each other. They both rip off their masks and claw at their faces. Blood starts to intensely pour out of their nose, ears, mouth, and around their eyeballs. It slowly seeps out of their skin, desperately trying to escape their body. The skin tight suits begins filling with blood, and it’s only escape is through their facial area. The blood simply bursts out of the openings. Rain feels terrible about this. His emotions are skyrocketing, which is only augmenting the pain it’s causing the Stabbingtons.  Within a minute their bodies are drained of blood. A pool of blood has formed under their limp, pale, lifeless bodies.

 

Rain sees what he’s done and drops to his knees. He remains silent, and just stares at what he’s done. He has almost no expression on his face. Just a blank stare. He’s not even sure who just died right there. It’s like he’s empty and cold. There’s nothing left in his body. All he can feel is the blood flowing through him. The water that rushes all around him; his sixth sense. You’re able to get yourself to him. You get right in front of him then fall to your knees. You breathe heavily, but have a slight smile on your face. Sweat is dripping down your nose and chin, hitting the hot pavement.

 

You turn your head to Rain, still smiling. You see… actually what worries you is what you don’t see. You don’t see Rain’s face. His shyness has dripped away, but nothing has replaced it. He looks lifeless.

 

“Rain… are you okay?”

Rain doesn’t acknowledge you. He blankly stares straight at the building in front of him.

“I’m fine… I think… I think I’m going to go home now.”

Rain gets off his knees and starts walking down the street.

“Rain!” You call out.

 

He doesn’t respond. He doesn’t flinch. It doesn’t even look like he’s breathing. You want to go after him, but your body is so beat up that you couldn’t catch up even if you wanted to. You glance over at the now deceased Stabbingtons. If there’s one thing you need to know, it’s how they were able to fight the way they did. You get on your feet once more and stagger over there. You look down at their bodies and see their lifeless, pale faces.

 

“No blood… Rain really did a number on them. No wonder he-“

“Life signs not detected. Wearers status: Terminated,” a robotic male voice states, emanating from the two suits. “Disposal is in effect.”

You raise your brow.

“Disposal? What does that me-“

 

Before you can finish your sentence both suits explode. The dual explosion sends you flying back. You smash into one of the few pillars still standing, hitting the back of your head on impact.

 

Then… it all went black.

 

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Anna turns off her car and lets out a small sigh. She looks over to the passenger seat and grabs the small lunch box that sits there. It’s one of Anna’s old ones from when she was younger; pink, flower stickers, and a few rust marks. She gets out of the car and gazes upon the grand, if unfinished, building in front of her. There are barriers to keep people out, but of course there are some routes to enter.

 

Anna keeps the lunchbox with her and finds one of those entrances. She walks in and is greeted immediately.

 

“Hey! What’d you think you’re doing here?” A construction man shouts, jogging to approach her.

Anna stands her ground, keeping the lunchbox out of sight.

“My boyfriend, Kristoff Bjorgman is here today. He forgot his lunch, so I’m here to drop it off. I’m Anna, by the way. Anna Anderson,” she happily greets, reaching out to shake his hand.

 

The man hesitates for a minute, but does accept her gesture.

“So you’re the infamous Anna. I have to say, you’re a lot more… tame than Kristoff described.”

“Oh? And how exactly did he describe me?” She inquires.

 

The man crosses his arms and looks to the sky, thinking back to what his co-worker said.

“Impulsive. Loud! That was a big one.”

Anna giggles.

“Well, he’s not without merit. Anyway, where is he?”

“Oh, he’s working on the base of the building. His lunch is soon, actually, so you could catch him right as he’s going on break.”

“Well, thank you,” Anna says, beginning to walk away.

 

“Hold on! You’ll need a helmet if I’m to let you walk on the grounds.”

He jogs to one of the nearby stations and grabs an extra helmet. He runs back to her and hands it over.

“Policy, you know.”

“I understand. Thank you.”

 

Anna places the hat on her head, covering everything but the two ponytails resting on both of her shoulders. She walks around the grounds, keeping her eyes out for Kristoff. It’s a little harder to find him than she thought. Most of the men around here have muscle to them, and of course the women that she sees aren’t Kristoff, so they’re dismissed right away.

 

“I am very manly, thank you very much!” A voice shouts.

 

Anna giggles to herself. She recognizes the voice and can only imagine the conversation that Kristoff is having. Probably him bragging about how much of a ladies man he is, or… something like that. It’s exciting for Anna to try and come up with what it could be. She looks down at her girly lunchbox and deviously smiles. She comes up with an awful idea. An awfully brilliant idea. She hops and skips towards the source of Kristoff’s voice.

 

She was right to do so, as she finds him with three other of his co-workers. Kristoff has his arms crossed and is looking away. Anna sneaks around him so that she sees his back. However, she’s also close enough to hear.

 

“I don’t know man. My brother was in your school and said that you mostly stood on the sidelines,” a brown eyed man says as he leans closer to Kristoff, his hands on his hips with a smile on his face.

“I was not! I would like to think that I was the silent hero. I kept my mouth shut but helped everyone. I was quite the gu-“

 

Anna slips right beside Kristoff, surprising everyone.

“Oh Mr. Silent Hero,” Anna says in a babying manner. “You seem to have forgotten your lunch, so I brought it for you. I made sure to use your favourite lunchbox,” she finishes, displaying the box.

 

Kristoff’s eyes widen and he throws his body back, practically throwing backwards onto the ground. His co-workers see the lunchbox and raise their brows.

“This is your lunchbox? Very hero like, I’d say,” one says, holding in laughter.

 

“Anna! What are you doing here!? And what is that!? I’ve never seen this in my life!”

“Well what are you talking about?” She says in an innocent tone. “You’re the one who bought it. I have to say that it’s SUPER adorable of you.”

 

Kristoff’s co-workers cover their mouths to try and hide their laughter. Kristoff looks over at them for a second then back to Anna.

“Stop it! You know I’ve never seen this before! What are you trying to do!?” He shouts.

“Why’re you shouting, you big ol’ teddy bear? I thought you said you’d use it with pride?”

“I… but you… I never… you’re just… this isn’t…”

 

Kristoff gives up and lets his whole body slouch. Anna giggles and turns to his co-workers. She makes a gesture, telling them to shoo.

“Can Kristoff and I have a few minutes?”

“Of course. Anything for the big ol’ teddy bear,” they laugh.

 

Once everyone leaves Kristoff turns to Anna.

“What the hell was that Anna!? Were you trying to ruin all credibility I have?”

Anna starts laughing.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist. How about,” she says, changing to a seductive tone and making two of her fingers walk up his chest. “I make it up to you tonight?”

 

Kristoff blushes and begins rubbing the back of his head.

“Well… I mean… if you want to.”

Anna starts laughing once more.

“My goodness, you’re starting to sound like (Y/N) when Elsa teases him.”

“Hey! I… wait… doesn’t it work though?”

Anna gets on her tippy toes and kisses Kristoff.

“Yeah… it does.”

 

They two suddenly hear whistling from behind one of the walls.

“Hey!” Kristoff shouts.

“You seem to work with some nice guys.”

“Yeah… this happens whenever someone’s girl drops by. Speaking of which, why are you here?”

Anna pushes the lunchbox into Kristoff’s stomach.

“I came here to actually give you this. You forgotto pack a lunch but still took your own lunchbox. This was the only thing I could find.”

 

“Not even a paper bag or something?” He inquires.

Anna shakes her head.

“Olaf just takes them all the time, so Elsa stopped putting them on the list.”

“Hm… hey speaking of that, where is Olaf? I didn’t see him today. Thought he might be back.”

 

Anna’s persona changes from cheery to concerned. She lowers her head and stops smiling.

“I don’t know. Elsa asked around but nobody has seen him. He was supposed to be picked up a few days ago, but the mother Elsa talked to said Olaf wasn’t there.”

Kristoff crosses his arms and looks away.

“Maybe it’s time we alert the authorities. He could be in trouble.”

“Elsa already did. All we can do is wait.”

 

Kristoff wraps his arms around Anna. She’s taken back at first, but quickly warms up to the idea.

“He’ll be fine. He’s a resourceful little guy.”

Anna hugs Kristoff tightly.

“I know… but thank you.”

 

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Elsa turns off the tap, finishing her short chore. She takes a towel and slowly dries off her hands. She neatly places the towel beside all the washed dishes.

“Anna can do them when she gets home. I think I deserve a little break.”

Elsa leaves the kitchen and heads to the main room. She places her head at one end of the couch and stretches all the way across. She lets out a small yawn as she does this. Elsa lets her body sink into the couch, and she just lays there. It’s comfortable, and she enjoys these small moments. Though, she’d enjoy it a little more if you were here with her.

 

Elsa reaches into her back pocket and pulls out her phone. She unlocks it then flips to your contact information. That same picture is still there, reminding of her a less stressful time. Elsa stares at that picture, thinking back on your entire relationship.

 

Back when she first met you; when you bumped into her. She revolted the thought of socializing with anyone, so she ran away. There’s no way she would have thought that you would become the man she loves. Then onto the dozens of amazing things you did. You didn’t just give up on her. You kept trying to talk to her no matter how much attitude she threw at you. You made friends with Anna and Kristoff. You stopped Hans from using Anna, the same way he tried – and failed – to use her. You’re also the reason that Anna is so happy with Kristoff now. It’s all you. You were the one who showed her how to open up, you were the one who fought for her against forces that you could barely keep up with. You could have cut and run when Pyro attacked, but no. You stood and fought for Elsa, even taking a fatal wound for Anna. Again and again you proved to be loyal to not only Elsa, but her entire family.

 

Elsa starts to smile as she thinks back to those early days; the simpler days. Elsa looks over at the coffee table and sees the remote. She attempts to grab it but it’s just outside her grasp. Elsa pouts. She scooches her body over slightly and stretches her arm out all the way to try and get it. She tries to push her middle finger farther in order to at least touch it. Then, she can reel it in. Elsa lets her hand drop before touching it. She shakes her head and spins herself into a normal sitting position.

 

“I was so close to acting like Anna there. I’m glad nobody saw,” Elsa giggles.

 

Elsa grabs the remote and turns on the TV. The news channel is what appears right away. Elsa shrugs and leans back. Right now it’s just talking about some dispute between countries about some resource or another. As head of W.A. Industries, Elsa already knows about all that. She has to in order to know what products to create, where to ship them to, and what stocks to worry about. But she’s home right now and doesn’t have to worry about that at the moment.

 

Suddenly Elsa hears the doorbell ring. She stands up and looks at the door, pondering who could possibly be here. Anna, Kristoff, Gerda, Kai, or even you would have just walked in. She approaches the door and opens it. She’s surprised to see who is paying her a visit. Juno.

 

“Juno? What’re you doing here?” Elsa questions, refraining from sounding rude.

“Well, Alec told me he’d handle all of your affairs today. It’s near closing time anyway, so he just sent me home. I’m just here to let you know of a few affairs that I thought require your attention.”

 

“Alright… Well come in then.”

Elsa backs away from the door and extends her hand, signaling Juno to come in. Juno holds some files tight in her hand as she walks in. She looks around Elsa’s house, admiring the interior.

“This is a beautiful house Ms. Anderson.”

“Oh, well thank you. But please just call me Elsa. We’re not at work.”

 

Juno smiles.

“Of course, I forgot. Sorry Elsa.”

“It’s of no concern. Come. Sit with me. I was just relaxing.”

Elsa leads Juno to the couch and the two take a seat. Elsa turns to Juno right away.

“Would you like a drink? Coffee? Tea? Water?”

“Ah, no, thank you, I’m fine,” she politely refuses.

 

Juno lays down the files she brought on the table. She doesn’t open them up right away, but she does draw Elsa’s attention to them.

“Are these the files I should look over?”

Juno nods.

“They are indeed. But I… I need to ask a favour of you.”

 

Elsa nods towards Juno.

“Speak your mind.”

“My husband is coming back to Arendelle tomorrow, and only for a single day. May I take tomorrow off? If not then it’s okay, I understand.”

“No, of course it’s okay. I would be asking the same thing if my fiancée was coming back.”

 

Juno raises her brow.

“Ah yes. (Y/N), was it?”

Elsa nods.

“He has business in Corona. It’s a shame but… well I’m sure you’d like him if you met him. He’s actually quite the stand-up guy.”

 

As the two converse the front door opens. Anna walks in, slightly surprised at the mystery person.

“Hello, I’m Anna. Who’re you?”

“Oh,” Juno says, standing up and extending her hand. “I’m Juno. I work as Elsa’s secretary.”

Anna takes off her shoes and shakes Juno’s hand.

“Pleasure to meet you. Good to know Elsa’s letting SOMEONE help with her schedule.”

Elsa makes a face at Anna. Anna sticks out her tongue. Juno sees this back and forth and chuckles.

“Siblings are really something to watch. I miss it.”

 

Elsa turns to Juno.

“You have a sister?”

“Oh, no. I have two sons. They used to go back and forth all the time, bantering about everything. They still do, I hear. I don’t get to see them as much as my husband does.”

Anna slips away from the conversation and heads to the kitchen. She sees the dishes still drying and sighs.

“I’m assuming you left these for me?” Anna shouts.

 

“I did indeed,” Elsa proudly states.

Elsa leads Juno back to the couch. The TV starts becoming more prominent without the two talking.

 

“In other news, police have more insight on what happened this afternoon-“

Elsa turns off the TV.

“No need to have it on right now. So, Juno, what’re your plans for tonight?”

“Oh… well I was just planning to go home after dropping off the files.”

Elsa waves her hand in front of her.

“Oh nonsense. You should have dinner with us. We could introduce you to my sister’s boyfriend, and it’s Anna’s turn to cook anyway.”

 

“Well,” Juno says, looking away from Elsa and contemplating the offer.

“You don’t have to stay all night, but we would enjoy the company. Please, I insist.”

Juno cracks a small smirk.

“Alright, I will. Thank you. But, may I ask where your bathroom is?”

Elsa points to a small hallway, past the kitchen.

“Down there, to the right. It’s the only door in that hallway. You can’t miss it.”

 

Juno stands up and bows her head towards Elsa.

“Thank you.”

 

Both Juno and Elsa stand up and go their separate ways; Elsa, to the kitchen, and Juno, to the bathroom. However, Juno doesn’t go to the bathroom. She slips out the back door and takes a few steps away from the house. She drops to one knee and starts laughing.

 

“I could kill them… kill them right now and be done with it. It’s inevitable… they’ll die anyway… I want to… EASE the suffering,” she rambles.

Juno throws her fist into the ground, leaving a small mark.

“No! Alistair doesn’t want me to… I’ll get my chance… I’ll get my kill…”

 

Juno hears a noise and looks over towards the garden. A black and white cat cautiously walks along the pond. It sees Juno and stares at her curiously. Juno stretches her arm towards the cat. The cat sniffs the ground a little bit then slowly makes its way to Juno. It reaches Juno’s hand and sniffs it. Juno leans forward a little bit and starts rubbing under the cat’s ear. The cat begins purring and is clearly enjoying the attention. Juno smiles. Her face suddenly changes, and she forcefully grabs the cat’s face. She spins her hand around, snapping the cat’s neck. Juno lifts the cat up by the face then throws it at least a mile away from the Anderson household.

 

“Pathetic creature,” she angrily states.

 

Juno stretches her neck then walks back inside the house. She quietly enters through the door and goes into the bathroom.

 

Elsa, on the other hand, is already talking with Anna.

 

“So Kristoff isn’t going to be here for dinner?”

Anna shakes her head as she puts away a plate.

“No. I brought him a ton of food for the night. He won’t be back for couple hours. Maybe 11 or so.”

Elsa readies some pots for the food. She looks over at Anna as she stands up straight.

“I didn’t think construction workers worked so late.”

 

“Some overtime thing or another. The city really wants this building made. I’m not too sure of all the details myself, but Kristoff said he was getting paid a lot more for working at night,” Anna explains.

Elsa nods her head and fills up a pot of water. Anna raises her brow.

“Aren’t I making dinner tonight?”

Elsa shrugs.

“Well, it has to be good. We do have a guest.”

 

Anna stops dead in her tracks. She puts down the cup she was drying and looks over at Elsa.

“Is there something wrong with my cooking?” Anna questions.

“What? No. Not at all,” Elsa deflects. “But out of the two of us, who’s the better cook here?”

Anna cross her arms and leans on her hip.

“Who was the one who made (Y/N) gag?”

“It was one time! The chicken must have been wrong or something. I followed the recipe to the letter!” Elsa defends.

“Yeah,” Anna snickers. “Well thanks to that we can’t have lemon chicken anymore; one of Kristoff’s favourite dinners.”

 

Elsa lets her body slouch, and she sighs.

“Fine… my apologies. But if he wanted it that badly, why haven’t we made it while (Y/N) was gone? There’s two times I can think of where he’s been gone for extended periods of time.”

Anna raises her finger and opens her mouth, as if she has something genius to say. Nothing comes out of her mouth. Elsa’s raises an eyebrow and smiles.

 

“I’m still waiting for your response.”

This time Anna’s body slouches.

“Shut up. You’re mean,” she spews, turning around and walking away.

Elsa crosses her arms and smiles.

“There’s no way out that way, Anna.”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious!” Anna shouts.

 

Elsa giggles. Juno exits the bathroom just in time to hear Anna’s little outburst. She walks into the kitchen and smiles at the sight.

“So, would it be rude to ask what we’re having for dinner?”

Elsa turns around to face Juno.

“Spaghetti. Is that okay?”

Juno nods.

“That sounds great.”

 

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1 Hour Later

 

The three women sit down in the living room. Anna insisted that they sit there because her favourite show is about to come on. The women sit on the largest couch which holds about three people. Four if people squish together. They set their plates on the coffee table. Anna grabs the remote and turns on the TV. The news is still on.

 

“In other news we have more information on the terrorist attack that occurred this afternoon. Poli-“

The channel switches through some channels, as Anna is searching for her show. Elsa was a little more interested in what the news was saying, but she stays silent. Anna finally reaches the channel. Her jaw drops and she lets out a wail.

 

“What’s with the TV? What’s with all the news?”

 

The TV shows a male news reporter standing with another male cop.

“So, can you tell us what you’ve discovered?”

“Well, it’s obvious that some sort of explosive device that destroyed the freeway. We’ve blocked it off from both sides until repairs can be made,” the policeman answers.

“And was anyone seriously hurt?”

 

“We only had three people who were seriously injured. The rest got to safety with minimal injuries.”

 

“We got the chance to talk to some of the people who experienced the accident,” a voice over of the same reporter says.

A woman takes the screen.

“A lot more people were able to make it out because of this young man. I saw him get a ton of people out of their cars, and even saved myself and my child from being crushed,” she recollects. “If not for him, I might not be here.”

 

“From what witnesses describe, the young man is suspected to be recent CMF winner, (Y/N) Knight, who was sent to the hospital with serious injuries.”

 

“Isn’t that your fiancée?” Juno inquires.

Elsa doesn’t answer. She drops her utensils and completely focuses on the news. Anna looks over at Elsa and sees the desperation in her face.

 

A clip of you playing during the CMFs is played.

 

“(Y/N) Knight was found unconscious in a critical condition. Apparently, his wounds suggest that he was beaten before finally going unconscious, but there are no witnesses to what might have happened. Two others were rushed to hospital, including Ragnar Dyke and Eugene Fitzgerald. Ragnar’s wife, Irena Dyke, was also found at the scene but sustained minimal injuries. Ragnar was found with bullet wounds, while Eugene was found in a condition similar to (Y/N). Their exact injuries and current condition are unknown to us, as the hospital they were sent to, Corona Hospital, aren’t giving away any details. We’ll be bringing you all the information we can find on this story as we get it.”

 

Both Juno and Anna stare at Elsa. They can both see she’s broken. The only thing she can think of his how you’re doing. She wants to be with you. She wants to be holding your hand as you lie in the hospital bed, telling you it’s going to be alright. She can only imagine how Rapunzel is feeling. But it’s hard to think of others right now. The only one she can think of his you.

 

Why (Y/N)… why can’t you go anywhere without getting hurt?

 

 


	38. For the Right Cause

Chapter 38: For the Right Cause

 

Dozens of people loiter around the front door of the hospital. Some people are on their phones, updating loved ones on the status of whoever is kept here. Others are just playing on their phones, trying to pass the time. The only other type of people are people in groups; either with their friends or with the person residing in the hospital. It’s easy to tell these groups apart, but they’re all here for the same reason. They all have someone they care about in the hospital. It’s never an easy event, but it shows how much these people actually care.

 

But someone is in a hurry. Rapunzel sprints through the front door of the hospital. She attracts the attention of everyone around her with the running and the sobbing. She enters the hospital and looks around for the main desk. Most of the place is covered by people, but it’s still clear enough to see what’s around. She looks from left to right. First thing she sees is a coffee shop, followed by a gift shop. When she finally looks to the right she finds the main desk. Rapunzel runs towards it, pushing people out of her way.

 

She throws her hands on the desk, instantly grabbing the attention of the receptionist.

“Please, can you help me!?” She frantically asks, tears running down her face. “I need to find my father and husband: Ragnar Dyke and Eugene Fitzherbert”

The receptionist gives Rapunzel a reassuring, warm smile.

“Alright young lady. Just take a second to breathe while I look up their room numbers.”

“Th-thank you,” Rapunzel says, sniffling.

 

Rapunzel crosses her hands on the desk and rests her head on her arms. She can’t even imagine what could have happened to them at the freeway. She was having a relaxing afternoon until she heard. She was going to surprise everyone by making dinner. She wanted to make something huge to congratulate you for your win. She also wanted to give you a socking for not finding her family afterwards, and just running away somewhere else. Either way, she was excited for tonight. While taking a break she decided to watch some TV. She was a little annoyed when every channel was just filled with news. Once she stopped fighting it she actually stopped and listened to what they were talking about. The moment she heard that her family and you were sent to the hospital she started running as fast as she could. She didn’t even think of bringing her car, she just ran.

 

She ran and cried the entire way to the hospital. Now she’s here, and she needs to see her loved ones.

“Excuse me, young lady?” The receptionist pipes up.

Rapunzel lifts her head and stares at the receptionist with eager eyes.

“Lucky for you, Ragnar Dyke and Eugene Fitzherbert are residing in the same room. Take the elevator up two floors. It’s room 262.”

“Thank you so much! Thank you!” Rapunzel spews.

The receptionist smiles.

“It’s no problem. I do this for a living.”

 

Rapunzel is just about to run to the elevator when her phone goes off. She takes it out of her pocket and looks at the notification. It’s a text from Elsa. Rapunzel unlocks her phone and looks at the contents of the message. It reads “Call me please, I need a favour.” Rapunzel jogs outside as she hits the call button. She exits the doors and stands around with everyone else. She’s joined one of the three groups.

 

The phone rings for a second and then a voice is heard.

“Rapunzel?” Elsa asks.

Rapunzel can hear a hint of desperation in Elsa’s tone.

“Elsa, it’s me. I guess you heard.”

“I did,” Elsa quickly responds. “Have you gone to the hospital yet?”

“I was just about to see my family,” she says, placing her leg over the other and crossing her one arm.

“Can you do me a favour, please? Can you check up on (Y/N)? I need to know if he’s okay.”

 

Rapunzel smirks then nods even though Elsa can’t see her.

“I will, I promise. But I want to see my father first.”

“I-I understand. Just please… please let me know he’s okay.”

“I will Elsa, I promise. Rest easy, as I’m on the case.”

Elsa lets out a weak snicker.

“Yeah… well, thanks Rapunzel. We’ll talk later.”

“Definitely. See ya later cos.”

“Bye.”

 

Rapunzel hangs up the phone then rushes back inside. She speeds up to the desk once more, making the receptionist chuckle at her return.

“Is there something else I can help you with?”

“I need to know where (Y/N)…” Rapunzel pauses for a moment trying to remember your last name. “(Y/N) Knight! I need to know where he is!”

The receptionist turns back to her computer.

“One moment, I’ll look him up. He’s the one who played at the CMFs right?”

Rapunzel nods.

“That’s the one.”

 

“Ah, I loved him. All my friends and I were just ogling him,” she admits.

Rapunzel chuckles.

“I’ll admit, it was kind of hard not to.”

The receptionist giggles a bit but still keeps focused on her work. She pulls up your file and is a little surprised at the result. The surprise is evident on her face, and Rapunzel picks up on that. She raises her brow and leans in a bit.

 

“What’s wrong?” She asks.

“His file… I can’t access it. Says it’s restricted… that’s… odd. I’ve never seen that happen before. I apologize, but I can’t get his room number. I think it’s on the same floor though. Maybe the staff can tell you. Sorry I couldn’t help,” she states with disappointment.

“That’s okay. Have a nice day, miss!” Rapunzel says, departing.

“Yes. You too.”

 

Rapunzel runs through the hospital and reaches the elevators. She looks at the indicator that displays what floor each elevator is on. Two of the three are on the third floor. One is on the second. Rapunzel approaches that elevator and calls it down. She waits a few moments for the elevator to get to her floor. Once the elevator door opens Rapunzel rushes in. She clicks the second floor and waits for it to close once more. Nobody comes into the elevator, so Rapunzel can easily go to the floor she wants with no interruptions. The elevator door closes and it starts going up. Rapunzel holds on while the elevator begins to elevate. It raises to the second floor and opens up. Rapunzel bolts out of the elevator and down the hall, passing nurses and patients alike.

 

The thought of asking where room 262 is never crosses Rapunzel’s mind, despite that being the smartest course of action. Instead she just bootlegs it through the floor, hoping that she’ll stumble across. Rapunzel turns the corner and bumps into someone, causing her to fall on the ground. Rapunzel hits her head on the floor which dazes her a bit. The man she bumped into doesn’t fall over, and is just taking a second to gain his bearings. He looks at Rapunzel and widens his eyes.

 

“Ma’am, are you alright?” He asks, leaning over and extending his hand to aid her.

Rapunzel lifts her upper body and rubs her head. She looks up at the man. He has short brown hair and brown eyes. He is slightly skinny, but it suits his face. He’s wearing an all-white suit with white gloves. Rapunzel takes the man’s hand and get up. He brushes himself up a bit then looks at Rapunzel.

 

“My apologies. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going,” the man states.

“No, no. It was my fault. I was running and being reckless. I’m sorry.”

The man shrugs.

“Let’s just say we’re both to blame. But it seems like you’re in a hurry.”

Rapunzel nods.

“Yes, I do need to go. But I didn’t get your name. Mine’s Rapunzel.”

The man bows his head towards her.

“Erik.”

 

Rapunzel waves and starts running again. Erik keeps his head bows and smirks.

“Erik Westergaard.”

He lifts his head and looks back at Rapunzel, who runs down the hall and turns the corner. Erik places his hand in his pockets and slowly walks through the hospital. He keeps his mind to himself, trying not to hear anything he doesn’t want to. It can get annoying sometimes.

 

He reaches the elevator and clicks the button. Thankfully the door opens immediately and he walks on in. He pulls one hand out of his pocket and clicks the third floor. The door closes and does its job. It brings Erik to the third floor. Erik leaves the elevator and takes a right. He strolls through the hallway, and stops at the door right before the hallway turns. Room 397 is displayed on the door. Erik opens the door and walks in. He sees a man lying on the bed, sleeping. The name above reads: (Y/N) Knight.

 

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Rapunzel finds the room and rushes into it. She sees her mother, Irena, sitting on a chair next to Ragnar. He is lying in bed, but awake. Irena’s hand is on Ragnar’s, and they both have smiles on their faces. When Rapunzel runs in, the two look over at her. Ragnar opens his arms and smiles.

 

“Come here my daughter, come here,” he says, chuckling.

Rapunzel’s eyes tear up and she accepts his offer. She runs up to him and accepts his embrace. She’s full on crying now, dampening a small part of Ragnar’s gown.

“I-I was… s-so scared. I t-thought you…”

“Shh, it’s okay Rapunzel, its okay. It’s over now,” Ragnar whispers, stroking Rapunzel’s brown hair.

Rapunzel squeezes her father tighter, making sure she knows he’s really there. She almost lost him. She’s not prepared for that.

 

Rapunzel’s eyes widen and she pushes off from Ragnar. Ragnar is a little confused by this, as is Irena.

“Eugene! Where’s Eugene?” She questions.

Both Irena and Ragnar’s faces drop a little. Irena points across the room to an area that is covered by a curtain. Rapunzel looks at the curtain, her mother, then back to the curtain. She starts to get nervous – playing with her fingers and swallowing an excess of saliva. She slowly walks towards the curtains and opens them up. She covers her mouth when she sees him.

 

Eugene is connected to a plethora of different machines. His face is beaten so badly that it’s no longer his own skin colour. One of his eyes and mouth are swollen, whilst one leg and arm are in a cast. Rapunzel’s eyes produce tears once more. She’s never felt so helpless and sad in her life. Yes, her father was hurt but he’s okay in the end. Her husband, however, is on the verge of death.

 

She slowly approaches Eugene, still not believing that he’s in such a state. She stands right beside him, staring at him. He’s sleeping, or unconscious. Either one would be suitable at the moment. Luckily Eugene’s right hand isn’t the one in the cast, so Rapunzel can just hold is hand there. She softly places her hand on Eugene’s.

 

“Why do you always have to act like a hero?” She whimpers, half complaining half chuckling. “You’re not as tough as you let yourself believe…”

“Rapunzel,” Irena interrupts. “If it wasn’t for Eugene, I don’t think anyone would be here right now.”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t be shot,” Ragnar mumbles.

Irena lightly slaps Ragnar’s chest to shut him up. Rapunzel smirks for a moment then returns her gaze to Eugene.

 

“Everyone alright in here?” A man’s voice inquires.

Everyone looks to the door to see Hunter and Gaia. Gaia is dressed in a beautiful green dress whilst Hunter has a simple white t-shirt with cargo shorts.

“We rushed here as soon as we heard,” Gaia says, walking close to Rapunzel.

“I don’t mean to be rude but… who’re you?” Irena questions.

“Oh,” Gaia jumps, turning to Irena and sticking out her hand. “My name’s Gaia. I’m Hunter’s girlfriend.”

 

Hunter raises his brow and looks at Gaia. She said that so smoothly without any hesitation or anything. She just said it. Hunter crosses his arms and leans against the wall leading out of the room.

 

“Oh, a pleasure to meet you. I’m Irena, Rapunzel’s mother and Ragnar’s wife.”

“It is a pleasure indeed, though I wish we could have met under better circumstances.”

Irena’s face drops.

“I agree, all too well.”

 

Gaia walks over to Eugene. She stares at the broken man and sighs.

“Such a shame. How is he doing?”

“We’re not sure. Doctors ran some tests and said they’d be back soon,” Ragnar replies.

“Ragnar, sweetie,” Irena says in a soft voice, squeezing his hand. “You shouldn’t be talking too much. You need to rest.”

 

Rapunzel ignores her parents and moves close to Hunter.

“Do you know where (Y/N) is? The receptionist I talked to couldn’t find his room.”

Hunter nods.

“Yeah, I know.”

Rapunzel shifts her head back a bit in surprise.

“How do you know?”

Hunter lazily shrugs.

“Family talents. Why? Do you want to see him?”

 

Rapunzel nods.

“I promised Elsa I would let her know how he’s doing.”

Hunter flicks his head towards Eugene.

“You’re going to leave him?”

“Only to see how (Y/N) is doing, then I’ll come back.”

Hunter is about to push off the wall but someone comes in behind him. A doctor walks in holding a notepad. He reads it then looks at the room. He has a grey hair and a grey goatee. Contrary to the hair, he doesn’t look too old. You could predict late 50s. Maybe he got grey hair early? Who knows.

 

He looks up at the room and gets startled.

“My, I didn’t expect so many people. There were only three when I was last here.”

Rapunzel moves in front of the man.

“I’m Rapunzel, Eugene’s wife. How is he doctor? Will he make it?” She asks, a mix of hope and sorrow in her voice.

The doctor lets out a warm smile.

“He’ll live. However he will have to stay here for a few weeks. It’s doubtful that he’ll be awake for another few days. Now, about his injuries…”

 

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Erik triumphantly strolls into your room. You’re lying on the hospital bed, unconscious. The blankets cover your entire body, and there are three metal chains holding you to the bed in the event that you wake up prematurely. Erik grabs a chair leaning against the wall opposite you and drags it beside the bed. He takes a seat, lifting one leg onto the other. He smiles at your emotionless face.

 

“Seems you got exactly what you were after. Did I end up helping? I really did, didn’t I? Apologies for leaving in a rush but… I had things to do. But now my time in Corona is ending, and to Arendelle I must go. I wonder what kind of people I’ll meet in Arendelle,” he monologues with confidence, sarcasm, and arrogance.

 

He pushes off the chair and leans over you, his mouth right above your ear.

“But I’m sure that you’ll do well, hm? I’m rooting for you, you know. Both of you. Perhaps I can become the new Monarch if you end up killing Alistair. Yes, I think you should kill Alistair. Kill him.”

 

Erik hovers above you, waiting. His eyes are staring at your forehead. After a moment his expression changes to a less-than-pleased one. He smacks the side of your bed and takes a few steps away.

 

“Goddamnit!” He shouts. “I can’t enter your mind! Alistair must have planned it out. He must have known, and that’s why he implanted those other two inside of you. That bastard. But how? Did he know I would come back? Did he know I could so perfectly refine the curse he forced onto me,” he rambles, looking directly into the ceiling light. “Almost his entire family is immune to me… except one.”

 

Erik deviously smirks. He spins around, looking at you once more.

“You really know how to listen to a man. That’s why I like you. You can just sit and listen… oh, I could kill you now but that wouldn’t satisfy me. Alistair wouldn’t suffer enough if you died. Maybe Juno..? No, she’d recognize me in an instant. So, sadly,” he states, leaning against the head of your hospital bed, looking down at you. “You’re the one I’m putting my faith into. You’re the one who has to kill Alistair for me. I doubt it matters whether I place that idea into your mind or not. Your battle with him is inevitable. I would bet even Alistair knows that.”

 

Erik walks away from the hospital bed.

“And when you kill him… I will take over. I will be the new Monarch! I will take what Alistair has, shape it into my own image! Then… you will no longer be needed. Either…”

 

Erik pauses. He looks around the room, trying to decipher what he’s feeling.

“Alistair… he’s coming. He’s here. Leaving would be most wise of me, most wise indeed. Goodbye (Y/N). Next time you see me I’ll be the new Monarch. Maybe I’ll say hello to your beautiful fiancée during my stay in Arendelle,” he taunts.

 

Erik waves then scurries out of the room.

 

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Shadow stands silent in Limbo. His eyes are closed and his posture straight. The clear shade of white that has taken over this plane of existence doesn’t bother him at all, though he did prefer the shadows of the old one. Sure, it’s not completely white here but the colourless colour of white far outweighs the darkness.

 

Shadow opens his eyes once Erik leaves.

“You? Monarch? No… The Monarchs will be all but extinct once we kill him. You won’t take that position. No one will.”

 

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The elevator opens to the third floor. Alistair – in a black suit like always – walks out of the elevator. He takes a left and starts walking down the hallway. A nurse runs up to him and flips through her clipboard.

“Would it be rude if I presumed you are Mr. Alistair Knight?”

Alistair pauses and turns his full attention to the girl. She’s young, likely right out of whatever medical school she attended. Alistair gives a suave smile.

“I am Alistair Knight, yes.”

 

The nurse holds her clipboard close to her and blushes. She looks down for a moment to regain her composure. She looks back up at Alistair and keeps a stern face on.

“Someone left a message for you – a note, to be more specific.”

The nurse grabs it from her clipboard and hands it over. Alistair takes it and is about to read it.

“The man said he was a… an old friend. He emphasized “old” friend. But he said you’d be up here to see Subject 9.”

 

Alistair lowers the paper and looks at the nurse.

“Subject 9?”

The nurse hesitantly nods.

“Yes, that’s what he’s labeled as. I couldn’t tell you why, as I really don’t know. But orders are orders, you know.”

“Yes… well… thank you for the note. I’ll be going now.”

 

Alistair keeps the note in his hand and begins walking away. He slowly walks down the hallway as he reads the letter. A smirk slowly creeps onto his face. It evolves into pure laughter. He throws the letter in the holowatch and starts tampering with it. It brings up a small menu with a list of people. Alistair scrolls down to the bottom and stops it. His finger hovers over the name “Alec Westergaard”. He clicks it.

 

Alistair closes up the holowatch and enters a room. He sees you lying on the bed, chained up. He sighs and crosses his arms.

“You’re pathetic (Y/N). Getting taken down so easily. At least here… I can borrow something from you.”

Alistair activates his holowatch and summons two items from it. One being a knife.

 

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Hunter, Gaia, and Rapunzel leave the hospital room. Rapunzel is evidently the most stressed and miserable. Gaia looks at Hunter and subtly gestures him to comfort her. Hunter shrugs his shoulders and mouths “I don’t know what to do”. Gaia leans on one hip and raises her brow to him. Hunter moves his arms to his side, still not knowing what to do. Gaia sighs and moves closer to Rapunzel.

 

“Hey, I’m real sorry. The doctor said he’d make a full recovery though,” Gaia consoled, placing one arm on Rapunzel’s shoulder and using the other to offer her a tissue.

Rapunzel takes the tissue and wipes away some of the tears.

“I know but… I wish I was there. I wish he wouldn’t get himself hurt like that.”

Gaia’s face drops a little bit. Rapunzel looks up at Hunter, who doesn’t look all too happy either.

“I’m so sorry,” she states, dabbing around her eyes. “Your brother was hurt in all this too. We should go see him.”

 

Hunter snaps out of his own little trance and looks at Rapunzel.

“Are you sure? You can stay with your family.”

“No. I… I need a second away from them. Need some time to process things.”

Hunter puts his hands in his pockets and looks to the ground.

“Fine… come on. He’s on the third floor.”

 

The three walk away from the room and towards the elevator. Gaia stays beside Rapunzel, making sure she’s okay. Hunter leads them all towards the elevator. Hunter looks away for one second and bumps into someone. The man he bumped into is just out of Hunter’s vision. The only thing he sees is an all-white suit. Hunter means to say something but is cut off by a sentence.

 

“You’re right about Alistair,” a voice whispers.

Hunter regains his balance and looks back to the man. Unfortunately the white-suited man has already turned the corner. However, his words seem to be echoing in Hunter’s head. Hunter places his hand on his head and rubs it a bit.

 

Did I really hear that? I think I did but…

 

“Hunter, are you alright?” Gaia asks.

Hunter looks to Gaia and waves her off.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Maybe just a little shaken or something.”

Gaia doesn’t believe that one bit. Hunter is barely ever shaken by anything. The only time she ever recalls him being moved is when he was forced to murder the batch of elemental children. Something is wrong, and she’ll definitely find out what it is.

 

The three proceed into the elevator and arrive at the third floor. Hunter leads them to your room. He opens the door and walks in first. He sees Alistair looming over an unconscious and tied down you. He has a knife in his hand, directed at you.

 

“You’re right about Alistair,” a voice echoes in his head.

 

Hunter rushes at Alistair. Alistair turns his head just in time to see Hunter tackle him against the far wall, the one with all the windows. Hunter grabs the collar of Alistair’s shirt and pushes him against the wall.

“What are you doing to (Y/N)?” He shouts.

 

Gaia realizes what’s happening and rushes towards Hunter.

“Hunter stop it! This isn’t the place!” She barks, grabbing his arm and attempting to pull him away.

Alistair holds a smirk on his face.

“You heard the lady. Back off, son.”

“Don’t call me son!”

“Hunter!” Gaia sharply says.

 

Hunter looks back at Gaia. She has a serious look, but also an underlay of concern. Hunter reluctantly lets go of Alistair and backs off. Alistair fixes his suit and looks to Gaia.

“Thank you, Gaia.”

“Don’t be thanking me. I have no love for you, but you two going at it here would cause even more problems,” she snarls.

“Cat has claws. Nevertheless,” Alistair shrugs. “I’m only here for (Y/N).”

 

“Like you care,” Hunter comments.

“Well, I’ll admit that my primary purpose here isn’t to see if he’s okay or not. I’m more interested in what happened. However, it’s unfair to say that I don’t care at all that my son is in the hospital.”

 

“Son?” Rapunzel whispers to herself. She exits the corner of the room and approaches Alistair. “You’re (Y/N) and Hunter’s father?”

Alistair shifts his eyes to focus on Rapunzel.

“I am indeed, and you’re the only child of Ragnar and Irena Dyke who’s married to Eugene Fitzherbert, formerly known as Flynn Rider.”

Rapunzel raises her brow.

 

“How do you know that?”

Alistair snickers.

“I know a lot more than that, Ms. Dyke. But lets not focus on me.”

Alistair walks beside you and takes position over you. He places his fingers on two separate points on your face and neck. He feels around for a moment. Once he finds what he wants he applies a jolt of pressure. Alistair stands back, awaiting your awakening. Instead, you snore and try to move, but the chains keep you down.

 

“Oh for fuck’s sake.”

 

He opens his palm and shoots a small burst of lightning at you. Your eyes fly open and you try to jump out of the bed. The chains rattle while you struggle.

 

“Bah! God! What the hell!” You shout, looking down at the chains. “Why am I chained up? This is… actually kind of like my dream. Except where is..?” You look at the people around you. “Oh! Hey… I-I really wasn’t chained up in my dream. That’s just pshh, nonsense. It’s the drugs I’m hopefully on to give me this excuse,” you nod your head in reassurance.

 

Rapunzel and Gaia giggle a little bit while Hunter and Alistair shake their heads.

“So, uh… why am I chained up? Is there any chance I can get unchained?”

“Well, I was going to unchain you but…” Alistair glances over at Hunter. “Something interrupted me.”

Hunter crosses his arms and turns away.

“I’ll do it now.”

 

Alistair grabs the chain and rips them apart with his bare hands. He tosses the chains to the side of the bed while you raise your upper body off the bed. You stretch your arms a bit then hop off of the bed. You get low and stretch one of your legs out. You bounce a little while doing it then switch to the other leg. Everyone waits as you finish your stretches. You stand back up then look at everyone.

 

Before you can say anything Rapunzel embraces you in a hug. You’re surprised by this spontaneous action. You slowly put your arms around her and chuckle.

“What’s this?”

“I’m just happy you’re okay. I know Elsa will be too.”

 

You process her words.

“Elsa?”

Rapunzel lifts her head off your chest and nods.

“Mhm, Elsa saw that you were sent to the hospital. It’s all over the news.”

 

Your mouth slowly drops and your face slowly becomes pale. You start quiet then escalate to a loud yell.

“What? What?” Everyone shouts.

You grab your head with both hands.

“Elsa is going to kill me! She’s going to freeze my body and use it to keep everything cold! I told her, I specifically told her that I would be okay and then she finds out I was sent to the hospital! I’m going to be murdered! I can’t go back!”

 

“Calm down (Y/N)” Rapunzel giggles. “She sounded way too concerned to be angry. Plus, I doubt she’s ever been angry at you.”

You relax then shrug.

“I suppose. So, where’s Eugene? How is he?”

Rapunzel’s face drops.

“Eugene is in near critical condition. He won’t be out of the hospital for a few weeks,” Gaia answers.

 

You look over at Rapunzel, who’s staying silent now. You walk over to her and give her a hug.

“If it wasn’t for Eugene, I would be dead. He’s a hell of a guy, you know?”

Rapunzel lets a smile creep on her face.

“I know… that’s why I love him. But (Y/N)…”

“Yeah?”

“I want you to find the person who did this… I want you to make sure he doesn’t do it to anyone ever again,” she says with determination. “Promise me that?”

You smile and nod.

“I promise.”

 

“So (Y/N), I have a question,” Alistair interrupts.

You let go of Rapunzel and turn to face your father.

“Shoot.”

“How was Hans able to beat you so badly?”

 

You rest intertwine your fingers behind your head and let your head fall back into your hands.

“It wasn’t Hans, personally. It was the Stabbington brothers.”

“Those clowns?” Hunter remarks. “Well at least you did Corona a favour by getting rid of them.”

“Yeah… But they had this weird suit. It glowed all over their bodies, especially in areas that were using a lot of strength. I remember when one threw a car at me his arms began glowing more than the rest of his body.”

 

“Has to be Hook’s suits,” Alistair mumbles.

 

“But the kicker was that… well… they fought like you do,” you finish, looking at Alistair.

“Me?”

You nod.

“Their size made the fighting style a bit different but there’s no mistaking that they fought like you.”

 

Alistair crosses his arms and looks at the floor.

“Which means Hans implanted my combat data into the suits. The only place that would have my data is underneath W.A Industries. There, and… hm… guess I know where I need to go now,” he thinks to himself.

 

“Interesting,” Alistair says aloud. “Seems we need to investigate this. Maybe we’ll find Hans in the process.”

“Excuse me,” Rapunzel says, cutting in. “Did I hear that right? You two have fought before?”

You and Alistair nod.

“Why?”

 

Gaia places her hands on Rapunzel’s shoulders and starts leading her out of the room.

“I’ll explain. These guys have some stuff to talk about. Hunter, I’ll see you later?”

Hunter nods. Gaia leads Rapunzel out of the room, leaving Alistair, Hunter, and yourself alone in the room. You and Hunter keep your eyes on Alistair, never diverting them. Alistair keeps his eyes on you alone.

 

“So… what investigating did you have in mind?”

“You said that they could fight like I can. From what I know of the suits – which is everything there is to know about them – in order to input someone’s techniques and style into the software you need their combat data; recordings of their fights and such. There are two places where I record myself training. We’re going to go to one of those places.”

 

“Where is it?” Hunter inquires.

“An underwater base, code name: Atlantica. I believe you’re familiar with the place, Hunter?”

Hunter snarls and looks away. You look at Hunter for a moment then return your attention to Alistair.

“I guarantee Hans was there. We’ll go tomorrow.”

 

This takes you by surprise.

 

“Tomorrow? Why tomorrow?”

Alistair crosses his arms and slowly walks towards the door.

“You need rest. Push your body too hard and you’ll kill it.”

 

“Hey! I can take it!” You shout.

Alistair stops and sighs.

“Everyone needs a break, (Y/N),” he turns his head towards you, only showing one of his eyes. “Even me. After the fight with you back at the temple I needed a break – a rest. Even though you can take a lot, which is evident since you can walk around contrary to Eugene who's down for weeks, that doesn’t mean your body is indestructible.”

 

Alistair turns back to the door and approaches it. He opens the door and is about to step out.

“Hey! One more question,” you call out.

Alistair stops walking and stands in the doorway.

“Why is it that I’m so durable?”

Alistair stays silent for at least a minute. The silence annoys you, but intrigues Hunter.

 

The very fact that it intrigues him annoys Hunter. He hates Alistair, but he always has something cooked up, or some secret locked away. Alistair is a one-man knowledge bank with information on almost every person on the planet. There’s no doubt that he likes to be prepared, at that he’s an undeniable genius. Just taking a look at some of his creations proves that. The underwater base that Alistair mentioned, Atlantica, was designed by him. The holowatch, specialty helicopters and cars, his own armour, all of it was his invention. Most of the products that Keralu and Dysa co. produce were originally thought up by Alistair. Though Hunter hasn’t found anything about it, he believes that the origins of all elementals came from a project that Alistair and Pabbie worked on. It was related to his psychic ambition, which was obviously a success.

 

“What would be the fun if I told you?” Alistair snickers.

He walks out of the room and closes the door. You turn to Hunter and he shrugs.

“So… what should we do?” You ask, hoping he has any sort of plan because you certainly don’t.

 

That’s something that happens often. You never really have a plan anymore. Granted, you never had a plan. Improvisation was your best subject in drama class. Though it seems improvisation isn’t the best idea nowadays. Not when you’re facing people who have back-up plans for their back-up plans. Then again, rushing in and doing anything you want can disrupt plans. Adgar and Idun were an example. Who knows what their plans were before you showed up, and how you destroyed everything they planned for. Or did you? Who knows? This goes way too deep for you to put together. It’s hard to even tell who the bad guy is. Hunter says Alistair is, but in your opinion the worst one is Hans. Hunter and Alistair would agree that Hans is a threat as well. But, Hans is someone who threatens you personally. That does give you more of a drive to stop him.

 

Hunter crosses his arms and turns around. He stares out the window, staring down at the nearby street. He watches the cars speed by. You raise your brow at Hunter’s lack of an answer. You walk up beside him and stare out the window. You see what Hunter sees: cars driving by.

 

“You know, staring at the road always entertains me. I always imagine what other people are doing, and where they’re going. Gaia and I like to do it when we’re together.”

“Hmm,” you mumble.

“To think that billions of people have no idea what’s really going on… to think that billions of people’s fate lies with three men,” Hunter lightly shakes his head. “And we’re two of those men.”

 

You put your hands in your pockets and glance over at Hunter.

“Did you become a fortuneteller when I wasn’t looking?” You question.

Hunter sighs.

“No… I just took a second to see the bigger picture. A picture you’re apparently blind too.”

You turn your head away from him and cross your arms.

“Well if you told me what it was then maybe I would know.”

“If someone described the Mona Lisa to you, would you truly understand what makes it so great?”

 

You drop your arms and stare at him.

“Seriously, the hell is wrong with you?”

“Ah, nothing,” he says in a goofy tone. “Just trying to put on my serious persona. Usually fits serious situations when people almost die. You’re lucky Rain was there, you know.”

You look at the floor.

 

Lucky for me… but I’m not so sure if it was as fortuitous for him.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Matt pulls into his drive way and turns off the car. He opens the door, steps out, then slams it shut.

“Stuck up prick. Fuck him. Just… Fuck!” He says to himself.

Matt is in a beautifully tailored dark blue suit with a suitable dress shirt under it. His shoes make a prominent sound on the pavement as he walks up the driveway and enters his house. It’s a quaint house in the middle of the suburbs. The whole section is filled with houses and nice people in them. Matt is no exception to that.

 

He enters his house and takes off his shoes.

“Stupid ignorant bastard!” He mumbles.

Matt walks into the living room to find Rain sitting regally on the couch, watching TV. Rain looks over at Matt and gives him a fake smile, but Matt didn’t notice the falseness due to his irritation.

 

“What’s wrong?” Rain asks, trying to convey emotion.

 

“My father! Such a fucking asshole! You know I had to have dinner with him?” Rain nods. “Well it was all a trick, just like I thought. Still trying to convince me that I’m sick or confused or… god I want to strangle him. You know what I did for him? What I PUT MYSELF THROUGH FOR HIM!? I went through all his goddamn training! The camps, the lectures, everything! I became one of the best pilots in the air force; I can fly anything that’s put in front of me! I became one of the best fighters! One of the best snipers! ONE OF THE BEST! I worked my ass off for my father’s approval but no! Because I love without boundaries, because I love you! You,” Matt sits on the couch right beside Rain and grabs hold of his hands. “Who knows pain more than I do. You, who I love so much because of who you are. Nothing… nothing my father will ever say can make me leave you.”

 

“Did he try to do that? Make you leave me?” Rain slowly asks.

 

“You better believe it! The bastard tried! You know, he offered me so much; money, rank, my very reputation back after he tore it apart and left me in the dirt. But fuck him! I’m happy! I have someone who loves me!” Matt shouts, standing back up. “I’ve made my living all by myself! He judges my clothing business, well fuck him! ‘A stereotypical fag job’ he says. Well, he can go fuck himself! What does he know anyway!? Nothing! Fucking nothing!”

 

Rain remains silent, staring at Matt. He’s never seen him so angry before in his life. Matt has always been such an upbeat person, but there was something about his dad that made him so mad. Rain’s parents never really cared about him either. They hated him because of his sexuality, and because of what they made him. It’s the same with Matt, evidently. Matt is the way he is because of his father. Matt would claim that it’s by choice, but it was a choice made possible by his father, which means it was indeed forced upon him. Rain grinds his teeth for a moment. It’s just like how he was forced to kill.

 

Matt takes in a few breaths, trying to calm himself down. He can’t seem to.

“And you know what else! I-“

Matt stops and looks at Rain. His head is down and tears are streaming down his cheeks. His hands are intertwined but their shaking oh so subtly. Matt then starts to hear a quiet sobbing. He rushes to Rain’s side, pulling him into a hug.

 

“Rain! Rain what’s wrong?”

“I… I… Matthew… I k-k-killed… someone…”

 

Rain has never once called Matt Matthew.

 

“I… my powers… my curse… I know so much more… than any of them... the human body is made up… made up of 70% water. Water that I-I can manipulate. Matthew I bled them to death!” He screams, tears sliding down his face. “I forced their blood to go against their bodies! It hurts! I put them through so much pain… pain nobody sh-should have to go through. But I had to, Matthew! I had to!” He shouts more to himself than at Matt. “If I didn’t, (Y/N) and Eugene would have died! I had to! I had to!”

 

“Shhh, it’s okay,” Matt whispers, pulling Rain into his chest. “I’m sure they left you no choice.”

“But… but I don’t… kill. Matthew I dedicated this power to helping people… not killing them.”

Matt starts chuckling a bit.

“What?” Rain asks, slightly offended.

“You are the most amazing person in the world, Rain. You wouldn’t hurt a fly even if it wouldn’t leave you alone. You sat on this couch and listen to me ramble about my family issues whilst you held in something far worse. You let me talk. You put my needs before yours, like you always do.”

 

Rain shrugs.

“You seemed to be having a bad day. I know you’re father always riles you up.”

“See. You’re not all that bad, Rain. I’m sure (Y/N) would agree with me. Don’t beat yourself up about it this much, please.”

Rain smiles and returns his head to Matt’s chest. Matt strokes Rain’s hair for a second before smirking.

 

“I have to admit… its nice being the support for once.”

Rain smiles.

“It’s not so bad to have someone to lean on.”

 

The two stay in their position for a few minutes.

“You know, all the stress and anger I had towards my father is completely gone now.”

“That’s good. It’s a good thing my family problems are long gone, else who knows what we’d be like.”

 

Matt smirks then goes into a thought.

“Hey Rain.”

“Mhm?”

“What were your parents like? I mean, I know they kicked you out but… I never actually asked how they were beforehand.”

 

Rain sighs.

“You remember the elemental program, and how all the kids were kidnapped, right?”

Matt nods, then figures out a little loophole.

“Wait… if all the kids were kidnapped and don’t know about their families… how did you know yours?”

 

“I was a little bit older than the other kids, though I look the youngest now. I remember how the Hierarchy took me. My parents… they hated their poor life. They hated that they couldn’t give me anything. So… they sold me to the Hierarchy.”

 

“Did they know what was to be done with you?” Matt inquires.

A single tear starts forming in Rain’s eye.

“Yes. Yes they did. I don’t think they expected me to come back to them once we were released. They were surprised… almost disappointed that I returned. Actually they didn’t even recognize me at first. I used to have black hair, and I had a little more mass to me. They barely said anything once I introduced myself. So, I went to my room to find that my room wasn’t mine anymore. I have… had… a baby brother. They weren’t ready for me to come back. The money did them good though. They fixed up the house, bought fancy items… but they abandoned me. Once they saw my powers in action, and knew of my… preferences… they kicked me out.”

 

Matt lifts Rain away from his chest and stares him in the eyes.

“I’m so sorry. I never knew.”

Rain cracks a fake smirk.

“It’s fine. I’m over it.”

“Looks like neither of us had perfect parents, huh?” Matt chuckles.

 

Rain smiles.

“No, that we did not. But I wouldn’t give it up for the world. I have Hunter, and Gaia, and (Y/N) as friends. I doubt that would have happened if they kept me. But best of all,” Rain kisses Matt’s forehead. “I have you. That’s all I’ll ever need.”

 

Matt smiles, while Rain cuddles back into Matt. The two fell asleep within the hour, and remained together the entire night.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

 

“Once again, I’m sorry to hear about your fiancée,” Juno says at the front door of the Anderson house.

“Thank you, Juno. I have my cousin checking up on him, I’m sure he’ll be alright,” Elsa says, trying to convince herself of the same thing.

“Well, if you ever need to talk,” Juno pulls out a little sticky note and writes a series of numbers on it. “Here’s my cell number.”

Elsa takes it and smiles.

“Thank you Juno. I’ll see you the day after next.”

“Yes, goodbye. Thank you for having me.”

 

Elsa shuts the door once Juno begins walking away. Elsa turns around and leans against the door. She slides down the door and brings her feet close to her. She wraps her hands around her legs and lets her head rest against them. Anna comes downstairs and sees Elsa on the floor. She rushes to her sister.

 

“Elsa!” She shrieks, getting to her sister’s side.

“I told him… I told him that following all this would get him hurt. Why doesn’t he listen to me? Why couldn’t he have stayed here with me? I can’t even see him now!” Elsa says on the verge of tears.

Anna sits beside her sister and wraps an arm around her.

“It’s okay, Elsa. (Y/N)’s one tough nut to crack. It would take the whole world to take him down.”

 

“It’s not that, Anna!” Elsa shouts. “I know he’ll survive, it’s just… how many more times will he do this? Go out on some escapade and get hurt! Who knows if he’ll come back to me! I don’t want that lingering over my head. I hate the feeling. The feeling that everyday he could die in some ditch or something. It’s too much.”

 

Anna’s face widens a bit then returns to normal. She holds her sister in her arms and stays silent.

“I just… I want a normal life, Anna. I was done with all this when our parents died. I endured (Y/N)’s desire to find his father, and he did. But now… it almost seems like he’s trying to stay away. Nobody is trying to hurt us anymore. Hans is gone, Alistair hasn’t ever bothered us. (Y/N) is just finding people to attack. Who’s next? Juno? She couldn’t hurt a fly. Anna… I think… I just… I just want him home, with me. I just want a normal life.”

 

Anna sighs and holds Elsa close. Elsa wipes a tears off her face and starts to get up.

“I’m going to bed. Sorry for being like this, Anna.”

Elsa walks up the stairs and goes to her room.

 

Anna stays on the ground, looking at the ground. She starts thinking about what she can do. Maybe Elsa is just overreacting, but Anna thinks that part of what Elsa says is true. She thinks Elsa really wants a normal life, and you’re not providing that. But it’s not necessarily your fault. Anna has seen you be forced into all these situations. You never wanted to fight her parents, but they basically made you fight.

 

“Hm… that’s the tough thing about perspective. Elsa’s right… but so is (Y/N).”

Anna rubs the back of her head, trying to think of what to do. She can talk to Elsa all she wants, but the only person who could use their words to make a difference is you. Anna walks over to the couch and lays down on it. She places one foot over the other and crosses her arms. A serious thinking face is what Anna has right now. She’ll think of something. She’s determined.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You walk out of the hospital with your hands behind your head. Hunter decided to stay with Gaia until she decides to leave. The only place for you to go is back to Rapunzel’s house. It may be just you there tonight, which you can handle. You’ll just grab something to eat and go to bed. Though you’d rather be going to Atlantica, or whatever. You hate this waiting. Hans destroyed an entire street and put dozens of people in danger. People were hurt; who knows if anyone died. All that just to get to you. You can’t let him get away with this. This is more than just defending Elsa now. This is stopping someone with no conscious; no morals. He’s a monster now.

 

What happened to him? He used to be a jerk, sure, but to think he would escalate to something like this. Why? It makes no sense? Because I stopped him from having sex with Elsa or Anna? That’s the only thing I really did to him. He made me break up with Elsa. He tried to kill me. I did burn his face, but obviously that didn’t matter since he got it back. I just… I don’t understand him. Why go to this extent?

 

You sigh then return your attention to where you’re walking. You’ve past three lights and then take a right. You walk down the street, blending in with the people who walk by. You can tell the mood of the city without even trying. People are on edge. Scared. You’re surprised their even on the streets right now. Everyone is probably trying to get home or something. It’s no concern of yours anyway.

 

1 Hour Later

 

You finally get back to Rapunzel’s household. You open the door and slip out of your shoes.

“Hello?” You call out.

No response.

“As I thought.”

 

You walk through the house and reach the kitchen you open the fridge and try to find something to eat. Before you can find anything you hear the door open. You walk out of the kitchen and walk towards the door. You see Rapunzel walk into the house and turn towards you. She jumps back a little out of surprise.

 

“(Y/N), jesus,” she shrieks, placing her hand on her chest. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in the hospital?”

You shrug.

“I feel fine. I think all I need is a good night sleep and I’ll be back at it tomorrow.”

“Back at it? With your dad?”

You stay silent for a moment.

“Yeah, I suppose. Listen, I’m going to head to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

You walk past Rapunzel and head for the stairs.

“Oh, (Y/N)!” Rapunzel shouts.

You turn around to face her.

“Elsa called me and asked me to tell her how you were. I tried calling her cell a few minutes ago but she didn’t pick up. Since you’re here, do you think you could call her before you head to bed?”

 

You nod.

“Sure, no problem. Thanks Rapunzel.”

“And (Y/N)?”

“Mm?”

“Don’t push yourself, please,” she says, genuine concern in her voice.

You stare at her for a second, absorbing what she just said.

You smirk slightly.

“Yeah… I won’t. I promise.”

 

You walk upstairs and head to your room. You enter your room and close the door behind you. You walk over to the bed and jump on it, sprawling out and happily relaxing. You click your holowatch and cycle through the contents until you find your cellphone. You go through the contacts and get to Elsa’s. Before you click it you remember Rapunzel saying that she didn’t pick up. You scroll up until you get to Anna. You stare at her name for a moment before tossing your phone to the side.

 

For some reason Rapunzel’s words keep echoing in your head. “Don’t push yourself, please.” It’s possible that she may care more than you thought. Rapunzel wasn’t as close to you as Eugene was. In fact, you haven’t really had as much time with her alone. If you remember correctly, the one time you spent some time together was when you saw her in the shower. Other than that, you’ve never spent time alone with her.

 

You look over at the phone, which still has Anna’s contact sitting on the screen. You’re about to hit the call button but something stops you.

“It’s late… they’re probably sleeping.”

You put the phone back in your holowatch and stare at the ceiling. It would be completely quiet but you can hear Rapunzel doing something downstairs. You bounce off the bed and leave your room.

 

You head downstairs and look around the house. You find Rapunzel on the couch, staring at a TV that isn’t showing anything. You move around the couch, in sight of Rapunzel. She looks up at you but says nothing. You give her a smile and sit down beside her.

 

“I don’t think you should be alone tonight,” you advise.

Rapunzel nods and taps the spot beside her. You sit beside Rapunzel and flick your head towards the TV.

“You wanna watch something?”

Rapunzel slowly begins to smile. She nods her head.

“Alright,” you say, grabbing the remote. “Just nothing unbearable, please.”

 


	39. Atlantica

Chapter 39: Atlantica

 

“Destroying a whole city block is not what I had in mind! That bastard! Alistair should have killed him months ago!” Hook shouts, smashing his mechanical hand down on the table.

A large crack echoes through the table and eventually causes it to break in half. Gothel remains calm as ever, but still a little rattled from Hook’s outburst. It’s not like she can look anywhere else. The room is the only thing providing light at the moment. The moon is covered by clouds, bringing an eerie feeling over Corona. The night does not feel safe. The moon isn’t watching over anyone.

 

“You’re right, but how would we know he would go to that length? Now the Freeway is down and Corona is under heavy watch. It’s an unfortunate time for us,” Gothel states.

Hook paces around the room with his hands on his hips.

“That man! He was right! Hans just used us and left. No word from him. How did he even escape without any of us knowing! Between the two of us one should have known!”

 

“Glad to hear people are finally realizing I’m always right,” a voice coming from the door snickers.

Gothel and Hook look to the door and see the very same man from the last two times. The man in the suit. He walks in and takes a seat. Hook rushes up to him and grabs the handles of the chair, getting right to the man’s face.

 

“Why didn’t you stop the fight!? I thought you wanted to help the Hierarchy!?”

The man smirks. He places his index finger on Hook’s forehead and slightly pushes. Hook loses his balance and stumbles halfway across the room.

“For one, that fight was not mine. I had no need to aid (Y/N). Secondly, I do, and this can help. PR and all that bullshit. If both Dysa co. and Keralu aid in the recovery of the city it would be very fortuitous,” he predicts.

 

“We’re already seen as the top companies,” Gothel interjects.

“Companies, yes,” he says, spinning the chair towards Gothel to face her. “But you aren’t admired for your actions, just your inventions. Hook has a little more than you because of his hosting of the CMFs. Do this, and people will have more trust in you. Simple as that.”

 

Hook walks past the man and takes a seat closer to Gothel.

“So… do you know where Hans is then? I want him dead, and I know you can kill him.”

The man leans back in the chair a bit, thinking.

“Well… you said yourself that you would know if he left the city or not. But what if he had the aid of another Duke or Duchess? Hm? Would that not allow him passage?”

 

Gothel and Hook both share a look.

“It’s… possible,” Gothel admits. “Each Duke or Duchess operates-“

“Operates independently without any knowledge of the others operations unless ordered to collaborate or share information by the one – or two – reigning Monarchs; I’m aware. So, who is the only other Duke or Duchess in the area?”

 

The man stays silent for a quick second.

“Don’t answer, I already know who it is. Duchess Ursula. She’s our only lead to Hans.”

 

“And what happens after Hans? How do we know you aren’t just using us like he did?” Hook barks.

The man smirks.

“After Hans comes Alistair. Then (Y/N).”

 

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Hunter lays on top of Gaia’s shop, staring up at the now rising sun. He’s thinking of what to do next. In truth, Hunter would rather be going after Alistair right now. But he knows you would never help him if he did that, and he needs your help. So, he needs to help you find Hans and stop him. Alistair has offered his aid… but…

 

“You’re right about Alistair,” the voice echoes.

 

That sentence has been in Hunter’s head since it was first uttered to him in the hospital. The person who Hunter ran into is still a mystery man, but there’s nothing Hunter can do about that. There’s no way he could find out who that man was unless Hunter dedicated his time to it. Right now, there’s just no reason to differ from his current course. Right now he needs to get to Atlantica and find out about Hans. Once he’s out of the way, then you and him can focus on Alistair.

 

“You’re right about Alistair.”

 

Hunter gets himself onto his feet and stretches his arms upward. His arms shake a little bit and Hunter lets out a quiet yell. He huffs as he relaxes his muscles, allowing them to fall back to his sides. He walks to the edge of the store and walks off. Gravity pulls him right down to the ground, which Hunter lands on with little trouble. He cracks his neck and starts walking.

 

I’m not sure if going to Atlantica with Alistair is a good idea. Not just because of that repeating mantra but… I just don’t trust him. It would be best if (Y/N) and I went alone. Alistair will find us at some point today, which means we have to get moving. I’ll get (Y/N) right after I make a quick stop. We’re going to need one more person, or we’ll never be able to get to Atlantica.

 

Hunter throws his hands behind his head and interlocks them, then uses them as a rest for his head. He strolls down the street and keeps an ample pace. Even for early in the morning, the streets seem extremely empty. Usually cars are getting to or from work by now. But nothing. It’s like Corona is a ghost town. Hunter keeps his eyes and ears open, just in case. It’s doubtful that anything would attack him, but being cautious never hurt anyone. He even felt like nature wasn’t even deeming the streets safe. It was near pitch black last night. Hunter could barely see the plaza during one his many disturbances throughout the night.

 

Hunter keeps to himself as he walks through the streets. He can almost feel the peeping eyes of people looking out their windows at him. All wondering if Hunter is desperate or stupid. With the way he is walking Hunter would most bet people think he’s stupid. That’s fair. Not that he’s stupid, but that it may be a fool’s errand to be on the streets. Hunter is doubtful that anything more will happen. Hans did that for you, not the city. If the Stabbingtons were still alive then it might be a different story.

 

After what feels like an eternity Hunter finally reaches his destination. A small house in the middle of the suburbs. Hunter walks up to the door and knocks. He puts his hand back behind his head and waits a couple seconds.

 

No response.

 

Hunter sighs and knocks a few more times. He moves his hands to his pockets and takes a quick peak at what’s around him. Still nobody, even though it’s halfway across town. If the air wasn’t filled with fear then it might actually be considered peaceful. He turns back to the door and knocks for the last time.

 

No response.

 

“Oh for christ sake,” Hunter mumbles.

He kneels down and looks beside the entrance of the house to a collection of rocks. There is one leaning against the house. Hunter grabs it and looks on the back of it. A significant part of the rock’s back has been drilled and molded to fit a key. Hunter flips the rock around and taps the top of it. The key falls out of the rock and towards the ground. He moves his foot a bit so that the key lands on it. Hunter flicks his foot up, sending the key higher up. It peaks around Hunter’s nose then starts falling again. Hunter uses his free hand to grab the key. Hunter unlocks the door then fits the key back into the rock and puts it away.

 

Hunter pushes the door open and looks around the entrance. A plethora of different dress shoes litter the carpert around the door. Hunter shakes his head and slips out of his shoes.

“I’ll bet twenty bucks that most of those are Matt’s,” he says to himself.

Hunter walks through the house and into the living room where he finds Rain and Matt cuddled together on the couch, sleeping. Hunter stares at the situation for a moment then sighs. He positions himself in front of the two and crosses his arms.

 

“Hey!” He shouts.

The two men start to stir a little bit. Matt’s eyes start to open first. He squints his eyes and looks towards Hunter. Since there’s a window behind Hunter, he’s barely recognizable to a half-sleeping Matt.

“Hi… who’re you? Did Rain hire a maid? Aren’t you suppose to have a kinky outfit or something? I have a maid outfit you know,” Matt continues as he becomes more and more awake. “Me and Rain use it a couple times when-“

“Whoa, whoa, hey! I do NOT need to know that!” Hunter shouts.

 

Rain starts to wake up thanks to Hunter’s yelling. He looks up and adjusts to the sun quicker than Matt does.

“Oh… Hunter… hi."

Rain looks at the situation he’s in with Matt and begins to blush. He stands up and takes a few steps away from the two.

“What do you need, if you need anything? I don’t want to assume or anything,” he sheepishly asks.

 

Hunter turns to Rain, ignoring Matt.

“I need your help. I need you to get (Y/N) and me to Atlantica.”

Matt pauses and looks at Hunter. Rain’s whole body stops working.

“At… Atlantica? Why would you want to go back there? You almost died!”

“But I didn’t have (Y/N). Besides, this is a different reason. We need to find Hans, and Atlantica is our best bet. You’re the only one who can get us there, Rain. Your powers make you essential.”

 

Rain drifts his eyes from Hunter. He was hoping that he could stay out of any conflict after the Stabbingtons. However he knows that he’s the only one who can get you two to Atlantica. It’s too far underwater to swim.

 

“No fighting, right?” Rain quietly questions.

“Just recon. Get in, find some information, and get out,” Hunter confidently states.

Rain sighs.

“Fine, Hunter. I’ll do this for you.”

Hunter smiles then taps Rain’s shoulder.

“I knew I could count on you. Come on. We’ve got to get going before Alistair tracks either (Y/N) or myself down.”

 

Hunter walks away from Rain with the intent to leave the house. He passes Matt and nods. Matt smirks and winks at Hunter. Once Hunter passes him Matt’s face changes. He walks up to Rain and places his hands on his shoulders.

 

“Are you sure you want to get back at it so soon? I mean… usually you would be the one asking me that… and circumstances would be different… hm…” Matt slips into a state of happiness.

Rain blushes at Matt’s concern and what he’s talking about. He gives Matt a quick peck on the cheek then retreats into himself.

 

“It’s okay, Matt. They need me. Just like I need you. You wouldn’t shy away from me, and I won’t do it to them either,” Rain states, a bit more confident than his usual self.

Matt gives him his signature smile.

“Well then, be careful! I don’t want your cute face to be any different than it is right now! If I see even a speck of dust on your face then (Y/N) and Hunter will have an earful from me!”

Rain smiles and blushes.

“Thank you Matthew. I’ll be back soon. I love you.”

“I love you to my little Raindrop,” Matt teases.

 

Rain passes Matt and heads for the door. Hunter has his arms crossed, leaning against the wall next to the door. He looks up at Rain and raises his brow.

“Ready?”

Rain sheepishly nods.

“Well, let’s get going then.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Rapunzel’s eyes slowly start to open. This is mostly due to the chirping of birds and the mild sunshine attempting to get into her room but is muffled by her curtains. She lifts herself up and looks around the room.

 

“Wait a second…” Rapunzel mumbles, rubbing her head and looking around the room. “Wasn’t I in the living room with (Y/N)? Where is he, anyway?”

Rapunzel slips out of her bed and lets her feet land on the floor. Her lower legs are exposed due to her flower covered night gown. She looks down at it in confusion.

“Was I wearing this? Did… did (Y/N) undress me?” She shrieks.

 

Rapunzel become flustered and frustrated. She hasn’t even talked to you yet but she still wants to give you a good talking to. She marches out of her room and into the hallway. She looks down the hall to the end – your room. Rapunzel stomps her way to your room and opens the door. She’s about to yell but she doesn’t see you awake. She walks in and looks to the bed. You’re sleeping without the covers on you, and your whole body is spread out. You’re just in a white t-shirt and boxers.

 

“He had to have changed too, then,” she whispers.

Rapunzel steadily approaches the bed and looms over you. You actually look really peaceful right now. You’re breathing loudly, but not enough to be considered a snore. It almost looks like you’re smiling too. Rapunzel instantly calms down and smiles.

 

“Seems he’s having a nice sleep. I suppose it’s well earned.” She sighs. “He does kind of look cute like this,” she giggles.

Rapunzel sees a small feather inching out from one of the pillows. She adopts a dastardly smile and slowly pulls it out of the pillow. She slowly and carefully she brings the feather down to your nose. She tickles it a bit then pulls back.

 

You don’t move.

 

Rapunzel pouts. She tries again, tickling your nose a little longer this time. She hears you react and pulls away in an instant. You raise your hand to your face, but, unfortunately for you, your hand is clenched in a fist. You clock yourself right in the nose hard enough for Rapunzel to hear the bone. She cringes and squints, expecting you to shout or something. But no. There’s no noise. Rapunzel slowly opens her eyes to see you, still sleeping, with your hand resting on your face. Rapunzel raises her brow and places her hands on her hip.

 

“What is he even doing? From what I’ve heard, he should be one to wake up from that.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Faster. More precise!” Shadow shouts, pushing away one of your fists.

 

You follow up with another punch, then a kick. Shadow directs the punch away and taps your inner foot with his, sending your leg away. You continue to fire your arms at him in a controlled manner, and Shadow keeps blocking or pushing them away. You finally get a hit on him when you kick the side of his right leg. He drops for a split second, which is all you need. You clamp your hands on both of his ears, stunning him. You then move your legs into a strong stance. You charge up both fists and pound them into his chest, diagonally, on the 2 and the 8 if his chest were a clock.

 

Shadow is sent into the air, his feet flailing. He easily moves his body backwards so he can push off the ground and recover without rolling across the ground. He lands gracefully, then brushes some dust off of his suit. He makes sure it’s all tidy before returning his attention to you. He crosses his arms, closes his eyes, and shrugs.

 

“Meh, little to no improvement from the last time we practiced,” he says truthfully. “You’re not a bad fighter. In fact, you’re amazing. But you are still nowhere close to Alistair.”

“Oh yeah!?” You shout with an offended tone, shaking your fist at him. “Well how about you, Mr. High and Mighty? I’m going to assume that YOUR superior fighting style is able to match his?”

 

Shadow shakes his head.

“Not at all. You should keep the assumptions and hypotheses to me, as you rarely base them on any actual facts. I can’t beat him either,” he admits, answering your question. “He’s too fast. His mind works quite expeditiously. I would argue that – in the field of reading a battle – I’m superior to you.”

 

“Oh yeah?” You shout.

 

You run at Shadow, ready for another fight. You use your whole body to throw a diagonal punch, which Shadow slides beside. He sends his knee into your chest. You cough up some saliva then fall to your knees, holding your stomach.

 

“There’s no way you can change your fighting style, so all you can do is learn how to overcome its weaknesses. You fight with momentum, which is fine, but it also makes it easy to see where your next attack is coming from. Though, truth be told, I’m not sure how I can fix your style,” Shadow lectures.

 

“And what makes your style so perfect?” You question, still recovering from the blow Shadow gave you.

“I control my body, and my movements. It’s harder to tell what my next move is going to be, and I have a wider variety of those moves contrary to you, who is limited.”

You attack Shadow with an uppercut, which he leans back to dodge. However, he doesn’t see your second fist plunge straight into his gut. Shadow skids across the plain until he comes to a halt.

 

“Didn’t see that one coming, did ya?” You smile in victory.

“I didn’t, true,” Shadow concedes. “But you can’t rely on the one or two lucky shots you get. You need to control the situation. Rely on skill, not luck.”

“Yeah, well,” you say, cracking your neck. “You do you, and I’ll do me. Fair enough?”

Shadow huffs.

“As long as you don’t end up killing us both, fine. Oh, and someone wants to talk to you. I suggest you wake up.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You slowly open your eyes only to see Rapunzel on top of you. She’s holding a pillow over her head with the intention of bringing it down on your face. She notices your eyes open and simply stares at them awkwardly. It takes you a second to fully comprehend the situation you are in. Until then, you and Rapunzel just stare into each other’s eyes, blinking every so often to add to the dilemma.

 

“Hi,” you loudly say.

“H-hey,” she nervously replies.

“What’re you doing all the way up there?”

Rapunzel looks at the pillow then throws it behind herself, giving you a guilty smile.

“Nothing at all. I just wanted to wake you, you know, be nice and all.”

 

You blink a few times. Rapunzel remembers her purpose.

“Oh yeah! Did you, mister,” Rapunzel shouts, throwing her finger up to you. “Undress me? I did not wear these clothes to bed last night and you’re the only person who could have done it!”

You yawn then push her off of you and towards the inside of the bed. She shrieks as she lands in the soft embrace of the bed. She quickly gets onto her hands and knees and looks at your back.

 

“Well, I didn’t take off your underwear, but yes, I suppose I did undress you.”

“Aha! I… actually… I don’t really know what that wins me…”

“Well, I was going to leave you in your clothes but you looked uncomfortable. You had that gown hanging on the back of your door so I just slipped that on you.”

 

Rapunzel pauses.

“Well… thank you. I, um… I’m going to go make breakfast.”

You wave your hand once in the air.

“Alright, I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

 

Rapunzel bounces off your bed and leaves the room. You sigh and lay back down on the bed. You close your eyes and drift off to sleep once more.

 

Your eyes instantly open at the smell of food. You roll out of the bed and land on the floor. You bounce to your feet and stretch a little bit. You look to your holowatch and choose a new outfit for the day. This time you choose a white hoodie with a black t-shirt underneath. You had a darker pair of jeans to cover your legs. You zip up the hoodie and roll your shoulders to get going.

 

You leave your room and head downstairs, a life in your step. You happily go down the stairs and get a greater smell of what Rapunzel is making. Seems like an average breakfast, from what you can smell. One of those ones you see on TV or something. You know there are pancakes and toast, that much is obvious. Hell, that’s probably all you need.

 

You get into the kitchen to see Rapunzel hovering over the stove. As you guessed, there are pancakes in a pan, and toast in a toaster oven. You notice the toast is close to burning. You walk over to it and turn off the device. Rapunzel looks over at you.

 

“What’re you doing?” She asks.

“Toast was about to burn. Could you not smell it?” You inquire, taking the toast out of the toaster oven and putting them on a plate.

Rapunzel shakes her head.

“Honestly, no. My nostrils were filled with pancake smell.”

 

You take in the smell for yourself.

“Well, they do smell great. Do you cook anything else?”

You walk over to where the butter is and grab some for the toast.

“Well… no… actually. I can only make pancakes,” Rapunzel sheepishly admits.

“Really?” You ask, genuinely surprised.

“Well, I suppose it kind of makes sense. Maybe you should ask for some lessons or something? I’m sure your parents wouldn’t mind,” you advise.

 

You place the toast and butter on the table. You take a seat that faces away from Rapunzel. Rapunzel shrugs.

“Well, Eugene is actually a surprisingly good cook. He’s the one who makes our food if we ever need it,” Rapunzel reveals as she carefully flips the pancakes.

“Huh?” You huff, diverting your eyes up a bit. “Eugene’s a cook. Who knew?”

“I know, right!” Rapunzel chuckles. “Not something I would have guessed either.”

 

Rapunzel’s shoulders slouch and she becomes quiet.

“I wish he was here,” she mumbles.

You hear what she said. You turn your upper body towards her and see the saddened state she’s in. You finish the piece of toast and get out of the chair. You approach her from behind and wrap your arms around her. She doesn’t fight back at all. In fact, she grabs your forearm. You stay with her for a couple seconds to comfort her.

 

“He’ll be okay, Rapunzel,” you whisper.

“I… I know.”

“Hey, how about we go see Eugene again today? I have yet to see him,” you offer.

Rapunzel smiles. She spins around and has a smile on her face.

“Really? You mean it?”

 

You smirk.

“Of course. Who am I, a liar?”

Rapunzel pulls you in for a hug.

“Thanks (Y/N).”

 

You see the pancakes start to burn a little bit. You spin around, positioning yourself in front of the stove. You face the stove, grab the spatula, and flip the pancakes onto a nearby plate. Rapunzel copes with what just happened then turns around to face you.

“What… just happened?” Rapunzel questions.

You chuckle.

“Nothing. You gonna have some pancakes?”

 

You walk over to the table and put down the plate. You take a seat in the same spot you were in before. You grab a few pancakes and place them beside the single piece of toast you have left. Rapunzel takes a seat beside you and grabs two pancakes.

 

“After we eat we’ll head out?” Rapunzel decides.

You nod.

“Sounds good to me.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

To your surprise there are a lot of people walking around the streets of Corona today. Thankfully Rapunzel is driving, so you can safely stare at the sidewalk. But really, it pleases you that people aren’t letting fear control them. If fear was part of the reason that Hans attacked then you’re glad to see him fail. Fear has to be one of the reasons though. It has to. Why else would he attack in such a manner? He has to have sent some sort of message by doing that.

 

To attack like that… maybe it was to send a message to the Hierarchy? A message to my father? I’m not sure. Maybe he’s just insane and wants to kill me no matter what the cost. But then why not just blow up the entire city block?

 

During your moment of intense thinking, Rapunzel pulls into the parking lot of the hospital. She turns off the car and unbuckles her seat belt. She looks over at you, who hasn’t even moved from when she was driving.

 

“(Y/N)?” She voices.

You don’t respond. Rapunzel grabs your shoulder and shakes you. You snap out of your moment and turn your attention to her.

“Yeah? What?” You ask, looking around. “Oh, we’re here. Alright, let’s get going.”

You unbuckle your seatbelt and get out of the car. Rapunzel stares at you while you leave. She shakes her head and follows quickly. The two of you approach the hospital.

 

Before you enter your holowatch starts going off. You look down at it and see Hunter’s picture in the projection. You pull your phone out of the virtual world and hold it up to your ear.

“What’s up, bro?” You answer.

“(Y/N)! Where are you?” Hunter asks.

“I’m at the hospital with Rapunzel. We’re going to go see Eugene. Why?”

 

Rapunzel stops walking and turns back to you, who’s a couple steps back.

“Oh, we just stopped by the house to find you. Well, whatever. We’re on our way to the hospital. We have things to do.”

You sigh.

“Really? Already? I did just get my butt whooped yesterday, you know,” you complain.

“Oh, so I guess you aren’t as tough as you play yourself off to be,” Hunter teases.

 

You know he’s just trying to annoy you, to goad you into coming with him. It’s working.

“Fine. Come get me at the hospital. I’ll be in Eugene’s room.”

“But… fine. We’re on our way,” Hunter finishes before hanging up on you.

 

You pull the phone away from your ear and stare at it for a second. Rapunzel walks back to you and enters your vision.

“You okay? What was that about?”

“Ahh,” you toss your phone into the holowatch. “Nothing. I just have some family stuff to do soon.”

Rapunzel looks down at your watch.

“That’s a nifty piece of gear you got there,” she comments.

“Nifty piece of gear? What?” You chuckle, walking into the hospital. “Who even says that?”

Rapunzel huffs and quickly follows you.

“Hey! Don’t judge my words!”

 

You both walk into the hospital and approach the elevator.

“Second floor,” Rapunzel says to you.

You click the second floor and wait for the elevator.

“So, sleep well?” You ask.

Rapunzel raises her brow.

“Didn’t we already talk about that?”

 

You stare at her for a second. You blink a few times, trying to understand what she’s saying. You shake your head and shrug.

“Yeah, I guess.”

Rapunzel continues to stare at you until the elevator arrives. You aren’t that naïve or forgetful. Why would you not remember that conversation? You did take a nap, but what does that matter. She just doesn’t understand.

 

You walk in first and turn around. You look at Rapunzel who hasn’t entered the elevator. You gesture her to get beside you.

“Come on. Without you I have no idea where I’m going and trust me, that doesn’t look good for anyone,” you joke.

Rapunzel snaps out of her moment and follows you into the elevator. She’s a little too slow, as the elevator door begins to close. You take a step and stop the door with one hand.  It stops closing and instead opens once more.

 

Rapunzel takes position beside you. You both patiently wait for the elevator to reach the next floor. Rapunzel anxiously plays with her hair. She isn’t sure why she’s so nervous right now. It’s like all the fear that she had yesterday is flooding back into her. She was so calm before – when you were with her. You almost made Rapunzel forget anything was wrong. But even you can’t keep her happy when she sees her father and husband. However she is happy you’re here. She knows Eugene would be happy too.

 

The elevator opens and you both leave it. Rapunzel leads you to the room. Rapunzel enters first. She walks right in while you stay behind to close the door. Rapunzel turns back to you and places her finger on her mouth, signaling for you to be quiet. You nod and slowly walk into the room. You look to the left and see Ragnar and Irena, both sleeping. Ragnar looks no worse for wear, actually. You heard he took a bullet and had a few scrapes, but he seems fine. He almost seems to be smiling too. You follow his arm down and see the two are holding hands. You smirk.

 

This moment makes you wish Elsa was here, or that you were back home. You miss her, you really do. Her luscious hair, beautiful eyes, and soothing voice. It always got to you, and always made you feel so calm and safe. Sure, you keep yourself and her safe with your strength, but she has a way of making you feel so secure just by being around her. It’s the feeling of being around someone you love. It’s a shame you’ve been away from that feeling for so long now. Heck, in reality it’s barely been a week. But not having that feeling makes the separation feel longer than it really has been. Hopefully this will all be over soon. Hopefully you’ll be able to go home.

 

Rapunzel walks up to the curtain covering Eugene. You look over at the exact moment she opens it up. You’re almost horrified. It barely looks like him, and most of his body is in a cast. You put your hands on your hips and look at the ground. Rapunzel sees your reaction. She walks up to you and embraces you in a hug.

 

“It wasn’t your fault, (Y/N),” she whispers.

You stay silent, licking your teeth. You look back up at Eugene.

“If I was stronger… I could have helped him. This might not have happened if-“

“(Y/N),” Rapunzel stretches out your name as she steps in front of you, staring into your eyes. “Don’t do that to yourself. He would have been dead if not for you.”

“No… he would have been dead without Rain. I would have been dead without both of them,” you scold yourself.

 

Rapunzel can see your frustration in your face alone, but your words just amplify it.

“Well… nobody can do everything on their own. I know that without Eugene I wouldn’t have been able to finish school.”

“Hm?” You question.

“I was having a tough time in university. I wanted to quit but he wouldn’t let me. He came to my campus – well, he snuck in – and spent the entire night studying with me. He did this for an entire week before my finals. I know that’s not the same as… what you do… but it has the same message. You may be strong (Y/N). You may be the strongest man on this planet, but nobody can do it all on their own.”

 

“Hmph, that’s a pathetic notion,” Shadow chimes in. “Needing the help of someone else means we aren’t strong enough. We need to train some more. We need to master our powers if we ever want to stand a chance.”

 

“It’s just that strength, you know?” Rapunzel shrugs. “That courage you get from being surrounded by your friends.”

 

“But you don’t want to put anyone else in danger, do you? Look at what happened against the Stabbingtons – your friends were hurt. We need to improve so that never happens again, and we don’t look so weak,” Shadow counters.

 

Rapunzel and Shadow’s points are colliding with each other like two wild fires. They both have a point, but you have no idea which one is right. Yes, it’s good to have people that will help you no matter what and stand by you, but if that means them getting hurt then you want no part in that. Your mind wanders back to Adgar and Idun; back to when Elsa was killed. You should have been strong enough to deal with them. To be fair, you had no idea of their powers, let alone your own. You had no way to prepare for a battle like that. Nevertheless, you couldn’t beat them on your own and it resulted in the death of Elsa. You revived her, true, but that doesn’t mean you can revive everyone who might die. What about Hunter? Rain? Matt? Anna or Kristoff? What if those people get hurt and you can’t help them because you aren’t strong enough? In this way, Shadow is right.

 

Am I… admitting that Shadow is right about this?

 

“Of course I’m right,” Shadow confidently says.

 

Rapunzel snaps her fingers in front of your face. You shake your head a bit and look at her.

“Earth to (Y/N), come in!” She chuckles.

“S-sorry,” you mumble.

“It’s okay. Just remember what I said, okay?”

You nod.

“Of course. So, how bad is he?” You ask, looking at Eugene.

 

Rapunzel looks back at him and sighs. She begins walking towards him.

“Well obviously he has two broken bones, but also some fractured ones throughout his body. The doctor said his la… larynx? I think that’s what it is?”

You nod. Rapunzel takes a seat beside Eugene and gazes at him.

“His larynx was almost crushed. Other muscles are torn. He’s just a mess. There’s a list, if you want to read it,” she says, pointing to a small pink sheet hooked to the wall above his bed.

 

You take a gander at it and see the entire paper is filled with his injuries. You look away and shake your head.

“I’d rather not look,” you say with a faint voice.

Rapunzel’s face drops. You walk over to Eugene and place your hand on the arm that’s not broken,

 

“I’m sorry, Eugene. I wish I could have helped you… I wish it was I who was like this, and not you. But you fought bravely, even if it was in vain.” You chuckle a bit. “You know he was so concerned about you guys?” You say, looking at Rapunzel. “He didn’t want the Stabbingtons going after your family to get to him. They still called him Flynn Rider, too.”

 

You lightly pat Eugene’s shoulder.

“You’re a brave man, Eugene. I consider you a good friend. When you wake up, I’ll come back. I’ll be here.”

 

You take one last look at his broken body, his swollen face. You turn away and head for the door. You open the door but fail to go through. Rapunzel watches you as you stand like a statue.

 

“If you need anything, let me know. I’ll do everything in my power to help you and your family.”

Rapunzel nods.

“I will. Thank you (Y/N). I’ll let you know when Eugene is awake… and you’d better come!”

You smirk.

“I will. I promise.”

 

And with that, you leave the room, shutting the door behind you. You stand outside the room for a moment, just staring at the wall in front of you. The tan coloured, bland wall. A nurse walks by and sees you. She stops and approaches you.

 

“Sir, are you alright?” She asks.

You put on a fake smile and look at her.

“Yes, I am. Thank you.”

 

She doesn’t believe you, but it isn’t her place to pry. Something suddenly comes to her mind.

“Are you… do you know a man named Alistair Knight?”

You are a little surprised by her question.

“Uh, yes… he’s my father. Why?”

“Ah!” She proudly says. “I knew you looked like him.”

She looks at you and sees your confusion.

 

“Sorry, I just met Mr. Knight and noticed you looked like him. I had to ask,” she explains.

“Oh, yeah, that’s alright. I guess I might look like my dad,” you chuckle, rubbing the back of your head.

“Well, I’m sorry for interrupting you. Have a nice day,” she says, taking her leave and continuing on with her work.

You slightly nod as a response.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Hunter and Rain approach the hospital at a rushed pace. Hunter is walking fast, and Rain is speedy just to keep up with him. He’s a little concerned about Hunter right now. He seems stressed.

 

“Hunter, do you mind… I mean we don’t have to… but you think we might slow down?” Rain sheepishly asks.

“No time Rain, we have to get moving. We’ve wasted enough time. If only (Y/N) wasn’t an idiot. We would have been there by now,” Hunter snarls.

“Well… I mean that’s not fair. He has a right to see his friend,” Rain stutters.

“Not when it gets in the way of our work. If Alistair catches up with us then it’s over! He knew that!”

 

Rain knows Hunter won’t back down right now. He has a venom in his voice that Rain doesn’t want to get in contact with. He’s hoping that you’ll be able to calm Hunter down, or at least do something. He really can’t do anything. He doesn’t have the will to stop Hunter – to overpower his.

 

Hunter is about to enter the hospital but stops. Rain looks towards the entrance and sees you walking out, hands in your pockets and a melancholy aura to you. You’re looking at the ground as you saunter. Hunter sees you and marches right up to you. He grabs your arm, but you hardly react.

 

“Come on, we have to get to the ocean. We have no time to lose,” he commands.

You look up at him. His eyes are so full of determination right now. You shrug. Hunter raises his brow.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing. Let’s go,” you snap.

 

Hunter brushes it off and looks back at Rain.

“Come on. We haven’t got much time.”

Rain waits a second after Hunter passes him. He looks up at you and feels bad. He’s not used to seeing you like this. You’re like Matt. Neither of you are ever sad. Mad, maybe, sometimes, but not sad.

 

Once you pass Rain he takes position beside you.

“I-I know it may not be my position to ask, and it’s okay if you don’t want to answer, but are you… okay?” He subtly pries.

You don’t look at Rain. You keep your head down.

 

Man… for even Rain to notice I’m off… Well I’m not really hiding it. Seeing Eugene like that just… it hurt. I can’t get my mind off of it.

 

You throw on a smile for show and look at Rain.

“Yeah, I’m alright Rain,” you tap his shoulder. “Thanks for asking.”

Rain blushes as he curls into himself. Hunter turns around and notices you two far behind him.

“Today, please!” He shouts.

“Yeah, yeah!” You respond. “Come on Rain, we should go before he bursts a blood vessel or something.”

 

You both start jogging after him. Seeing that you and Rain are finally picking up the pace, Hunter begins running as well. At this pace, the three of you fly through the small section of town that blocks you from your destination. Thankfully the hospital is a little closer to the waterside than Hunter first imagined, so you aren’t wasting much time. Though you three are collecting a few glances from the local populace, but nothing that would impede you in any way.

 

It takes little time to reach the ocean. There’s a beach of rocks that lead up to the water. You, Hunter, and Rain stop right before the beach of rocks. You all stare at the water, admiring its beauty. Rain, however, seems most at peace right now. He looks like he’s not even with you. For him, that water is a part of him. He can feel every fish making his way around. He can feel all the litter people have thrown into the water. He can feel every wave, every ripple in that water. It’s calming for him. His favourite weather is, to no surprise, rain. As it falls onto him it makes him feel absolutely complete. It’s like the entire world is his. None of the other elementals can feel the same way as he does; not yet. Elsa and Gaia are not as in tune with their element as Rain is.

 

“Well, let’s not stand around any longer,” Hunter advises.

“Wouldn’t want to be caught lollygaggin’ now, would we?” You chuckle.

Hunter looks at you.

“Skyrim reference. You know, “No lollygaggin’” you say, imitating a guard’s voice. “It’s against the law, for some rea-”

“Whatever,” Hunter cuts you off. “We have some things to do. Can’t sit here debating. Rain!” Hunter says, looking at Rain. “You ready?”

 

Rain takes in a deep breath and exhales. He turns to you both and nods.

“Yes, I am.”

The three of you walk across the rocks to the beginning of the ocean. Once the water hits your shoes you begin to wonder what Hunter’s plan is. To hell if you’re swimming there in your clothes. It may be possible with Rain, given that he could provide you both oxygen, but still not something you want to do.

 

Rain stops once he’s knee deep in the water, while you and Hunter are still at shoe level. He raises one hand, and in return a decent sized amount of water forms a column. Without moving Rain manipulates the column into a large ball. He looks back at you two and notices the water still blocking you. Once again he doesn’t move, but the water parts to create a path to the ball. It almost looks like the water itself is climbing over each other to run away from something. Rain lifts his knee and takes a step on the water, then begins walking on the water to the ball. At the same time Hunter treks his way to the ball through the path Rain made. You’re still stunned at what Rain’s doing. It’s downright amazing.

 

You follow Hunter’s footsteps into the ball. It’s actually a hollow ball with the water just holding it. Rain walks through the ball’s wall and meets with you two. He looks to the opening of the ball and fills it with water.

 

“Alright, we can dive,” Rain informs.

 

Rain lifts the ball into the air and makes it go farther out, towards the deeper water. Once he puts an ample distance between himself and ground he slowly brings the water ball down into the ocean. It doesn’t break through the water when it enters. It’s almost engulfed – welcomed by the ocean water. It seeps into the dark embrace of the ocean and continues in a diagonal pattern.

 

On the shore, a man watches the ball descend. He crosses his arms and shakes his head.

“It’s your decision Hunter. See that it doesn’t cost you anything,” he scorns.

 

You look down at your feet, seeing the solid water you’re able to stand on. You kneel down and try to poke it. You push your finger against it but your finger can’t go through. It’s almost like cement or wood. Rain sees your actions.

 

“Cool, isn’t it,” he smiles.

You look up at him, smiling, and nod your head.

“It’s amazing! But…” you start, pushing off your knee and standing straight. “Won’t we run out of air?”

“It’s possible, though I think we should have enough for the trip. If not, I can absorb a little bit of oxygen from the water. I won’t do it for long though; it could hurt the ecosystem here. I also would advise against using any electronics while in here, except for the watch. Your phones won’t work anyway.”

 

Hunter exhales and turns to both of you. He has a much warmer face than he did before.

“Well, at least we made it without Alistair catching up to us,” he happily states. “So, I suppose you two would like to know my plan?”

You and Rain nod your heads.

“That would be nice,” you say.

 

Hunter lifts up his left arm and meddles with his holowatch. A hologram of a massive station hovers over his watch, taking up a decent amount of space. The station is insane. From what you can gather from the hologram, there are three main sections with small tubes connecting them. The main sections are more or less the size of warehouses, with one being significantly larger than the other two. One small part of the small warehouse starts flashing.

 

“This is where we’ll be entering. We’re going to have to split up,” as Hunter explains two lines break off from each other and head in two directions; one going to the main building right away and the other leading through the second building then into the main one. “And meet here, where the lines intersect. This is where Ursula keeps all her intel. I should be able to hack in and find where Hans has gone, if she knows anything. Though, we could be disrupting Alistair right now… he has a transport en route-“

 

“We deal with Hans first!” You snap. “He’s an immediate threat to myself, the people around him, and Elsa. Once he’s done… I’ll help you. Favour for a favour.”

Hunter sighs.

“Well, we may be able to get some information using her servers anyway, so it could be a win-win for us both.”

 

Hunter turns back to the hologram.

 

“So, you’re going to have to head through the factory. It’s the second largest one, and has the most in the way. It’s also filled with workers.”

“So how are going to get by them?” You inquire.

“You’ll have to knock out two guards and take their uniforms. Your faces won’t be known, and that’s why you’re taking this way. Everyone on that station knows my face and will spot me in an instant. It would be foolish for me to go with you. I’m going to be slipping through the storage area.”

 

“Isn’t going alone a little… um… dangerous?” Rain whispers.

“Yes, but that’s why we’re both going. If I get caught, Ursula will bring me to her area, which is here,” Hunter explains, pointing at the far end of the largest building. “Since the server room is right behind it, you’ll be able to break me free, or vise-versa if you get caught.”

 

Hunter returns to his plan.

“You’ll need to get to the pipe leading to the main area. You’ll have to improvise and how to get there, but I’m sure you’ll think of something. We meet up, grab what we need, and get out with none the wiser.”

 

Rain sees your destination and sighs.

“We’re approaching the facility,” he informs.

You position yourself beside Rain to get a view of the station. Its layout is what you saw in the hologram, but that doesn’t compare to the real thing. The place is massive – rivaling the city of Corona. There are few lights around the facility other than what appear to be docking tubes. Nevertheless it’s a marvel to see.

 

You back up and stand in front of Hunter.

“So, am I supposed to memorize the layout to get through?” You doubtfully ask. “Cause I guarantee you I won’t be able to.”

Hunter shakes his head. He grabs your holowatch arm and holds it beside his. Within a few seconds he lets your arm go.

“I transferred the data to you. Just follow the line on your watch and you’ll make it.”

 

You stare at your holowatch with amazement.

“This thing is incredible. Is there anything it can’t do?” You snicker.

“No, not really. I’d argue that it’s Alistair’s greatest invention. Though, there are only a few people who have them, and that’s all the copies. You, me, Alistair, I believe Juno has one,” Hunter says, furrowing his brow. “And I think that’s it. Though it’s possible he could have made more. I truly can’t say. I think Alistair gave unfinished schematics to W.A. Industries, however, so we may see the holowatch on everyone in the next few years.”

 

You nod in acknowledgement and lean back on your hip.

 

Hm… Elsa’s making the holowatch, huh? But… doesn’t she know I have one? Wouldn’t that… nah, she’s smarter than that. Surely, if she knew about it, she would know something is up.

 

“Oh, and one more thing before we get there. Try to avoid contact with Ursula, but if for some reason you meet her do not listen to anything she has to say. She’s manipulative and crafty. She may not be able to do much herself, but… let’s just say I have a history with her. Just don’t listen to her,” Hunter advises.

 

“What’s so bad about her?” You ponder.

“Well, aside from being Alistair’s number two – other than Juno, of course – she was one of the founding members of the Hierarchy. She knows almost everything there is to know. Her knowledge is only surpassed by Alistair. No doubt she’ll try to deceive you in some way. Don’t let her. She can’t really do anything to you, so just ignore her and continue on with the mission.” Hunter places his hands on your shoulders and stares into your eyes. “I’m serious, (Y/N). I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

 

You chuckle and pat Hunter’s cheek.

“So nice to know you still give a damn about your itty bitty brother. Was starting to think you didn’t.”

Hunter is taken back a bit.

“Wait… really? You thought I didn’t care?”

 

You’re about to answer but Rain interrupts you both.

“I… I don’t mean to interrupt… but we’re almost at the docking tube.”

Hunter looks at the station and sees the tube not far from where everyone is. Hunter activates his holowatch and starts shuffling through some codes. He finds one and clicks it, then holds his watch towards the base. Once Rain gets close enough to the pipe it begins to open. Water floods into it as a result.

 

“Take us in Rain,” Hunter commands.

“I-I’m on it.”

 

Rain brings the ball into the docking tube. He then sways his arms towards the ocean. All the water in the tube shuffles out and becomes on with the ocean again. Rain then sends the water from the ball into the ocean, leaving you all standing in the tube. Rain holds all the water at bay, just outside the tube. Hunter fiddles with his watch a bit until the doors close. Rain lets his hands droop down and turns to face you both. When he sees both of you are looking at him he begins to blush.

 

Hunter turns around to the entrance of the facility. He inputs a code into his holowatch which makes the door open.

“Come on.”

 

The three of you enter the facility. You’re greeted by an enormous room. There doesn’t seem to be any other smaller rooms in this place, it’s as big as it looked from the outside. There are machines, boxes, and people all around – hard at work. The sound of those machines being used fills up the room. It makes sense since, from what you can see, there are five giant machines being used at once.

 

The three of you hide behind a nearby box. Nobody is around, so you have a few seconds to breathe. Hunter slightly moves out of cover to see the area.

“Alright, you two need outfits. I believe there should be a station to pick some up, so you could do that or just take it from some people. Your choice. I’m going to sneak into the other building, just like I planned. We’ll meet up in the server room. Good luck.”

 

Hunter pats your head before sneaking off. You and Rain look at each other.

“So, what should we do?” You ask.

“Well… I think you should just lead us. I… I’m not good at leading,” he recommends.

You nod your head.

“Right… I’ll lead us through this place I’ve never been before. Should be fun.”

“Sorry,” Rain says, lowering his head.

You turn your head to face him.

“What? No, Rain, I was just kidding. Don’t worry, I’ll get us through this one way or another.”

 

You peek out from behind the box and look around. There are some workers walking around, talking about whatever they must be working on.

 

Hunter said there is a place we can get outfits. Maybe a workers station or something? There are no other room in this place, so it must be a makeshift one. I should look for some tables or something. Seems like it would be a lunch area sort of deal.

 

You scan the area for any sort of R&R station. Rain stays behind you, keeping a lookout just in case. He moves to the other side of the box and peers out. He immediately notices two guards walking towards his current location.

 

“So why are we coming here?” The one on the right asks.

“Well, apparently a ship docked here, but nobody has actually come out. Who knows, it might have been a malfunction,” the left one answers.

“Well if it’s a malfunction then why are we wasting our time? I’m on break!” Right complains.

“Oh shut it. We’ll look, nothing will be there, and we’ll leave. Simple as that.”

 

The two men are mere feet away from where you and Rain hide. Rain turns around and taps your shoulder.

“(Y/N)! People are coming!” He informs.

You turn around and see the two men. They have the same colour brown hair, but one has a grey baseball cap on. You grab Rain’s shirt and pull him to the other side of the box, opposite of the workers. The problem is, you’re exposed to anyone who cares to look in your direction. You know someone will see you at this rate. Just a glance, an oddity in their peripheral vision and your cover is blown. You look at Rain and put your hand on his shoulder.

 

“Follow my lead,” you whisper.

You grab his shirt once more and force both of you to your feet.

“Hey, are you the welcoming committee we were supposed to receive?” You ask in a semiprofessional tone.

 

The two men look over at you. They size you both up.

“Who are you two?”

“I’m (Y/N), and this is my friend… Matt,” you say, waving your hand towards Rain.

Rain looks at your for a moment but remembers what you said.

“Y-yes, hi. Nice to meet you,” Rain nervously greets.

 

“We’re the, uh, new guys here,” you lie.

“I didn’t know we were getting new guys?” The left one says, whispering to his friend.

“Hmm, oh no! We were! Remember Thomas and Jerald… well… they had a workplace issue and were deemed unfit for work. Remember?”

The one on the left thinks for a moment.

“Oh yeah! That’s right Gary. I almost forgot. I guess these two are their replacements.”

 

Gary walks around the box and extends his hand.

“Hi, I’m Gary. Gary Miles. This here is my brother-in-law William.”

“Call me Will,” he requests.

You and Rain take turns shaking Gary’s hand.

“Thank you. So, do you mind giving us a little tour? This place is huge,” you chuckle.

 

“Sure, no problem. Everyone is star struck their first time here. But let’s get you in uniform first. Wouldn’t want people thinking you broke in or anything,” he jokes.

“That seems impossible,” you snicker.

“Yeah, it is. Anyway, come on.”

 

You and Rain walk behind Gary and Will. Rain leans close to you.

“Why did you say my name was Matt?” He whispers.

“For safety. Who knows if they have you on file or something.”

“Well… what about you? Wouldn’t they have you on file too?” Rain proposes.

You shake your head.

“I don’t think so. If they did, I believe I would be referred to as Overlord, and not (Y/N).”

 

“So, did you hear Duchess Ursula is pissed,” Will chuckles. “That incident a few weeks back still has her on edge.”

“I wouldn’t see why. It’s not like that guy could come back. Plus, he seems like nothing compared to what’s been going on lately. I heard that one of the Westergaard kids is going rogue, and he even went after Overlord,” Gary whispers.

 

“Overlord? I haven’t heard that in years. Wasn’t he here at one point?”

Gary nods.

“Yeah, he was here. He was just a baby, but I’ve never seen Ursula take so much interest in anything before. She and the Monarch had a huge argument when she learned he was bringing Overlord to Arendelle. That was a tense time.”

 

Gary looks back at you and Rain.

“Sorry, we’re just rambling. You learn a lot around here. Soon enough you’ll know too,” he smiles.

You shrug.

“I suppose.”

 

Gary and Will lead you to a corner, where, as you predicted, a collection of tables and lockers. Gary grabs two uniforms out from a locker.

“Here. Don’t worry about the size, these are designed to fit anyone. Just some of the things we do,” he smiles.

You and Rain grab the outfits. They are bland, grey boiler suits that look like everyone else’s.

 

“Is there a place we can change?” You ask, looking around.

Gary shakes his head.

“They can just go over your current clothes. Suit up quick, we have some work to do.”

Rain glances at you. You smirk and shrug, not meaning for this to happen. Rain exhales and stays behind you. He doesn’t want to have to talk to anyone. You’re doing a… well, other than putting both yourself and Rain into actual work, you’re doing a decent job.

 

“But we’re on break!” Will whines.

“Well, too bad. We’ll have to use our next break more effectively. The day is still young, Will. Don’t you worry.”

 

Will huffs and fixes his hat up. The two workers lead you across the warehouse. You get a few looks by the some of the workers which puts you on edge. Though these two may not recognize you, it’s fair to say that someone here might. Surprisingly there seems to be no security. You’ve yet to see anyone with a gun or anything around here. As it is, if you were detected, you could probably take down everyone in this room.

 

It is interesting to you how these random workers seem to know so much. Not just Gary and Will, but you’ve heard gossip from a lot of people. Some talk about the elementals, others about Alistair, and even Elsa. You have the urge to knock anyone out who even thinks about laying a finger on her. But her safety is what’s a true concern. Almost everyone knows she’s in Arendelle, and is running W.A. Industries.

 

If these warehouse workers know about Elsa… then every important Hierarchy member probably knows! But… wait, if they do know then why wouldn’t they do anything about it? Is what Alistair said true? Is the Hierarchy really not after Elsa?

 

Rain lightly taps you on the shoulder once he realizes you’re not fully paying attention. You snap back into it and realize Gary has been talking. You don’t have to scan your surroundings since it’s quite obvious what the intended focal point is. A collection of a few dozen mattress sized boxes are piled into a corner.

 

“So all we have to do is load these onto the conveyer belt and make sure they’re set up properly in the next warehouse. Duchess Ursula wants to test them,” Will explains.

Your eyes widen and you crack a smile.

“The Duchess? Are we going to meet her?” You ask, trying not to sound too hopeful.

Rain raises his brow and gazes at you. Gary rests his hand on one of the crates and leans his body onto it.

 

“Probably not, no. Duchess Ursula usually just watches over all of us. She’s always watching,” he eerily says, turning his head to you.

You raise your eye brows in surprise. Rain folds his arms and hunches a little. Gary and Will both burst out laughing.

“Sorry,” Gary chuckles. “I didn’t… well, yeah I did mean to be that creepy, but don’t worry about it too much. I doubt the Duchess cares if you pick your nose or anything. But… she does actually watch us all. So keep that in mind.”

 

“Anyway,” Will lightheartedly says, hoping to steer away from a dark subject. “Let’s just get to work. Faster we start the faster we’ll be done.”

“Yes, exactly,” Gary nods. “So you two grab one box and we’ll grab another. It takes two to tango, as they say,” he chuckles. “Just load them onto this conveyer belt. Once they’re all on we’ll guide it to the main hub and unload it. Simple as that.”

 

You and Rain nod. You both get to work, walking up to one of the crates.

“(Y/N)… I’m not that strong…” He quietly admits.

You wave your hand at him.

“Please, this shouldn’t be too bad,” you assure, walking to the middle of the crate. “Just get on the other side and make it look like you’re lifting it.”

 

Rain nods and follows your orders. You pick up the box, which isn’t too bad. It’s definitely lighter than the Freeway. You both shuffle over to the conveyer belt. Rain slips out of the way and you place it on. You push it more to the center to finish off. Gary and Will place theirs on top of yours a few seconds after.

 

“Two down… two dozen more to go,” Will sighs.

“Might be more than that,” Gary corrects.

“Ababababa,” Will shouts, waving his hands in front of him. “I don’t need that sort of talk in my life.”

Gary shakes his head and lightly pats Will.

“Shut up, little bro.”

“Hey! I’m not your ‘little bro’ so stop calling me that! Will is just fine!”

“Alright… William,” Gary taunts.

“Are you looking for a beating!?”

 

You chuckle and get back to work. For some reason this seems so natural and easy for you. Gary and Will are actually nice guys, and have a lot to talk about. It’s weird to think they’re part of the organization that you’ve fought against for a while now. They just seem so normal. Well, Hans once said that everyone in the Hierarchy were just regular men and women. You’d never take Hans’ word for almost anything, but this one makes sense. These people, all of these people, seem to be just normal men and women working hard. They’re relatable, and not downright demented like Hans.

 

Thanks to your strength it takes little time for all the boxes to be loaded up. You put the last on top, completing the stack of three. You wipe your forehead, pretending that the work was really hard.  Gary and Will smile at the work being done so quickly. It’s never been like this before. Usually it takes time, and around six people to complete it in double the time it took you.

 

Gary pats you and Rain on the back.

“(Y/N), Matt, you two are naturals.”

Rain moves away from Gary while you draw his attention.

“Thanks Gary. So, should we get moving?”

Gary nods.

“We should indeed. Come on, we have to cross over through the tube. The conveyer belt has its own, so we need not worry about that.”

 

“Need not worry?” Will comments. “Look at you Mr. Sophisticated”

“Yeah, whatever. Let’s get moving.”

 

Gary walks towards the end of the conveyer belt and hits a button. The belt starts bringing the boxes along its path, and into the nearby wall. Gary and Will lead you and Rain to the exit of the room. Gary punches in a code and the door begins to open.

 

“We’ll assign you your code when we finish up. You’ll need it when you’re transferring items from section to section. Without it, you’ll never be able to leave a single room,” Gary explains.

 

The door opens, allowing you all to enter. You look around and see an amazing sight. The tube is completely see through, so you can see all the wonders of the ocean. Rain in particular enjoys this view, as a smile creeps onto his face. Anything that has to do with water makes Rain happy.

 

“Oh, and in the case of an emergency there is one thing you should know. All doors have a manual shut down, which makes them slam shut. It’s in case of a water spill. If that happens, both sides of the doors have a small button in the upper right side. If any unfortunate incident ever happens, you know how to keep this station safe,” Gary teaches.

 

You nod.

“Well, hopefully nothing will happen,” you say, genuinely meaning what you’re saying.

“Nothing usually happens unless someone purposefully attempts to mess up the station. I don’t know why though, it would be the death of almost everyone here.”

“Let’s not scare the new guys, huh,” you joke.

“Oh, of course. I hope we didn’t,” Gary warmly apologizes.

 

The four of you reach the next door and wait for Gary to input his code. Once he does, the door slowly opens, revealing another massive room. Contrary to the other complex, this one actually has different rooms. But the most noticeable thing is the large glass lookout near the back of the room.

 

That HAS to be Ursula’s room. I need to get there somehow.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Mmmmm, so that’s (Y/N),” Ursula purrs, staring down at you from her perch. “The prince of all has graced me with a visit… but I wonder what for? Maybe to see his Auntie Ursula after so long. Hmmm, what I would do to him.”

 

Ursula bounces out of her chair and walks around, swaying her hips and walking with passion. It’s a walk that says she owns the world, and she basically does. She has a reason to walk like that, and she’ll strut her stuff no matter what. She approaches the glass and gets a better look at you.

 

“Hmm, just like his father. I think a little reunion is in order. AFTER I see him move all those heavy boxes.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

While you stare at Ursula’s lookout Rain, Gary, and Will walk over to the conveyer belt. The boxes had already arrived before you and were ready to be unloaded. Before the three notice you’re distracted you manage to come to and join them. You all begin unloading the boxes and stacking them in the designated zone. It once again takes little time to complete the task. Once Gary and Will put down the last box you lean against a wall.

 

“So what now?”

“We head back to our area. We’re not supposed to be here for no reason,” Gary answers.

 

“Actually,” a female voice echoes over the speaker. “I think one of those boys should stay a little longer.”

 

Gary, Will, Rain, and yourself look around the area.

“It’s the Duchess,” Gary whispers.

“The new one, (Y/N). Come to my office. Someone will escort you here.”

 

As soon as she says it a nearby door opens, and a security guard approaches you.

“Come. The Duchess is waiting.”

You look back at Rain who dons a worried look. You smile and wink at him, telling him not to worry. He blushes and looks away.

 

You follow the guard through the door he came. This whole place, unlike the previous building, is a lot more high tech. The walls are black with a blue line that goes everywhere. But it’s not just the colour, it’s the way it looks. You assume it’s metal, but it just doesn’t look like it. The black and blue just go well together and give the whole place a different feeling. There are also smaller rooms scattered around the entire place, and one huge room in the middle. The middle on actually looks like the training area back at your house, except it has some modifications.

 

The guard leads you through a few corridors and up some stairs. The stairs exit directly into the glass room you saw earlier.

 

“Darling!” A woman says so loud you swear she’s yelling. “It’s been so long!”

 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Earlier

 

Hunter throws a piece of metal at a button. The bulkhead starts falling at a high speed. Hunter sprints towards it and slides underneath just in time. He rolls over his shoulder and stops his momentum with one of his hands, resting on one knee. He stands up and exhales.

 

“Sheesh, that was way too easy. You’d think they’d improve their security after I broke in here last time.”

Hunter casually walks through the pipe that leads him to the next structure. He ignores the scenery around him, which is clear glass that allows one to see into the ocean. Fish and other sea creatures swim by the facility. Hunter doesn’t even take note of them. He approaches the door and inputs a code. The door opens to expose a massive warehouse type room. There are boxes upon boxes stacked together, all with different labels and specific categorization. It’s all organized in giant rows, meaning there is both little and yet lots of room to maneuver.

 

Hunter takes cover behind the nearest column and takes a moment to focus. It’s a quiet room, so everything should be easy enough to hear. Hunter takes a moment and finally hears footsteps.

 

“Guards, no doubt,” he confirms.

 

Hunter takes a step away from the column and goes towards the stacked boxes. He stretches his neck before running towards it and jumping. He passes two shelves before having to grab onto the third one. He quickly lifts himself to the fourth, fifth, then the top. He pulls himself up and kneels right down, as not to be seen. He looks around the ceiling to make a mental note of where the lights are. There are about two dozen hanging lights that illuminate the room, but the rest is darkness. It doesn’t matter, however, as the guards are no doubt using one of Ursula’s inventions: adaptable night vision. It isn’t blinded by the light, in fact they can see perfectly in both environments, and she likes to use them on her guards.

 

“No point sticking to the shadows. I have to completely stay out of sight.”

 

Hunter carefully shuffles across the box, keeping his knees bent and his body low. He moves to the edge and looks down. Nobody is there. Hunter pounces from one row to another. He lands softly, but still waits a moment before moving again. Once he assumes he’s in the clear he starts sneaking once more. He pulls up his holowatch and scans a small list.

 

“Labeled… ‘Plan’. So it would be in the ‘P’ section. What am I in?”

 

Hunter moves to the far end and takes a gander.

“’G’, huh? Well, I got some distance to cover.”

Hunter jumps to the next row and keeps going. He hops over a few before hearing voices. Hunter instantly stops himself and holds his breath.

 

“So, did you hear we have some guests?” A raspy voice starts.

“Guests? What do you mean?” A slightly higher pitch man asks.

“Why do you think we’re here? Soldiers of our caliber don’t guard this,” the raspy man says with pride. “The Duchess saw Hunter and (Y/N) enter the facility! She wants them alive, so keep your gun on stun.”

“Who? I’ve never heard of them before?”

“They’re the children of the Monarch. You know, Monarch Alistair Knight?”

 

“Wait, he has kids?”

Hunter hears a huff.

“Nevermind, just keep your eyes open. The Duchess doesn’t want anyone getting through here.”

 

Hunter hears footsteps but they get quieter over time.

“Damnit! She knows we’re here, and that means (Y/N) is in trouble. Curious how they didn’t mention Rain though. Whatever, I have to warn him!”

Hunter is about to get moving but stops. He looks back at his holowatch, thinking of the package he came here to search.

 

“Well… he can take care of himself for a time. I’ll get to him right after this.”

 

Hunter creeps to the edge of the box. He looks down to see a soldier, and a heavily armoured one at that. It’s the same type that came after you during the CMFs. They’re one of the deadliest in the Hierarchy.

 

“Ursula must be serious about our capture,” Hunter mumbles.

Hunter very carefully jumps onto the next row. He lands fairly quiet. Hunter takes another step which shuffles the box. It opens towards the soldier and starts to spill its contents. Hunter spins around, gets on his stomach and grabs the flaps of the box, closing them. His body is tense, and his mind is flaring. He isn’t sure what to do. If he lets go, whatever’s in the box will fall, but Hunter can’t properly close it without making himself known.

 

Hunter looks to his holowatch. He uses his chin to activate the buttons and summon a dog’s toy – a small orange ball. Hunter grabs it with his watch hand and moves on his side. He looks farther down the corridor of boxes. He focuses for a second, planning his shot. He whips the ball down the corridor. It hits a box, making a sound, and then the ball lands behind a different box. The soldier hears the noise and raises their gun. They slowly start walking towards the sound, giving Hunter some time. Hunter moves his body off the box and in front of the flaps. He quickly fiddles with the flaps, forcing them back together without using any sort of tape or glue. Once he’s sure it’s stable Hunter pulls himself back on top of the box and gets the hell out of there.

 

He quickly hops a few rows down, being careful the entire time. Once he’s an ample distance away Hunter lies flat on his back and takes a second to breathe.

“Too close,” he huffs.

Hunter flips onto his stomach and slowly pushes himself up. He looks back to where he started and counts in his head.

 

“If I’m right… this next row should be ‘P’.”

 

Hunter approaches the next row and looks down. No guards seem to be there and he can’t hear any nearby. Hunter jumps down and lands, letting his body almost touch the ground to minimize the sound. He stays low and keeps a lookout.

 

“Jesus… I feel like Spider-Man in this position.”

 

Hunter stands up and rotates his shoulders and starts softly walking. He looks back and forth between the two sides, scanning his eyes over every label. He keeps his pace slow, and his breathing under control. He doesn’t want to attract any attention – mane a squeak with his steps or make himself known by his breathing. He ignores everything that isn’t labelled “plan”, no matter how interesting it may seem. He’s too focused on his father to try and stop anything else the Hierarchy is doing.

 

Hunter smiles when he finds the box with the label. He walks up to it and lightly places his hand on the box, pushing against it.

“Nothing huge on the inside,” he points out.

Hunter takes another gander at his surroundings. Certain nobody is around, he pulls the box out. It’s extremely easy to hold. Hunter grips it tight with one hand while letting go with the other. He looks up and springs towards the top. He makes it on top and sets the box down. He opens it up and takes a peek of what’s inside.

 

The only thing in the box is a chip. A single, small computer chip. Hunter picks it up and examines it a bit. He’s not sure what it could be, but he’s banking on it having something to do with Alistair’s master plan. A smirk creeps onto his face. He places the chip in the holowatch for later.

 

“I could search it but this isn’t the place. I need to get to Ursula’s servers. But…” Hunter looks back at the box. “Why place this here? Why not keep it with him?”

 

Hunter doesn’t allow this to distract him for now. He closes up the box and looks back down at the isle. Thankfully nobody is there, and he can put the box down without problems. He hops down with the box and slides it into position. With everything he wanted to do completed, he only has your task left to finish.

 

By his memory, the exit tube should be close by. Close enough to not need to haul his butt back up there. Hunter sighs and starts walking. He comes to the outer edge of the place and pokes his head out. He sees a soldier walking the opposite way. Hunter smirks and slips out of the isle, running fast but still quietly. He passes one isle and looks down it, seeing someone walking towards him. Their eyes meet for a split second before Hunter runs by. The soldier is confused for a second but quickly chases after him, not totally sure if he just saw something or not.

 

“Shit,” Hunter huffs.

 

He runs as fast as he can to the end of the room and takes a sharp right turn. Thankfully, he got out of the way of the soldier coming for him. Unfortunately he runs right into another soldier. The soldier falls on his face. Hunter, on the other hand, is still on his feet. Hunter instantly kneels down beside the man and knocks him out with one blow. Hunter stands back up and looks down at the body. He can’t just leave it there, so he has to hide it somewhere. Hunter looks around, trying to find somewhere to hide him.

 

Hunter hears footsteps and looks behind him. The soldier from before comes around the corner, gun aimed at Hunter.

 

“Fuck.”

 

Hunter ducks, just dodging a shocking bolt. He grabs the unconscious body, rolls towards the soldier, and tosses the body at the soldier. The body lands right on top of the soldier, pinning him down. Hunter keeps his momentum going and ends up right on top of the two bodies. Hunter hits the soldier with a quick yet strong punch to the soldiers face, knocking him out instantly.

 

Hunter exhales and stands up.

“Well… I can’t hide all of these. I’m either going to have to be quick… or take everyone in this room down. Goddamnit…”

Hunter contemplates what to do. Hunter shakes his head.

“I have to get to (Y/N). I’ll have to risk it.”

 

Hunter grabs the bodies and huddles them beside a box. If anyone were to look, they would find the bodies with ease. Hunter stares at them for a moment and huffs.

“It’ll have to do,” he huffs, crossing his arms. “So let’s get going.”

 

Hunter looks down the hallway, seeing the entrance to the door not too far down. Hunter sprints down the hall and reaches the door. He stops in front of it and enters a code which opens the door in seconds. He rushes into the tube without a second thought. To his dismay, two soldiers are walking towards the entrance – towards him. Hunter realizes his situation and comes up with a plan. Before the two can raise their guns Hunter jumps towards them, curling into a ball and turning his body horizontally. Once he is between the two he almost glues his hands and feet together. He sends his fists at one, and his feet at the other. The two are sent back at the two opposite walls – unconscious.

 

Hunter lands on his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He coughs as he pushes himself onto his knees. He takes a moment to regain his composure. He shakes his head and gets back on his feet. Without wasting another second Hunter runs to the next door, entering his code. As the door opens Hunter slips to the side, out of view from anyone who might be on the other side.

 

Once the door opens Hunter waits for a moment. He hears nothing to indicate someone is there. It’s possible the guards he just took out were the ones here before. Hunter quickly looks into the next room. He sees no guards or any personnel to interrupt him. Hunter sleuths out of the corner and into the room. He’s been here before, so he knows exactly where to go in order to get to the server room. He takes an immediate left and enters the door. There’s a stairwell leading right up, and he takes it. He traverses up the stairs until he reaches the top. He hears a woman’s voice – Ursula’s – shout.

 

“Hello darling! It’s been to long!”

 

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The woman, who you assume to be the famed Duchess Ursula, is a very large woman in a black dress. Her skin isn’t quite pale… almost like it has a purple tone to it, and her hair is white, yet she doesn’t look old. She has some obvious make-up on in an attempt to make her look half-decent but truthfully she’s rather revolting. Her finger nails are coated red and they’re long. Long enough to jab your eye out with if she pleased. She’s also wearing a seashell as a necklace which falls just above her cleavage. The dress she’s wearing honestly doesn’t suit her. It makes her look even larger than other clothes would. Her meaty legs step over each other, much like Elsa when she wears a dress but not even close to as enticing.

 

“Yes… a whole life time, I would say,” you reluctantly speak. “I don’t think I’ve had the… pleasure,” you half-heartedly say. “To meet you.”

“Oh, darling I’m insulted,” she pouts, stopping right in front of you. “You don’t remember Auntie Ursula?”

 

You stare into her eyes which scream evil intention. She’s not even trying to hide her dark heart, it’s practically her pupils. You look away and see Hunter at the doorway. He’s giving you a look of pity. You dart your eyes to the side, telling him to get moving. Hunter nods and scurries off.

 

I’m going to have to distract her now… great… Looks like I’ll have to play along in her game.

 

“I’m afraid I don’t,” you admit, your body stiffening up due to the unnerving feeling she’s giving you.

“Well, I suppose I can forgive you. You were very… young,” she purrs, tracing her fingernail down your chest.

You shiver at her action.

“Yes… I’d have to be. I’m sure I would remember someone as… charming as you,” you say with a fake smile.

 

Ursula places her hand on her chest and chuckles.

“Well that’s quite the compliment, isn’t it? Or is it an insult?” She inquires, truly intrigued.

“It’s whatever you want to be,” you coldly respond.

“Ohh, feisty. You’re so much like your father, you know. I hear you two don’t get along too well,” she says, slowly walking around you.

“We manage somehow. Kind of hard to have a healthy relationship when he tries to kill me.”

 

Ursula snickers.

“So why not kill him back?”

Your body tenses up and your face becomes more serious.

“We have fought before… I may not have seen the monster he is but Hunter has. I’m following his lead."

“Oh, so you’re just a henchmen blindly doing what you’re told?” She says, trying to hit a nerve.

“I have my own mind. I can make my own decisions,” you reassure Ursula and yourself.

“Hm… and how many of your own decisions have you really made, hm? Maybe you should go rogue. Watch what Hunter does without you. Watch what Alistair really does,” Ursula proposes, slowly circling you, her wide hips grazing past your jeans with every motion she makes.

 

“What’re you getting at?” You ask, having some idea of what she’s talking about but not a complete one.

“Oh, nothing. Just ramblings of an aging Duchess. I’ve been at this for a long time. I was one of the first Hierarchy members, you know? Back when Maleficent was the Monarch, but that was a long time ago.”

“What happened to her?”

 

Ursula stops in front of you. She looks into your eyes. You can’t read her by her eyes. Even her facial expressions change. Hunter’s right, she seems to be the manipulative sort, but you’re unsure what she wants you to do. Abandon Hunter? Kill Alistair? She has an agenda and you’re tied into somehow.

 

“She was replaced when the Westergaard family started taking power, which resulted in the second Monarch: Balthier Westergaard.

 

You raise your brow. Something is odd with this. Why is Ursula telling you this? Why is she telling you anything? You’re her enemy, aren’t you? Why is she even talking to you? Why not just kill you right there? It makes no sense. Ursula smiles and turns around, walking towards her observatory.

 

“Wasn’t so bad, I suppose, but his downfall was his pride. Couldn’t accept that someone didn’t want to work for him – being such a powerful man and all.”

 

You take a single step closer to Ursula.

“Who didn’t want to work with him?”

Ursula’s smile widens, though you can’t see it.

“Your father, of course. He was working on some revolutionary stuff, I must admit. I saw his genius as soon as Balthier explained the work Alistair was doing. It was the origin of the elemental project, except he was testing one’s mental abilities. I knew he had potential to be a great mind and create wonders, which he did. But I never predicted he had the potential to be a great threat,” she admits, her voice trailing off, mind wandering.

 

“Why was he a threat? Did Alistair attack Balthier?”

“No,” Ursula shakes her head. “Balthier made the first move and it cost him everything. It was the first time the Hierarchy was defied to such an extreme, and your father won. He smashed us to bits; we never saw it coming. It ended with Balthier dead, and Alistair taking over as Monarch.”

“Well, it’s not like he did it alone. He had my mother, didn’t he?” You point out.

 

“Juno?” Ursula laughs. “Oh boy, she came into the picture afterwards. But, let’s not focus on the past,” she declares, walking beside you. “You’re interested in the present and future. Ask, and Auntie Ursula will answer.”

 

Ursula walks past you towards a desk. You slowly turn around to keep her in your sight. He walks closely beside her desk, grazing her nails across the metal. She takes a seat in her chair and folds her arms like a triangle; resting her head on her hands.

 

“As much as the past interests me it’s true I’m not here for a history lesson. I want to know where Hans went,” you say with assertion.

Ursula maintains her devious smile

“I flew him to Sanfransokyo. What he’s doing there... I lack that knowledge.”

 

You take a step away and look at the window.

“So… now what? Am I allowed to leave peacefully? I’d rather not have to hurt everyone here,” you honestly say.

“I won’t stop you. Go, leave,” Ursula allows.

 

She looks down at her tablet and sees a small light go off. She chuckles a little bit but it doesn’t gain your attention.

“We’ll see how it goes,” she whispers.

 

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A circular ship approaches the docking bay to the storage warehouse on the left side, opposite to the factory. It’s quite literally a medium sized ball, similar to Rain’s creation except it’s made of a metallic substance. It’s all black on the outside with a small, circle window at the very front. There are small jets all over the ball in for its movement. It slowly enters the docking area and locks in. The entrance slowly drains all the water out then opens to the main area. The front of the ball releases the air locked inside as it opens. Once open, it reveals Alistair.

 

Alistair, a little agitated, walks out of the ball and into the facility. The room is dark except for the few lights. He never understood why Ursula did this, but he never spent enough time here to complain about it. Alistair pulls down the end of his sleeve and takes a left. He casually walks towards the wall, not paying attention to any of the lanes to the side. However, a soldier is in one of those lanes. He sees Alistair and panics. He fires at him, not having his gun set to stun. Four bullets fly at Alistair. He lifts his hand towards the bullets and focuses for a moment. The bullets slow down, eventually stopping a short distance away from him.

 

Alistair lowers his hands, also dropping the bullets onto the ground. The soldier drops his gun and raises his hands.

“Monarch! I’m so sorry! I thought you were an intruder!” He pleads.

Alistair turns his head towards the soldier. His face isn’t as neutral at it usually is. Right now, he seems more annoyed. Alistair looks over at the soldier with a death stare that paralyzes the soldier with fear. Alistair lifts his hand towards him.

 

“Soldiers don’t beg. You face whatever you face with honour.”

The soldier shakes with fear, unsure of what the Monarch will do to him. Alistair maintains his menacing stare. The bullets start to lift into the air, swirling around Alistair. The bullets then fly toward the soldier, piercing both his shoulders and knees. The soldier falls on the ground, screaming in pain. Soon enough, other soldiers converge on his location. They look around, but nobody there other than the other soldier.

 

Alistair is already gone, and is on his way towards Ursula’s office.

 

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Hunter punches in some codes and such into the computer. His eyes dart between the screen and his fingers. With the time you’ve bought, he’s learned where Hans has gone, along with some other interesting details.

 

“So Hans is in Sanfransokyo? Good thing I have some friends there. Plus they should be able to help out with any techy shit I might need. They’ll be better than (Y/N) and me could hope to be.”

 

He continues surfing through the server to see if he can find anything else. He stumbles upon something that interests him.

 

“Hans… He’s been sending men after Elsa? But… they’ve all failed? Who stopped them? Elsa? Hm… Maybe I should let (Y/N) know…” Hunter contemplates thus for a moment, really thinking about the situation. “What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Besides, something is keeping them away, and I don’t have the time to investigate that. Whatever, I have all the information I need.”

 

Hunter signs out of the server and starts getting a move on. His mind is still fighting with itself on whether to tell you about Elsa or not. Sure, she somehow is alright but he has no way of knowing how long that will last. She’s a resourceful and strong willed woman, though. She can take care of herself. It rattles Hunter’s brain. He really isn’t sure, no matter how much he tells himself she’s fine.

 

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“Well, I thank you for not forcing me to resort to violence.”

“Of course not. But… well… once you leave maybe we can work together? I helped you, so you help me?”

You stare down Ursula for a moment. You shake your head and cross your arms.

“Sorry, but as helpful as you’ve been I won’t help you no matter what.”

 

Before any more conversation can go on Hunter rushes into the room.

“(Y/N) we have to go. Now. Right now!”

He runs past you and out the door you came in. You give a nod to Ursula then follow Hunter.

 

Ursula begins to smile an ever so devious smile.

“If you won’t help me… then you’re technically my enemy. As my enemy, I can’t let you leave with the information you have.”

Ursula picks up her tablet and accesses the communications.

“Listen up, all security personnel,” Ursula speaks, her voice only being heard through every soldier’s headset. “Overlord and Hunter are here, and they’re attempting to leave with crucial information. They are heading to the factory via my tube. Corner them, and deal with them.”

Ursula places her tablet down and smiles, proud at what she’s done.

 

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You and Hunter run down the stairs and backtrack the way you came. You and Hunter stop at the tube. Hunter punches in a code that opens it. The door slowly opens, leading into the tube. You both rush in. You need to find Rain before you can leave.

 

You sprint to the end or the tube and stop before the next door. Hunter once again punches in a code once more. The door opens up to the factory area. Thankfully not many people actually notice you and Hunter. One of the people who do notice you is Rain. He instantly makes his way towards you two.

 

“Rain! Are you okay?” You ask with concern.

Rain blushes, looks to your feet, and nods.

“Y-yeah, I’m okay. I just had to move some things around. It wasn’t so bad.”

Hunter looks around the room and notices a mass of soldiers slowly walking towards him.

“Guys, I think we need to leave,” he says, directing all of your attention towards the incoming threat.”

 

You balance how fast the soldiers are moving to the distance to the exit.

“We’re not going to make it to the docking area. We have to go back. Is there a way out through any of the other buildings?” You ask, looking at Hunter.

He nods.

“Yeah, there’s one in the storage facility. It’d be best if we went back the way we came and circled around.”

 

The soldiers finally recognize you three. One points in your direction, and the others raise their guns. The workers around them panic and run to the very sides of the building. The ones who don’t see it are confused at the whole ordeal. The soldiers start firing at you, which instantly makes the three of you duck and run. You cycle through the holowatch until you find the Dragon Sword. There’s no way you can deflect bullets or anything, but something is better than nothing.

 

Hunter reaches the door and starts punching in the code, trying not to get shot. Rain stays down and out of the line of fire completely. You stand strong with your sword, spinning it in a circular motion. You guide some bullets away, but some come too close for comfort.

 

“How’re we doing with the door, Hunter? They’re getting close!”

“My code isn’t working! Hold on!” He shouts, feeling the pressure.

You deflect one bullet but another grazes your cheek, making you bleed a little. You look at it for a second before diving out of the way, knocking away one bullet with a weak swing. You slide beside Rain and look over at Hunter.

 

“Come on!” You scream.

“I’m working on it!” He shouts back.

 

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Alistair walks up the stairs towards Ursula’s office. Ursula is sitting at her desk, then looks up at Alistair.

“Alistair, my man! To what do I owe this pleasure?” She loudly greets, standing up.

“Give me your tablet,” he commands.

Ursula pauses for a moment.

“Now.”

 

Ursula quickly grabs the tablet and brings it to him in a hurried manner. By the tone in his voice Alistair isn’t in the mood for games, and Ursula knows this isn’t the time to try and talk to him. Alistair grabs the tablet and enters his Monarch code into it. The Monarch code is something that allows full access to all the entire data base he’s currently at. Thus, Alistair has full access. He cycles through the tablet, absorbing all the information he reads.

 

Hans is in Sanfransokyo. Ursula sent men after my sons. That’s all I need.

 

Alistair swipes to another screen and enters a series of codes. On the tablet a window pops up. It reads “Self-destruct sequence? Enter code.”

 

Ursula knows that my sons must live. She also aided in Hans’ escape. Her facility can sink to the bottom of the ocean for all I care.

 

Alistair inputs his code and confirms the self-destruct sequence. A siren starts sounding throughout the entire base, letting everyone know that the place is about to explode. One explosion is all it will take to cripple the base. The integrity of the base will falter, and the water pressure will crush it.

 

Ursula grabs Monarch’s arm and pulls on it.

“What are you doing? This is my base! My home!” She cries out.

“You should have thought of that before attacking my children. They can’t die yet, and you know that. Your insolence must be punished.”

 

Alistair activates his holowatch and summons his broadsword. Ursula backs up, her hands in line with her chest.

“Alistair… what’re you..? I’ve been nothing but loyal!”

“No… you’re wrong. And like the rest of the Hierarchy, you will die. Your life will just end before the destruction is fulfilled.”

 

Before Ursula can speak Alistair casually launches the sword at her, piercing her heart and pinning her against the far wall. She struggles for a short amount of time before going limp. Alistair clicks his holowatch, bringing the sword back into it. Ursula’s body falls to the ground, toppling over itself. Alistair stares at it for a moment and walks back to the tablet. He accesses the cameras and cycles through them. He stops at a camera showing you, Hunter, and Rain all under fire. Alistair clicks a few buttons and opens the two doors.

 

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You grab a nearby box and toss it in their direction, hitting one soldier. All of a sudden an explosion detonates on the other side of the room, killing three workers and allowing water to start flowing in. Seeing this, Rain pushes the water back out of the hole. However he feels something else. He extends both arms in different directions and holds them there. His arms shake a little and his eyes start concentrating.

 

You look back at him.

“Rain, what is it?”

“The water… It’s going to crush this place. I can hold it for a time, but… we need to get out of here. Please. This is difficult to hold.”

Hunter keeps entering different codes until the door begins to open. He smiles and claps his hands.

“Ha! (Y/N), Rain! Come on!”

 

You and Rain look back, seeing the opening door. You both run towards it, escaping the room. The soldiers quickly chase after you while the workers rush to the docked ships. This place is going to explode, and every one of them wants to leave. Screaming, pushing, and even violence spark as everyone is only concerned for themselves. People are knocking out others to get closer to the ships. Some are doing the opposite – trying to help everyone they can. But there aren’t enough ships for everyone, and nobody wants to be left behind.

 

The three of you run through the tube and see the next door opening as well. You stay behind Rain since he’s moving a little slower. You’ve never seen him so focused or under so much stress. You don’t know how difficult it is, but since Rain always claimed he has the most control over elemental powers, you can only assume this is taking its toll on him. You hear the soldiers coming through the tube.

 

“There they are! Fire!” You hear.

You grab your sword and attempt to protect Rain. Hunter makes it to the end and takes cover. He looks down the tube and gestures you to come.

“Hurry! I can close it!”

Rain nods and attempts to pick up the pace. He can hear explosions coming from all over the place. Even the room he’s heading to has suffered some damage.

 

You and Rain make it passed the door. The soldiers are hot on your tail, firing clips upon clips at you. You make it past and slide behind cover.

“Close it!” You cry out.

Hunter taps away on the console. The door starts to close, cutting off the soldiers. You and Rain get out of cover and converge on Hunter. You’re all panting heavily, sweating. Rain is still struggling with keeping the ocean at bay, making sure it doesn’t crush you all. His arms are still up, shaking.

 

Hunter bends over and rests his hands on his knees. Some drops of sweat slip off of his forehead. Before you can rest easy you hear the soldiers attempt to open the door. You all look towards it. You sigh.

 

“We should move. We have some time,” Hunter suggests.

“I… would like that,” Rain huffs.

The three of start walking towards the other door. You go through a door into a large room. It’s the same room you saw, the one that looks like the training room back at your house. The three of you walk through, all struggling in your own way. You get halfway through the room when you hear glass shatter. You look towards the observatory – the only place you remember their being glass – and see someone burst through it. The figure lands right in the middle of all three of you. It instantly rushes you and Hunter, grabbing your throats and slamming you into a nearby wall. You drop the Dragon sword in the scuffle. Rain just watches, unable to do anything to help.

 

You grab the hand around your neck and try to pull it off. You look at the man, seeing the eyes of your father.

“Why? I offered my help and you spit in my face?” He whispers, half laughing yet half disappointed. “Do you have no consideration for me?”

He lifts you both off the wall and throws you on the ground. You hold your throat, coughing. Hunter does the same.

 

“Hans is in Sanfransokyo, if you didn’t already know. I offer my aid to you once more. If you decline it and attempt to get him yourself, if I run into you while you do that… I will kill you. Now, I will meet you all in Sanfransokyo. I look forward to it,” Alistair threatens, venom filled in his voice. “And maybe if you actually came with me, this place wouldn’t be self-destructing. This is your fault – both of you.”

 

He turns around and starts walking away. He looks over at Rain, who is staring at him with fear. Alistair nods and walks away. He jumps back up to the observatory. He marches to the other side of the room, walking over Ursula’s dead body. He reaches a little left of the middle of the wall. A small part of the wall opens, revealing a hand scanner. Alistair places his hand on it, and it scans his hand. After scanning it, the wall opens up and reveals an escape pod. Alistair walks in the escape pod, a similar looking construction to the ball he arrived in.

 

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You and Hunter squirm on the ground, trying to recover from Alistair’s attack.

“Guys… those soldiers are almost through the door… we have to go… please,” he whines.

You slowly get to your feet, still coughing and holding your neck. Hunter does the same, but starts moving before you. He stumbles to the door and begins unlocking it.

 

You get your senses back, shaking your head to finalize it. You walk towards your Dragon Sword and pick it up. Rain stays with you, still struggling to keep the base intact. You look over at him and see his pain.

 

“How’re you holding up?” You ask with concern.

“I’d prefer it if we hurry, please,” he begs.

You nod and run to Hunter, who is still trying to open the door. You move beside him and look at his work.

“What’s taking so long?”

“Nothing… I just have lack of blood flowing to my brain so I can’t think.” He punches in a longer code than what he usually did. The door slowly begins to open. “There,” he says, taking a step back.

 

The door opens just enough for Hunter to slip under it.

“I’ll get the other door so we’re not waiting so long. Time isn’t our friend right now.”

The ringing of the siren emphasizes that, but you’re just blocking it out. The adrenaline of the situation is keep focused. The threat of dying; it makes your blood start pumping. It’s a good thing.

 

Hunter runs to the other door and starts opening it. You wait for the first one to open. Rain slowly walks towards you. He stops when he hears an explosion not far behind him. You see the door fly through some of the architecture of the room. You quickly sprint towards the area, knowing that the soldiers will be coming through.

 

“Rain, go!” You shout, running past him.

 

You grip your sword tightly and run towards the hole. Soldiers start pouring in, but they’re instantly met by your blade. You slide into the middle of them, cutting a few of their legs, making them fall to the ground. You bounce off your shoulders and land on your feet. You turn around and quickly absorb your surroundings.

 

There are a few soldiers who still hasn’t come to terms with what just happened, so you still have some surprise. The soldiers you cut down are still alive, but they won’t be attacking you. There are seven soldiers right in front of you. You’re unsure if there are any more coming. Thus, you’ll just handle who you have now.

 

You grab your sword with your other hand and ready an upward diagonal cut. You slice through the closest soldier, killing him instantly. You step past him and bring your sword down on another. The soldiers finally noticed you and start to turn their guns on you. You turn around and lean forward, stabbing one of the soldiers. Since their armour is so dense, you can move him with your sword. You pivot your foot and get yourself into a strong, stable stance. You drag the man to the side and smash a few other soldiers with him, making them lose their guns and fall to the ground.

 

One soldier raises their gun enough to get you in their sights. You notice this and instantly jump, performing and aerial twist over him. While hovering over him you slice once and land, letting your legs bend to absorb the fall. His head slowly falls off his body. You squint your eyes, knowing what the sound of his fleshy head hitting the ground is.

 

The three remaining soldiers start getting up, scrambling for their guns. You open your eyes, see this, and dart off your back leg. You catch one before he can even get on his feet, delivering a powerful kick to the side of his face. It knocks him out on contact. You continue with your momentum and move to the remaining two. One is in reach of their gun, and is about to grab it. You quickly spring off the ground and land right on top of him, plunging your sword into an artery. The next soldier is a step away. You spin your sword in your hands, spin as you step, and kneel down next to him, bringing your sword down on his neck.

 

You’re about to take a breather but the base starts rattling. Explosions are coming from all over the place, and the facility isn’t going to stay together for much longer, even if Rain holds off the water. You stand up and look down the tube to the factory. Even more soldiers are rushing through it to get to you. You exhale and start running to the next tube. You don’t see Rain in the room you’re in, and don’t see him until you can see down the tube. Unfortunately the soldier are hot on your tail, firing at you. You dive into the rube, rolling over your shoulder so you can start running. Rain turns around and sees you coming. He waits at the end of the tube for you.

 

You reach half way through the tube before soldiers make it to the entrance. Hearing their footsteps, you turn around and try to knock away some of their bullets away. One bullet hits you, piercing through your chest. You cough up some blood, but refuse to fall. You keep moving back but they’re moving too fast. You can’t escape them. Rain sees this and cringes, hating he can’t do anything. He looks back for Hunter, but he’s securing an exit for them.

 

Hunter looks at the last escape pod.

“This is dad’s pod. That mean… shit…”

 

You stumble back, losing blood the entire time. As you move back an explosion occurs in the tube… right beside you. It sends you flying to the other end of the tube like a child throwing a doll at a wall. You smash into the wall and fall on the ground. Your head has a major gash and is bleeding heavily. Your clothes are charred on the right side, and some parts aren’t there anymore. Your right arm is completely exposed. Water starts pouring in through the hole in the wall. Rain’s eyes widen. The soldiers were disoriented but weren’t hurt like you. They start moving towards you. Rain decides not to stay idle anymore. Rain moves one hand towards the hole, making the water form a wall inbetween you and the soldiers. Rain cringes at the action. His head Is pounding. His powers are hitting its limit, but he has to keep going.

 

Rain walks towards you and falls to one knee.

 

“(Y/N), come on! Get up!” He begs.

You don’t move. He takes a closer look at you and sees you are in fact breathing.

“Come on! Please get up!” He shouts.

 

Your eyes slowly open. Your ears are ringing; you can’t hear a thing. You even your arms out and slowly push yourself up. You fall back onto the floor on the first try. It feels like your body is a planet right now. It’s so heavy and tired. Your body is hurting so much that you don’t even feel it anymore. It’s just so intense, like when something is so cold it’s hot. You shake your head and push yourself up with every ounce of strength you have. Your muscles can barely perform the action, but you make it so.Rain looks around and notices your Dragon Sword is a bit away from you. He looks down to your holowatch and attempts to fiddle with it. It locks up, but also brings the sword back into it. That’s good enough.

 

You still can’t get yourself up, so Rain shimmies under your arm and helps you onto your feet.

“Come on (Y/N)! We’re getting out of here!”

You don’t respond since you’re still trying to get all your senses back. Rain basically carries you through the tube and to the escape pod.

 

Hunter sighs when he sees the only thing that’s left. He looks at Rain with a melancholy look. Rain raises his brow and looks at the pod. You look up at the two and see them talking, but you still can’t hear what they’re saying. Your hearing is slowly coming back, but not in time to hear their little back and forth.

 

The ringing goes away finally and you start to hear the siren again.

 

Great…

 

You push off Rain and try to keep your balance. Hunter and Rain stay close to you, just in case. You get your balance and wait a second. Suddenly the pain in your chest amplifies through your body. You grab your chest and grip it tight.

 

“Are you okay?” Rain asks.

“No time. We have to get out of here. We’ll get you medical attention once we’re out,” Hunter declares.

 

Rain nods and helps you to the escape pod. Hunter walks in first, clenching his fist. He turns around and watches you and Rain approach it. But… something’s wrong. You can’t hear Rain walking anymore. You stop right before the escape pod and turn around. Rain is standing behind you with a face similar to Hunter’s – a melancholy one.

 

Rain cracks a smirk and pushes you into the escape pod. Hunter hits the button, closing the pod. Ignoring the pain, you quickly stand up and rush to the window.

“Hunter! What are you doing? Rain, get in!” You shout.

Hunter shakes his head.

“He can’t. If he gets in this pod, we all die.” You stare at Rain as Hunter talks. He has a sad, yet accepting face. “This is Alistair’s personal pod. It’s immune to elemental powers from the inside out. It was made so no water user could crush him on his way here. However… if Rain enters the pod his powers will be nullified. The facility will be crushed by the water pressure and we’ll all die before we can even launch the pod.”

 

You stare at Rain with horror as Hunter explains it. Rain keeps his eyes away from yours. He can’t look you in the eye right now.

“No…” You whisper. “No, Hunter we’re resourceful guys! We can find a way out of this!” Hunter shakes his head. “What about you Shadow? You have always have an answer!”

 

“I do. Rain has to stay here,” he accepts.

“That’s not good enough! Rain, come on! We can get out of here! Please!” You beg, tears forming down your face.

Rain smirks. He slowly looks into your eyes.

 

“(Y/N)… please… I have to do this. It’s the only way.”

“NO! I don’t accept that! There’s always another way!” You scream.

Rain shakes his head.

 

“Shhh, (Y/N). This is my decision, and I have you to thank for it. Without you in my life I never would have been the person I am now. I’m following in your footsteps. I know you would do the same if the roles were reversed. I thank you so much… you were the first to accept me; to call me a friend. So… please live. You can influence more people than I can. And… tell Matt… Tell him that I love him… and that I made this decision with no regrets.”

 

You shake your head.

“No… NO! Rain, come on don’t do this!”

Rain shakes his head. He slowly backs up and starts walking away.

“GODDAMNIT RAIN!” You howl, punching the glass.

Rain approaches the launch station and hits the button. Your pod is sent flying away from the facility at a rapid rate… leaving Rain behind.

 

“RAIN!” You scream.

 

The pod zooms away from the facility, already having a safe distance between yourself and the structure. Hunter stays silent, mourning the loss of his friend. His eyes drift to you, still staring through the window. You see the facility finally give in; cracking under the water pressure. It slowly turns in on itself, molding into a different form.

 

“Rain… he could survive that. He’s a water elemental. He can-“

 

You’re cut off when the facility explodes, destroying everything nearby. Your spirit is completely broken after that. You fall to your knees, clenching your body and crying. But you don’t make a sound. You silently cry for your friend. Hunter places his hand on your shoulder.

 

“I’m sorry. If there was another way…”

 

You don’t respond. You remain silent, as Rain would. The weight of everything finally hits you. The mental pain, the physical pain. Everything is bearing down on you at once. Your eyes slowly start to close, and you fall over in exhaustion. But the only thing you can think of is that blue haired man.

 

Rain.

 

 

 

 


	40. Aftermath of Atlantica

Chapter 40: The Aftermath of Atlantica

 

The pod bursts through the surface of the water as if it was about to drown and just now reaching the surface after being in the grip of the liquid for so long. It’s positioned a moderate distance away from shore. It doesn’t completely escape the water, however. A heavy rain pours down over the city. It’s creating puddles, dampening clothes, and being as powerful as it can be. But there is no thunder. No lightning. Just rain. Hunter looks down at you, passed out from both physical and mental pain. Hunter kneels down and places his hand on a bandage wrapped diagonally around your body, covering the bullet wound. He removed your shirt, so your ice necklace now rests out in the open. Lucky for you Hunter had some medical supplies in his holowatch that he used to bandage your wounds. You won’t need to go to the hospital, not that he was going to take you. No time for it. But he knows you need rest. A flight to Sanfransokyo will take almost a full day which is enough rest for you. He just won’t wake you up the entire time.

 

Hunter closes his eyes and contemplates everything that just happened. There’s Rain and his effect on you. There’s Alistair and his demand to work together. Everything seems to be going in every direction possible that there’s no way Hunter can keep all these balls in one court. He stands up, still staring at you. He clenches his fist in anger but quickly relaxes his hand, releasing it all. Hunter enters a few commands in the pod, making it take you both closer to shore. Once the pod reaches shore, Hunter grabs you and throws you over his shoulder. He carries you out of the pod then turns around. The pod closes, backs away, and then dives back into the water. Hunter nods, knowing his job is complete. Hunter slowly walks away with you over his shoulder. He needs a place to go, and there’s only one place he can think of.

 

Even If it looks odd to everyone else, Hunter doesn’t try to hide you from the public. He starts walking into the city with no emotion on his face. The rain trailing down his cheeks are the closest thing to emotion he is showing right now. He’s blank – a vessel that acts but doesn’t feel. It’s not that he doesn’t want to, he just can’t anymore. After everything he’s seen and been through, losing a friend isn’t enough to make him cry, or even pause. He’s been forced to murder kids, see people scream in agony from the Hierarchy’s experiments, and killed more than he ever wanted to. With the life he’s lived he can’t afford to feel for every loss he’s experienced. It’s an unfortunate, sobering reality.

 

Your clothes - along with Hunter’s - start dampening from the rain. Hunter shakes his head to get rid of some of the water. His white hair falls closer to his skin, nearly covering his eyes. He can still see though, but others can’t see his face. They can only see the empty expression as he walks by. Everyone still on the streets stare at Hunter and you. They’re shocked at your state, and how casual Hunter is being. Hunter doesn’t look at any of them right now. All he wants to do is get back to Gaia’s home. That’s the only place he can think of to be safe.

 

“You’re right about Alistair.”

 

Hunter cringes a bit.

 

He was there… he was probably there the whole time. He let us conduct our business AND let us live. I wonder if Ursula made it out… hm… seems we actually have to cooperate with him but… I don’t trust him. I feel like he’ll betray us.

 

“You’re right about Alistair.”

 

But if I don’t then we’ll die. (Y/N) is supposed to have the strength to stop Alistair, even he said it. That whole file was odd though. It was half corrupted and ended with (Y/N)’s blood. We should have the same blood, no? Or maybe they enhanced him in some way that makes his blood different. But that can’t be it. Alistair himself claims (Y/N) is completely natural… but that doesn’t make sense. Even I’m enhanced, to a degree. Father and mother too. There’s no way (Y/N) isn’t enhanced. I refuse to believe it. Maybe Alec knows something… I might be able to contact him once I’m back in action.

 

Hunter keeps to himself until a woman approaches him.

“I’m sorry to ask but… is that man okay?”

“He’s fine, just… had a rough morning,” Hunter smiles, faking it.

“Oh… alright. If you say so,” she reluctantly accepts.

 

Hunter brushes by her and continues on his way to Gaia’s residence.

 

“You’re right about Alistair.”

 

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Alec lets out a sigh and walks into his room. They day has just begun, and, like always, he has a lot of work to do. Unlike most days where he’s wearing just a black or white dress shirt – half tucked in and lazily put on – he actually has a suit jacket on today. His white dress shirt is still half tucked in but it’s somewhat covered by the black jacket. Before sitting down he walks over to his mini fridge and opens it up. He’s disappointed when he sees nothing ready for him. He cringes and slams the door shut.

 

“Janice!” He shouts in an aggravated tone.

 

A young, black haired woman rushes into the room.

“Y-yes Mr. Westergaard?”

“Why is there no whiskey in the fridge? Where did my whiskey go?” He questions, seeming to be on his breaking point.

“I… I’ll get you some more right away!” She nods, running out of the room.

 

Alec watches her leave and sighs. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a flask.

“Can’t believe I need to resort to this…” He mumbles.

Alec unscrews the cap and takes a swig of the drink. He pulls away and smiles.

“That’s the good stuff. Now…”

 

Alec walks up to his computer and boots it up. He also takes off his coat and hangs it off the side of his office chair. As it starts up Alec starts drinking once more. He downs the entire flask before the computer boots up – which is within one minute. Alec stares at the empty flask for a moment then tosses it away. He walks up to his computer and goes into his emails. He sees one from Monarch. His heart skips a beat. Alec’s finger closes in on the email.

 

“Alec!” Elsa happily greets.

Alec retracts his hand and looks up at Elsa, who is poking her head through the door.

“Are you okay? Seem a little tense,” she observes.

“Yeah, I’m fine. You just startled me.”

 

Elsa nods and leaves Alec. She walks to her office and sets her bags down beside her desk. She walks around the table and sits down in her chair. She sighs, leans over and rests her face in her hands. She starts tearing up a little bit in frustration and stress. She drags one hand down her face and keeps her eyes shut.

 

A day ago she called the police to search for Olaf. From what everyone can remember, Olaf was supposed to be picked up by their friend. He was picked up, but not by them. Elsa learned that his friend’s mother dropped by, but he wasn’t home. She thought nothing of it, and assumed he got busy. So it’s evident that an unknown individual picked up Olaf and brought him somewhere. The police are still looking into it, but this weighs heavily on Elsa’s mind. Her baby brother – albeit adopted – is missing and she only blames herself. How can she let someone take him?

 

Elsa attempts to regain composure. She wipes away the tears and assumes a regal position. She can’t break down right here in the company that she owns. At home, sure. Then again she has to keep Anna smiling when Kristoff isn’t around. She’s taking it hard too. Maybe a little harder then Elsa.

 

Elsa sighs and looks out her window, imagining what you might be doing right now. As she day dreams, Juno enters the room.

“Ms. Anderson?”

Elsa looks at her and smiles.

“Yes… Juno?”

“I’ve been here for a few hours now. May I go get lunch?” She politely asks.

 

Elsa nods and playfully shoos her away.

“Of course, of course. You work too hard. Go on. I can handle things.”

Juno simpers, spinning around and walking away.

 

Juno walks by Alec’s office. Alec looks like he’s just seen a ghost. His face goes pale and his eyes almost shake. He can’t believe what he’s reading.

 

“Erik… I hoped you were dead,” he mutters.

 

Alec clicks a button under his desk, changing all the glass around his room. The windows looking outside and the glass inside the building that makes his room all goes black. There’s no way to see outside or Inside of the room. Alec quickly grabs his phone and dials in a number. The phone rings and Alec paces around his room. He’s almost sweating.

 

“Hi, listen. I need a favour. I need you to get me in contact with someone.”

 

Juno notices the glass go black and smirks. She enters the elevator and clicks the button, sending her down. In a room just left of an elevator houses a man. A man with his back against the wall, and his eyes just able to see Juno pass by. He waits for the elevator to close before letting out a breath. He breaks off of the wall and fixes his hair. He walks out of the room and starts walking towards Elsa’s office.

 

“Good thing Juno left. Not even I can enter her mind. Not anymore, anyway,” he whispers.

 

He continues walking towards Elsa’s office. He glances over to where Alec’s is, seeing that it’s shaded off.

“Well Alec, I feel like someone is nervous. Hopefully I get a warm family welcome. When we meet.”

He walks up to Elsa’s office and takes one step inside. He lightly knocks on her door to attract her attention. Elsa looks up at the man. A very skinny man in a white suit.

“Can I help you? I don’t believe I had any appointments today,” she suspiciously asks.

 

The man intertwines his hands behind his back and greets her with a warm smile.

“My apologies for dropping in with no warning. My name is Erik Westergaard,” he introduces. “I’m just here to check up on the new CEO. I want to know the company is doing well.”

Elsa sits as straight as she can and places her hands on her desk.

“I’m confident in my abilities to lead the company. You shouldn’t be worried,” she confidently states. “And doesn’t Alec report to the Westergaards?”

 

“Of course he does. But since the very company is called Westergaard-Anderson Industries, I would like to see it for myself,” he smiles.

Elsa raises her brow. Something about this man is off, but she can’t explain it. She just knows this man is different.

“So, how can I help you?”

 

“Ah, well, it was mostly you that I had interest in,” he joyfully says, taking a seat in front of Elsa’s desk. “The old CEO was good, and I want to see if you can do better. He was your father, after all.”

Elsa tenses up a little bit but quickly dispels any butterflies.

“Yes, he was. I just hope I can live up to his name. Besides, your brother is doing a fabulous job at teaching me.”

 

“Of course. Of course,” he groans. “So, what about you yourself? I hear you are engaged? That must be exciting,” he smiles.

Elsa retracts the hand your ring is on and slips it under the desk.

“I don’t see how that can affect my work in any way,” she defensively retorts.

“Of course not, of course. But relationships can be a tricky thing, you know. You have to make sure he’s the right man. For instance, is he there for you?”

 

Is he there for you?

 

That sentence starts repeating in Elsa’s head.

 

“Would he be a good husband?”

 

Would he be a good husband?

 

“These are things you have to make sure of when choosing a lifelong partner,” Erik finishes.

Elsa rises to her feet in shock.

“I think you should leave. These are obviously not questions related to the company. Maybe I’ll consider speaking to you again when it’s about something relevant,” she barks.

Erik raises his hands to surrender.

“You’re right. I’m out of line. I’ll be leaving. My apologies, Ms. Anderson.”

 

Erik stands up, arms still in the air, and walks towards the door. He lowers them once reaching the door but stops moving. He turns his head towards Elsa and smiles.

“Just think about it,” he remarks.

After that, he leaves. Elsa stares at the door trying to wrap her head around what just happened. He came in so suddenly and started asking these questions. It’s not right. But why ask things about you? It makes no sense. How would he even know about you?

 

Is he there for you? Would he be a good husband?

 

This repeats in Elsa’s head once more. She shakes her head and lightly places her hand near her left eye.

“He’s with me as much as he can. Right..? Yes! Well… sometimes. He wants to be, right?”

Elsa huffs and sits down in her chair. It spins a bit towards the window, making her eyes drift towards the beautiful mountains outside Arendelle. She stares at these mountains, wondering what is out there. What natural beauty could be there? It’s something she wants to see. Maybe with you. Maybe on her own.

 

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Alec grabs his flask off the ground and hurriedly crams it into his pocket. He grabs his jacket and puts it on as he leaves the room. He speed walks to Elsa’s room and knocks on the door frame, capturing Elsa’s attention. She looks over at him, expecting him to say something.

 

“I have to take the day off today, Elsa. My apologies. Something came up,” he vaguely explains.

“It’s alright Alec. You can go. I can handle things,” she reassures.

“Alright. Call me if you need anything,” he says before turning away and heading for the elevator.

Alec approaches the elevator and clicks the button. He looks up at the indicator and sees that the elevator is situated near the base of the building. It will take a moment to arrive at his floor. He sighs and leans against the wall right beside the elevator. His mind is on overdrive right now trying to figure out what he’s going to do about Erik.

 

Erik has been gone for over a decade, and for good reason. He was sent to an insane asylum years ago. At first it was just a cover up, but Alec isn’t sure exactly what his father was trying to cover up by sending him there. Erik, however, slowly changed in that asylum. Alec would go visit him sometimes to see how he was doing. It wasn’t often since Erik was under the tightest security, and if Alec’s father found out that Alec was seeing Erik? Well, Alec wouldn’t be here right now. But Erik slowly started to deteriorate after years of being stuck there. Alec had, and still has, his suspicions that whatever Balthier did to Erik went terribly wrong, and started to tear away at all reason Erik once had.

 

Alec and Erik were the closest out of all the brothers, mostly because they were the eldest ones – Alec being one year older than Erik. Even though Alec was older and considered a genius, Erik was even smarter. His ability to process information and use his brain was something nobody had ever seen before. Erik was a prodigy in the field of the mind. Alec was slightly jealous, but Balthier taught humility to him at a very young age. Instead of seeing Erik as a rival, he saw him as a useful tool. A sad way to see a brother, yes, but it’s the way he was brought up.

 

Erik was around seventeen when Balthier sent him away somewhere. Alec knew not where nor did Balthier care to elaborate on the subject. A year later he was sent to the asylum. Alec has used his resources to figure out what happened, but there’s nothing in the record. What is recorded is how Erik cracked in the asylum. He attacked guards, claimed to hear voices, and even people’s thoughts. Doctor Bishop was the one who looked after him. From what Alec knows, she tried her best to help Erik but ultimately failed.

 

Whatever happened there is buried. There only person who may know about it are Erik himself and Dr. Bishop. Since Dr. Bishop is as clear as fog, it seems Erik’s the only one who knows what happened. Now he’s back, and he’s a threat to the Hierarchy. His letter made that all too clear, along with Alistair’s simple instruction.

 

The elevator arrives at the top floor and opens up. Alec walks in, hits the ground floor, and waits. The doors close and the elevator slowly descends.

 

Alistair, Alec. It’s a pleasure to know you two are still around, especially you, Alistair. Seems like you killed my father, which saves me the trouble of doing it myself. Don’t think this makes me indebted to you, Alistair. Given the chance I will end your life. You took everything from me. My life, and my sense of self. But now, after years in that hell whole and years in isolation, I’m back and know who I am and what I’m capable of. You may have your little plan that I have yet to learn of, but count on me stopping you. Maybe killing (Y/N) will slow you down, hm? That would dwindle the amount of family you have left, or so I’ve heard. Know that I am out in the world, Alistair, and nothing can protect you from me. Now, Alec. I wish to meet you. I’m sure you’ll find me, so I’ll be eagerly waiting.

 

“Why would he call me out right there in a message meant for Alistair? And why does Alistair want me to follow this up?” Alec rambles.

 

He crosses his arms and furrows his brow, focusing everything on what this could mean. Everything from Erik to what his connection is with Alistair. Of course Alistair isn’t giving anything away, but Erik seemed to have a legitimate reason for hating him. Another piece Alec is missing. Yet, when all is said and done, the one thing Alec really is missing is some whiskey.

 

The elevator slows down and comes to a pleasant stop at the base floor. The door opens revealing Janice holding a bag. Her eyes widen when she sees Alec in the elevator.

“Sir! I got it as fast as possible,” she says, holding the bag in front of her.

Alec smiles. He walks towards Janice and grabs the bag out of her hands.

“Thank you Janice. You have the day off today – with pay, of course.”

 

Janice, surprised about the news, stands awestruck. Alec doesn’t waste any time and proceeds right by her, taking a swig of whiskey. He doesn’t even flinch at the burn. He pulls it away from himself and holds it at eye level. He pulls the bag off of the bottle and stares at it.

 

“No name shit? I might as well just go get ANOTHER bottle,” he complains. Alec stops and thinks about it for a moment. “Well… an extra bottle never hurts.”

 

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Hunter carries you through Tiger Plaza and to Gaia’s store. She is tending to some flowers outside of the shop. Her peripheral vision just happens to catch Hunter’s white hair. Gaia gets some butterflies in her stomach and a smile on her face. Gaia looks over to Hunter and her face instantly drops. She rushes over to Hunter and checks up on you.

 

“Oh my god! Hunter, what happened? Has he been shot? Is he okay? Are you okay?” She frantically lists.

Hunter walks past Gaia back towards the shop.

“I’ll explain inside. Quickly.”

 

Gaia looks around the plaza, seeing the dozens of people staring at Hunter. He never was one for subtlety when it comes to anything, but does he not see why an unconscious person may raise some huge suspicions. The police could have been called for all he knows. Gaia shakes her head and follows Hunter. She walks past her flowers, and something catches her attention. She looks at the flowers and bends over the flora. She looks over at the store and sighs.

 

Hunter pushes the door open with his free hand and enters the shop. He pays no mind to any of the flora in the room, and breezes through the room into the stairwell. He carries you up the stairs and into Gaia’s living quarters. He turns to the couches and B-lines it towards them. Hunter lays you down on couch with ease, making sure you aren’t hurt in anyway. He did remove the bullet and patch you up to the best of his abilities, but that doesn’t mean you can’t feel any pain right now.

 

Against his wishes, you grunt in pain once you hit the couch. You cringe, even in your sleep. Thankfully it doesn’t wake you. Hunter sighs as he gazes upon his defeated brother. Luckily your face wasn’t disfigured by the explosion, but there was still a moderate burn on your cheek. A few scratches from debris hitting you, and of course the bullet wound. Nothing Hunter can do now but let you rest. You need it more than anyone on the planet.

 

Hunter hears the door to the stairs open and the pounding of feet ascending the short floors. In seconds Gaia walks around the corner and looks around her house. She sees Hunter standing over you and quickly shuffles close to that location. She looks down at you and covers her mouth.

 

“Wha- how is he?” She gasps.

“He’ll live, I think. He got shot too. I’m not a doctor so I can’t give a full diagnosis on him. I just did the best I could to keep him alive.”

Hunter crosses his arms and shakes his head. Gaia kneels down close to you and places her hand on your chest. Her hand is raised every few seconds by your slow paced breathing. It’s a good sign you still have a normal breath rate. Hunter places his hand on Gaia’s shoulder for comfort.

 

“I remember when you used to come here like this,” she snickers but the laughter is obviously covering unhappy memories. “You’d be bleeding and broken, but a smile on your face. You always thought it was a victory.” Hunter stares down at Gaia. He sees a tear fall onto the carpet, dampening the one spot. “You may have stopped some operation or another but you were on the verge of death every time. Is that worth it to you?” She finishes, staring up at Hunter with glistening eyes filled with tears.

 

Hunter can’t look at Gaia the way she is now. She’s trying to guilt him by using you and her own emotions. He doesn’t want to let that get in the way of anything. He doesn’t want that to change himself or what he does. He can’t divert from this path no matter what. Gaia knows this, but she doesn’t accept it. What she does accept is that stare she’s giving him. They both know that he’s weak to it.

 

“Is it, Hunter? Can you look me in the eye and say that it’s worth it?”

Hunter cringes. He clenches his fist but quickly jams it in his pocket and keeps it there, no matter how uncomfortable it feels.

“It’s worth it to me. I know (Y/N) will be fine, so it shouldn’t matter,” he sternly states, not looking into Gaia’s eyes.

Gaia’s green hair starts to drape into her face like curtains for a show. She slides her hair behind each ear, first the left side then the right.

“So you want (Y/N) to be like you? What about the time you found where they were keeping the elemental children?”

 

Hunter’s face and fists tighten at the sound of those words – the recollection of that event.

“You fought dozens of elementals, blew up the base, was caught in the explosion, and then shot at. You came to me almost drenched in blood as if you showered in it,” she weeps.

 

It’s true. Hunter found a new breed of elemental children. It was the second hardest fight of his life. There was at least sixty kids wanting to grind Hunter to dust. Hunter killed them all, just like he did when he first encountered elemental children. He split open their heads, broke their necks, beat them to death. There was no choice in the matter. Some of the kids were so deformed from the elements that you could barely call them children anymore. Ones subjugated to the powers Gaia has were mutated versions of nature. Plants were growing out of their skin, grass forming where hair should be. They had a fraction of Gaia’s powers but they used it effectively.

 

Hunter’s arm was broken, his skull was fractured, ribs broken. He could barely see since blood was flowing into his eyes. Knowing he couldn’t kill them all he decided to blow up the base. Unfortunately, due to his injuries, he was caught in the explosion. He barely survived, crawling out of the rubble like an ant escaping his home that some child crushed for fun. Through blind luck he made it to Gaia’s house and collapsed instantly. That’s the first time Gaia broke up with Hunter. That’s when she begged him to leave the Hierarchy alone.

 

“Do you want (Y/N) to end up like you? Beaten to a pulp every day? You may not want a family… a family with me,” she sobs. “But I know (Y/N) wants to return to Elsa. He has someone to come back to. Someone who’s waiting for his return.”

 

Hunter turns away from Gaia and heads to the stairs. Gaia stands up and marches after him.

“Don’t walk away from me!” She shrieks.

Gaia grabs Hunter’s arm. Hunter breaks free, spins to face her and grabs her shoulders.

“You think I like this?” He shouts. “You think I like seeing my brother on the brink of death! You think I liked leaving Rain behind?”

Gaia stops for a moment, shocked by Hunter’s outburst. He’s never once raised his voice to her. Hunter pants after letting out those words. His blinking has sped up and he refuses to look at Gaia. His eyes look to the floor but his mind is elsewhere. His grip loosens on Gaia’s shoulders, which she appreciates.

 

“Hunter… what happened to Rain?” She calmly asks, holding in the tears.

Hunter shakes his head.

“He…”

Hunter stops and glances over to you.

“Let’s… talk outside. Maybe get lunch or something. I just need a break.”

Gaia slowly nods.

“Whatever you need.”

 

The two leave the house, leaving you alone. Thankfully you slept through their entire conversation and have no knowledge of anything that happened. However, about twenty minutes later, you start to stir. You begin to really feel the aching of your muscles and the pain throughout your body. Your eyes slowly start to open but even that hurts. You let out a huge moan as you really feel your body.

 

“God… fuck… It’s like I was hit… by a train. No… no, that would probably feel better,” you mumble.

Without moving your body at all you take in your surroundings, which is basically just the ceiling. You very carefully look to the left and see some of Gaia’s belongings.

“Am I at Gaia’s?”

 

You slide your legs off the couch and lift your body up. Your feet firmly land on the ground while your back rests against the couch. You let out a few breaths after that movement. It really took a lot out of you, and that really sounds pathetic on your part. You suddenly hear the door open, breaking the eerie silence that filled your senses before. You look towards the door, wondering who that could be.

 

“Gaia!” A very flamboyant and excited voice calls out.

Your eyes widen when your hear it.

“Matt… no…”

You then see Matt strut into the room with two bags. He looks over at you and smiles.

“Well, that’s a new look for you. I’m assuming you’re hurt so I’ll keep my jokes to a minimum but do you mind if I catch a glance?” He asks.

 

You have no idea whether he’s joking or not, but you have a feeling his happy mood will be quickly destroyed within minutes.

“Oh, (Y/N), you HAVE to see these shirts I got,” he starts, digging into his bags.

He pulls out a sweater-like shirt that seems to have a cloud design.

“This one is for me, see, and…” He pulls out another, similar sweater but it’s filled with Rain drops. “And this one if for Rain. Cute, right? It’s cause we’re like, the perfect couple. A compliment to each other. Can’t have one without the other, you know,” he chuckles. “Speaking of which,” he realizes, looking around. “If you’re back that means Rain should be around, no? I want to show him the shirts. Is he using the little boys’ room or did he go to our place?”

 

You cringe at his happiness. Not because you hate it, but because it’s going to be crushed, molded, and transformed into possibly depression.

“Matt… you might want to…” You attempt to stand up and walk towards him.

You instantly feel flooded with pain and fatigue. You grab your stomach and fall to one knee, succumbing to the physical pain you’ve been feeling this entire time.

 

Matt rushes to your side and helps you stand.

“(Y/N)! Are you okay?”

“Yeah… total… no… no I’m not,” you admit, failing to even lie to yourself. “But Matt… maybe you’re the one who should sit down.”

“Me?” He snickers. “I can stand on my own. You’re the one who should sit.”

“No… no,” you shake your head.

You release yourself from Matt and stand across from him, using every ounce of strength you have to stand.

 

“Matt… Rain’s not here. He’s not at your home either.”

“Then where is he?” He asks, not even remotely expecting what you have to say.

You sigh and try to find the words. Your eyes begin tearing up at the mere thought of it. Matt sees this and tilts his head to the side, perplexed.

“Matt… We went down to Atlantica and… Ursula… she tried to blow up the base. Rain kept the ocean from crushing us but…” Tears start coming down your face like a waterfall. “He… he couldn’t come with us.”

 

Matt’s face slowly drops at the realization of what you’re saying. His once prominent smile now sinking to a frown. His once happy eyes now filling with tears.

 

“He told me… he thanked me for being his friend… He told me that it was his decision. He… wanted me to tell you that… that he loved you,” you sniff, trying as hard as you can to get the words out. “Rain… he’s dead, Matt. I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I tried so hard to find another way. I didn’t want this to happen but… he…”

 

Matt drops the bags and shirts on the ground. He clenches his fists, relaxes them, and then clenches them again. His face changes from surprised, sad, angry, confused, back to angry, then sad once more. He looks up at you, tears now pouring from both of your eyes.

 

“My… my Rain is… dead? Is that why the sky… it cries for him? You… you led him to death?” He accuses, the last part angrier.

“No! Matt there was no other way. Rain himself said it!”

“He… no! NO! My Rain can’t die! No! He’s everything to me and YOU TOOK HIM!” He screams.

 

Matt bolts out the door in a second. You try to chase after him but your legs collapse under you, sending you to the floor. Matt runs through Tiger Plaza; his tears mixing with the rain. He runs through the streets with no regard for the people around him, pushing aside any and all who are in his way. His clothes dampen every second due to the heavy rain, which just messes with him even more.

 

 He finally reaches home, panting heavily. He bursts through his door and runs upstairs, not bothering to shut the front door. He rushes to his room and stops in front of a dresser. He kneels down, opens the bottom drawer to reveal a small box. He takes it out, places the box beside him and rips open the lid. A very detailed and beautifully made gun rests on a fluffy pillow. Matt grabs it, shoves it in his mouth and waits a moment. His mind is so filled with sorrow and grief that he has absolutely no idea what he’s doing right now, or has any logic in his mind. He holds the gun tight, squints his eyes and pulls the trigger.

 

Click

 

Matt opens his eyes, wondering why it didn’t fire. He pulls the gun out of his mouth and looks down at it, tidbits of water and tears still dripping from his face and hair. In his vision he sees the clip to the gun and a note sitting inside the box. He grabs the note and reads it.

 

Dear Matt,

 

 You left the clip in it again like you always do. I’m aware you have the right to have this gun, but please obey some sort of regulation. I got this crafted for decoration, not for killing. So please, think before you fire this thing.

 

Your love, Rain.

 

Matt begins balling after reading that last part. He looks at the gun once more, decorated with black and blue. Matt looks down at the grip, seeing his blue name carved into the black metal. He flips it over and sees Rain’s name, black, carved into the blue side. He holds the gun tightly and slouches over, his forehead hitting the floor. He can’t control his body anymore so he looks horrendous as he cries. He can’t stop it. No matter how hard the rain is coming down outside, it doesn’t compare to the amount of tears Matt will spill right now.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Hunter and Gaia rest against the side of her store, out of the prying eyes of the plaza. They can’t see much there, and the people wandering won’t see them unless they really look. Gaia, knowing that this was a serious topic summoned a bush to cover them. It’s a good thing she did too, as she was crying more than Hunter was – not that she had much to compete with. Hunter didn’t shed a single tear. While her face may be drenched in tears and rain, his had something else. Rain, of course, but more prominent was melancholy. His face was flooded with it, whether he wanted to admit it or not. Hunter is known for his lighthearted face and even his more serious one. Rarely does his face dawn such sorrow.

 

“So… he’s dead? No way he could have survived?” She says, sniffing to hold back the tears.

“I’m not sure. In normal circumstances I would say Rain could have used the water to summon a shield around him… but he was exhausted. I don’t think he could have made it. Even if he did he would be back by now.”

Gaia shakes her head.

“That’s another one of us down. That means Elsa and I are the only ones left,” she sighs, realizing her own little species is quickly dying out, not that there were many to start with, but the thought of them all dead shakes her to the core.

 

Hunter looks to Gaia in her weakened state. He wraps his hand around her shoulder, bringing her closer so he can comfort the green haired woman. Her hair somewhat mixes with Hunter’s white hair. She snuggles into his neck, still tearing a bit.

 

“Are you leaving again?” She quietly asks.

Hunter quickly inhales as if he’s about to answer. He pauses, exhales and closes his eyes.

“Yes.”

Gaia clenches her teeth. She shakes her head and stands up, breaking out of Hunter’s grip. Hunter stares at her with confusion.

“I can’t do this anymore Hunter. I’ve said it before but… I’m serious now. I’m not going to wait for you to either settle down or die. If you leave to wherever you’re going, then we’re not getting back together,” she adamantly states.

 

Gaia takes a few steps away from Hunter, leaving him to think of what that means. His decision is not an easy one, but no important decision is. Hunter shakes his head slowly as he watches her walk away.

 

“I’m going to go check on (Y/N),” she informs, letting him know where she’ll be.

She turns the corner, leaving Hunter to wallow. Hunter stares at his knee, watching the rain absorb into his jeans. He slaps his knee, letting it bounce back like a metronome. He stops it once it centers by resting his wrist on it. His hand droops down, cupping a slight portion of his leg.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Gaia walks up the stairs and starts to walk towards the couch. Her steps are interrupted by something, as she kicks what feels to be fleshy.

“OOOWW!” You wail.

Gaia looks down with a mix of surprise and regret.

“(Y/N)! I’m so sorry! I didn’t… what are you doing here? Wait, you’re awake!” She exclaims as dozens of thoughts push through her mind to the surface, desperate to be the one she says.

You cough, hurt from Gaia’s kick to the shoulder.

“Matt… Matt was here. I tried to chase him but… I…”

Gaia kneels down and helps you to your feet, positioning herself under your shoulder to give you a human crutch.

“Here, come on. Let’s get you to the couch first.”

 

Gaia leads you back to the couch slowly and with ease. She doesn’t want to push you any harder. She can feel how tense your muscles are, and can see the slight twitching. If that wasn’t enough for her, every time you moved you cringe. It’s not a good situation right now, and she wants to help as best she can. Once she gets you on the couch she sits opposite to you on the table. She intertwines her fingers and leans in close. You squirm to get comfortable, but you can’t seem to find a good position. It’s difficult since moving hurts every fiber of your being.

 

“Can… can I get you anything?” Gaia sheepishly asks, unsure what to say or do for you.

You chuckle at her attempts to help. Not that you don’t want it, but there’s nothing she can really do.

“Can you knock me out? That’d be nice,” you joke.

Gaia’s face drops, unamused by your joke.

“No, Gaia. You can’t do anything. I just have to relax. Maybe… maybe I wouldn’t be in this position if I took it a little easier. Gave my body more rest.” You sigh. “But, whatever. I pay for my mistakes.”

 

You hear the door open and footsteps hit the hardwood floor. You can only assume it’s Hunter.

“Hunter!” You shout. “How are we…”

You want to finish but you see Gaia’s face switch to a fearful one. You use your strength to roll over and look towards the stairwell. There stands Alistair – a smirk on his face and swagger in his step.

 

“Ahhhhhh, shit,” you mumble.

Gaia tenses up. Her body freezes and she has no clue what to do right now. Fear has its grip on her and it's not letting go any time soon. Alistair casually walks up to you both, stopping a foot away.

“How… how did you find this place?” Gaia stutters.

Alistair smirks.

“Please. I’ve always known where you were, Gaia.”

 

Gaia curls into herself out of insecurity. To think she’s been trying to hide from the Hierarchy for all this time, yet he knew where she was. It leaves a terrifying feeling within her.

 

“And you,” he says, turning towards you. “Did I not warn you about pushing yourself? Nobody is invincible. Looks like if you’re to be any help I’ll have to patch you up myself.”

 

You can only imagine what that could mean.

“And what does that mean? How exactly are you patching me up?” You inquire, your voice very weak lacking any authority or demand or respect.

“You’ll see when we get there.”

This arouses some suspicion with you.

“Get there? What do you mean?”

 

Before Alistair can respond Hunter enters the room. He sees Alistair and instinctively enters a fighting stance. Alistair cocks his head back to glance over his shoulder. He sees Hunter’s actions and chuckles.

 

“Calm down Hunter. I’m not here for a fight,” he reassures.

“Then what ARE you here for,” Hunter questions.

Alistair steps to the left and turns, making sure everyone is within his field of view.

“I’m here to transport us to Sanfransokyo. I can’t wait for you two to find your way there, and this time you’ll accept my generous offer.”

Hunter crosses his arms and looks away, shunning Alistair.

“Besides,” the Monarch continues. “(Y/N) will have time to recuperate on the plane.”

 

You look to your brother to see his reaction to it. Hunter is still looking away from Alistair, so you have no idea what he’s thinking. Your best bet is that he has little to no desire in taking up your father’s proposition. However, the mention of getting some aid does strike your fancy. Alistair probably has something to help you out.

 

“Hunter… I can’t say I’m against the idea of resting up,” you say. “Besides, it’s better than sneaking aboard a plane, especially in my condition.”

Hunter turns to you, seeing your state. You have truth in your words and he knows it. There’s no way around it this time. He needs to accept Alistair’s help for your sake, and the sake of his mission.

 

Hunter begrudgingly turns to Alistair.

“Fine. We’ll go with you,” he regrettably agrees.

Alistair smiles, claps his hands then shakes them slightly.

“I’m honoured to have my two loving sons accompany me for the ride,” he says in a tone that makes you wonder if he’s actually serious or not. “Let’s go. We have little time.”

 

Alistair walks up to you. He kneels down and slips his hands under your back and thighs to get a good balance. He stands up with you dangling in his arms. This isn’t the best feeling for you right now, knowing that you’re both enemies and that he could literally crush you at any moment. But you can’t argue much right now. Alistair walks with you in his arms passed Hunter and towards the stairs.

 

“There’s a limo waiting outside Tiger Plaza for us. We’ll be waiting,” Alistair informs.

Hunter gives a slight nod to acknowledge his father’s words. Knowing this, Alistair finally leaves the room and heads to his limo with you. Hunter stands alone. His eyes are fixed on Gaia, who’s as still as a statue. The shaking has since gone away and replaced with the desire to just freeze up and die, or in her case, grow bark and become a tree.

 

Hunter kneels down and places his hand on Gaia’s shoulder. She doesn’t react in the slightest, as if her entire body is numb and nothing will phase her. Hunter’s hand might as well be a fly landing on someone’s sweater. Gaia, extremely slowly, turns her head towards Hunter. She stares him with her emerald eyes, piercing through his head with her glare alone.

 

“Go. Go with that monster. It’s not like you want to stay with me anyway,” she says, her words filled with spiteful acid.

Hunter takes his hand off Gaia and droops his head to the ground. He pushes off his knee and rises to his feet, standing tall and casting a shadow over Gaia.

“I… just want…”

Gaia snickers.

“You want Alistair to die, that’s it. That’s all you care about. It doesn’t matter who gets hurt along the way,” she scolds.

 

Hunter silently sighs. He turns around and walks away from the woman who has touched his mind and heart more than anyone else could ever hope to. He clenches his fist knowing that she may never forgive him once he leaves this building, and that the woman he loves will disappear without a trace.

 

“I love you, Gaia. I’m sorry,” he whispers quiet enough for her not to hear it.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Alec drives through the rainy streets of Arendelle. This rain came out of nowhere and is pouring down hard. A little water didn’t bother him, but this was just ridiculous. He takes a turn into a driveway of a simple apartment complex. The apartment decorated with black steel balconies for each apartment. Judging by those balconies alone, the apartment stands about fifteen stories tall. Alec parks in the visitor parking and shuts off his luxury deep blue car.

 

Every important member of the Hierarchy has some sort of custom luxury car in different colours, shapes, and sizes. They all have bullet proof glass with resistant plating along the exterior. They’re basically built like tanks without the massive cannon plopped on top of them. The only one who doesn’t use one of these augmented vehicles is Alistair, who is driven around in a basic limousine. Funny, since he’s considered the most important of them all, but he refuses it. It could be because of his pride, or maybe it’s his overconfidence that nobody can hurt him.

 

Alec looks towards the tall building and sighs. He gets out of the car and quickly walks to the entrance of the apartment to get out of the disastrous weather. Once he enters he instantly gets a feel for his surroundings. There is a small portion to the right where people check in or talk to the owners. That would be his first stop. The rest of the lobby is pretty basic. At the far ends of the room there are two separate pathways, one leading to the mail and the other to the garbage room. The two elevators face Alec from the other end of the room, their steel coloured doors reflecting a distorted version of himself back at him. There are a few blue, tattered chairs littering different portions of the lobby as well to poorly imitate a waiting area or something.

 

Alec takes a right and approaches the desk. He sits his right hand on the desk and leans on that, turning his body to the left. An elderly woman approaches him, smiling when she sees who it is.

 

“Ah, Alec. Good to see you. I assume you’d like your key?”

Alec warmly nods.

“Yes, thank you. Sorry I haven’t been here more.”

The woman turns away to get the key.

“Oh, that’s quite alright. You pay and you’re a pleasant fellow,” she says, searching the plethora of keys hanging off the wall.

 

She grabs one and meets Alec once more. She slides the key to him which he snatches up.

“Thank you.”

Alec marches to the elevator and clicks the arrow that points up. He waits less than ten seconds for one of the elevators to accept him. He walks in and clicks the seventh floor. The elevator closes its mouth, securely locking Alec within it. It rises to the seventh floor and lets the Westergaard be free.

 

Alec immediately takes a left and passes at least four separate doors before reaching his; sitting comfortably at the end of the hall. Once reaching the door Alec pulls out the key and slides it into the lock. After turning it and hearing a satisfying *click* he pushes the door open. He pulls out the key, tosses it in his pocket, then focuses on the apartment. It divides in two as soon as you walk in. If you walk to the right you’re immediately led to a fairly cramped kitchen area. All it has is a fridge, stove, washing machine, cupboards, and a hanging microwave. That is all cramped into one small corridor that leads to edge of the main room. The main room – or the way if you turn left – is the bulk of this apartment. It gracefully allows the small hall for the kitchen but quickly takes it back as soon as it can, which is where the dining table resides. An old, stained couch rests up against the wall opposite the kitchen. An old TV – so old it still has bunny ears for reception – is tucked into the corner of the room. There’s an old VCR in the space beneath it, but that’s all. A few plants decorate the remaining corners to give it life, but there’s not much else to look at.

 

Alec takes a left and passes through the main room into a hallway that diverges from the gluttonous main area. On the left is a small bathroom, and straight ahead is the bedroom. He opens the door, letting out a loud creek as it get open, possibly the first time in months. He looks around the desolate room that only houses a wooden framed bed and another timber based dresser. Alec sighs as he walks towards this dresser. He opens it up, seeing if it has anything else to wear that isn’t damp. There is a single outfit that is neatly placed within the dresser. A pair of black jeans idle at the base of the dresser along with some dress shoes. There is a brown trench coat that dangles on a hanger beside a white dress shirt and black suit vest. Alec backs away from the wardrobe and closer to the bed. He takes out his flask of whiskey which houses the remainder of what his secretary bought him, the removes the suit jacket all together. He takes off his shirt, pants, and shoes, exposing his body to the slight chill of the apartment.

 

He approaches the outfit within the wardrobe and puts that on instead. First the jeans, then the shoes, the shirt, then the vest. After putting on the majority of the outfit, he reaches for the brown trench coat. It has six buttons lined down the right side and six small slivers on the left to accompany then. The jacket folds outwards towards his upper chest, just under the ever present collar that stands around his neck. The sleeves go right to his wrists, perfectly fitting him. Alec checks the insides of the coat to see a small pocket, large enough for his flask. He smiles as he stuffs the whiskey filled container there.

 

Now that his change is complete, Alec places his old clothes neatly into the wardrobe, mimicking the way his current outfit was placed. This is an old tactic the Hierarchy uses often. In their various safe houses they usually have one set of clothes in a closet. When a member needs a new outfit they grab the one from the drop off, then replace it with their own. The catch is that every single one of the closets, wardrobes, dressers, and others are all actually highly advanced. They clean and make ready the new clothes placed into them for the next person who comes along.

 

Alec looks down at the coat, curious who left this here and how long ago that might have been. He casually walks out of the bedroom and into the bathroom since it has the only mirror in this place. He sees himself and cringes a tad.

 

“Ugh, not really me. Whatever,” he accepts, running his hands through his damp, brown hair.

 

Alec turns around and grabs the flask, placing it in his coat pocket. Can’t leave without that, of course. Not a moment later he hears the creak of the entrance door. Alec raises his brow then starts walking to the exit of the room he’s in.

 

I can only imagine who this will be. I doubt it’ll be him.

 

Alec opens the door and uses the momentum to shut the door behind him as he goes to meet whoever entered the apartment. He slowly paces through the hall until he catches a glimpse at a man. The man looks like a professional body guard – definitely not the person Alec wanted to see, but also the person Alec anticipated on seeing. The tall, muscular, suited man sees Alec and slowly approaches him.

 

“Mr. Westergaard? I was told to give you something,” he informs, reaching into his suit pocket.

Alec patiently awaits whatever item is waiting for him. The man pulls out a small, grey ball with electronic red lines paving through some of it. The man carefully hands it to Alec then takes a step away from him.

 

“This was all I was instructed to do. Goodbye, Mr. Westergaard,” the man says, promptly making his exit.

Alec keeps his eyes on the man as he leaves, waiting for his exit. Once Alec is alone, he surveys the object that was given to him. The red lines seem to converge to one circle on the left side of it. Alec chuckles, tosses it in the air, and then catches it.

 

“I’m not surprised you have one of these. You probably got it from Alistair Krei. Hah, sorry, Duke Krei. I remember Monarch doesn’t like anyone calling someone else Alistair.”

 

Alec holds the ball in his hand, staring at it. He forces his thumb into the circle that the red lines converge to. It starts glowing a deep red. The ball suddenly floats out of Alec’s hand and moves a foot away from him. Lights of all colours begin emitting from the red lines to create a holographic figure. Because of the technology, once wouldn’t be able to tell it’s a hologram. The hologram creates a very unique individual. His auburn hair, prominent sideburns, the small amount of freckles on the nose, and even the ambitious look housed in his green eyes.

 

The man smiles.

“Alec… brother… it’s been too long,” he greets.

“That’s not necessarily my fault. You went after Alistair after all, Hans.”

“Yes, well let’s not discuss war right now. I hear you have something urgent to tell me? It must be, taking the risk to contact me now.”

Alec snickers.

“I’m genuinely surprised you even answered me,” he admits, reaching into his coat pocket and taking a swig of whiskey.

 

Hans sighs, crosses his arms, and shakes his head.

“That’s going to be the death of you, you know?” He voices his concern.

Alec pulls the flask away, caps it, and places it back in his pocket.

“I’ll die long before this can take effect,” he says, brushing Hans’ concern off like nothing. “Anyway, why I contacted you. I need your help with something.”

“And what could YOU possibly need MY help with?” Hans questions, doubtful that Alec really has a problem.

Alec sighs, thinking of how to explain the situation. Finding no way to beat around the bush, he decided the blunt approach.

 

“Do you remember Erik?”

Hans thinks for a moment, his eye brows voicing his deep thought.

“Wait… Erik… I remember seeing that name! He went to an insane asylum, right?”

Alec nods.

“The same one. What else do you know about him, if anything?”

Hans starts walking around Alec.

“Not much. Most data on him has been wiped clean, not that I really had an interest in him before.”

“Well you should. He wants to bring the whole Hierarchy down. I know you care little about Alistair, but don’t you want control of it?”

 

Hans stops walking and turns his head towards Alec.

“But it’s our families’ future. Why would he want to destroy it?” Hans asked, slightly distressed.

“From what I know, father is the one who sent him to that asylum. It’s fair to assume he wants to tear down everything our father wanted.”

 

Hans continues to circle around Alec like he was his prey. His right hand raised to his chin as he thinks.

“Sounds like he belonged in that asylum. Very well, Alec. This sounds like a family matter, so it’s fitting that we should find him.”

Alec smirks.

“Exactly.”

 

Hans stops pacing in front of Alec.

“I’ll dig up as much information as I can about him. Maybe I can find something useful. Do you know how to find him?”

Alec shrugs.

“He left a note for Alistair. He said in the note that I would be able to find him, so I can only assume I have the knowledge stored in my head somewhere.”

“Let’s just hope you haven’t drowned that information with whiskey,” Hans remarks.

 

Alec rolls his eyes.

“I’ll focus on finding Erik, you find out what happened to him, and why he would be gunning for Alistair and the Hierarchy.”

Hans stops facing Alec.

“Right, that shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll contact you when I find something. You do the same if you find him.

Alec nods.

“Got it. Good luck, brother.”

“You too.”

 

Hans’ image starts spazzing out, his clothes changing colours and his face morphing. The lights retreat back into the black and red ball. Alec sticks his hand out for the ball, and it falls right into his hand. Alec stashes the device in another of his pockets.

 

“All I have to do is find an insane person… great… should be easy.”

 

Alec reaches into his pocket for another shot of whiskey to prepare him for his daunting task.

 

 


	41. Erik Westergaard

Chapter 41: Erik Westergaard

 

A limousine pulls up beside a large jet. It’s larger than an average private jet but far from a passenger plane. The airport itself isn't particularly busy. No planes or helicopters litter the field, and not a single soul exists here. The door to the limo opens and Alistair makes his exit. He places one foot out of the vehicle and uses it as a stepping stone for the rest of his body. His suited body leaves the confines of the limo. He stretches his arms in front of him, pushing his fingers outwards until he hears a satisfying crack.

 

“I never liked vehicles,” he mumbles to himself.

 

Alistair spins around and looks into the car. Hunter slowly carries you out of the limo on his shoulders.

“OW!” You shout, genuine pain in your voice. “Could you carry me any gentler?”

“Why don’t you…” Hunter gets himself onto his feet out of the car. “Shut up… before I throw you into the sun!” He barks.

“Like you could even throw me that far. Please,” you roll your eyes.

“You’re talking pretty big for someone who can’t walk on their own,” Hunter comments, stretching his muscles a bit and taking in the sights.

“Alright! Put me down and we’ll settle this! I’ll show you who can’t-“

 

Hunter relaxes his shoulder, letting you slide right off of him. You crash on the ground, hitting your shoulder first then collapsing onto your face. Your body is face down, your head splattered against the pavement. The whole situation sends a jolt of pain throughout your body.

 

“AAAAAHHHAAA HA OWWWW!” You cry out. “WHY IN THE HOLY NAME OF EVERYTHING IN EXISTANCE WOULD YOU DO THAT? GOD! OWW!” You howl, rolling around on the ground to try and diffuse the pain across your entire body. It doesn’t really work out too well.

“You said to put you down. So, put’em up. Let’s go,” Hunter provokes.

Hunter slides his foot back and raises his fists to assume a fighting stance.

“I was joking! Learn sarcasm you idiot!”

 

Hunter chuckles, leaning back on his hip and crossing his arms. After getting over his laughter he cocks a smirk.

“Please, I know sarcasm like I know where Waldo is.”

 

Alistair’s entire body slouches as he watches you two bicker. Back and forth with barely a breath between retorts. It’s not even a legitimate argument either, it’s just noise coming out of both your faces. Alistair sighs and shakes his head. He begins to stroll away towards the plane.

 

“This is what I get for having children. I guess they’re making up for a childhood of arguing.”

 

Alistair moves his hands behind his back and grabs his left hand with his right, letting his muscles carry his hands above his buttocks. He lazily paces around the plane while you and Hunter argue away. It’s literally just calling each other names now. Deciding to escape the idiotic banter Alistair approaches the plane’s entrance. The door opens up, and a ramp composed of a plethora of blue particles appears. Alistair raises his brow in slight surprise.

 

“Hm… seems like Weselton finally completed that project. I was unaware he installed it in my plane though.” Alistair shrugs. “Whatever. As long as it works.”

Alistair approaches the glowing blue ramp. He can see sparkles within what seems to be the outer layer that keeps it all together. He takes one step on the ramp, which does act as a foothold for him. His foot arcs up, pushing against the ramp. Alistair takes another step on it, positioning his entire body onto the new technology. It feels like any metal ramp on normal planes, except a lot more convenient.

 

Alistair walks all the way up the ramp and into the plane. He takes a right and heads directly to the cockpit. Alistair walks through a massive passenger area that has a small amount of chairs. It’s designed for himself and a few other people, so there’s room for other things. A TV, bar, and a large, advanced looking metal pad. Some couches littler the sides as well as a table. There is more if one takes a left, but that’s not the way Alistair is going.

 

As he approaches the cockpit he sees a pilot and co-pilot patiently sitting in their respective seats. The pilot turns around and acknowledges Alistair’s existence. He quickly moves out of his seat and grabs Alistair’s hand, not waiting for Alistair to really gather who the person is.

 

“Sir! It’s you! Remember, you saved me from the helicopter crash?” He happily greets.

Alistair smiles and participates in the handshake.

“It’s good to see you… but I thought I gave you time off?”

“Well, you did… but I felt like it wasn’t fair that I take too much time off. Besides, I was told I would barely be flying much with this one. However, I am happy I get to fly you, sir. Shall we take off?”

Alistair glances out the window at his children, who are still arguing. Alistair sighs and shakes his head.

 

“We’ll be ready in a moment. I have to get my sons first,” he says, giving one last firm shake before breaking off.

The pilot sits back in his chair and starts fiddling with the controls. The co-pilot looks back at Alistair as he walks through the plane, his very presence emanating into the plane itself. He can still feel his commanding presence, even though he seemed to be pleasant. The co-pilot looks over at the pilot.

 

“You know him?” He whispers.

The pilot looks over to him, processing what he was just asked. He then smiles and nods.

“Yeah! Yeah I do,” he answers enthusiastically.

 

Alistair strolls down the blue ramp to be immediately confronted by the booming noise that is your argument.

 

“Well who even asked you?” You shout.

“You did you fucking moron!” Hunter shouts back.

Alistair approaches Hunter, placing his foot right beside your head. He kneels down to you and stares directly into your eyes.

“Please… shut up,” he softly requests before delivering an almost invisible chop to your neck.

Your eyes widen at the hit, but then close instantly. Your body completely relaxes and you spread out on the ground. Hunter takes a step towards you both, raising a fist.

 

“What the hell was that for!?” He shouts.

Alistair raises his head, only allowing Hunter to see three quarters of his face. But that’s all it takes to inflict fear within Hunter. Alistair’s eyes turn sharp as a well-kept sword, his face turning deadly serious. It looks like Alistair is about to end everything around him, leaving nothing but death and destruction in his wake. All this taken from his one gaze.

 

“We’re leaving. Get in the plane. I’ll carry (Y/N).”

Hunter mumbles some incoherent nonsense as he walks towards the plane. Hunter finally notices the illuminated, over-the-top ramp that leads to the plane.

“A little much if you ask me,” Hunter shouts.

Alistair, with you being carried piggy back style like a child, walks right past Hunter.

“I never asked.”

 

Hunter watches Alistair walk away after that snarky comment. Hunter tries to think of a comeback, but he has nothing. Alistair gets the last word. Hunter rolls his eyes, crosses his arms, and lazily strolls up the ramp. He sees Alistair take you to the left, and he quickly rushes to follow him. Alistair easily hears Hunter follow him, but he doesn’t care. Alistair walks through a corridor to the plane until he reaches the second door on the right. He slides the door open and is greeted with a large green glow. Hunter stumbles back when seeing this, curious of what could possibly be projecting that aura.

 

Alistair carries you into the room. It has three, large, glass tubes that are placed against the three walls. Green juices flow through the tube like a lava lamp. In each of the tubes is a single rebreather with an obvious purpose: breathing. Besides each of the tubes is a keypad with a nine by nine pad. Alistair walks up to the pad and inputs a code into it. Once he finishes the liquid begins to drain from the tube.

 

Hunter walks in once the draining process is complete. He leans against the frame of the doorway, watching what Alistair does. The tube’s hatch raises, allowing someone to be placed inside. Alistair grabs the side of your torso and spins you around so you’re facing him. He walks closer – nearly entering the pod himself – and lays you down into it. Once you’re in position Alistair grabs the rebreather and straps it on your face.

 

“What’re you doing?” Hunter inquires.

Alistair looks back at him for a moment before returning his focus to you. He backs up a step then hits one of the commands. The pod closes then starts slowly filling with the green liquid. It envelops you, dampening your entire body and making your hair flow through the constantly moving liquid. Your clothes do the same, weaving with the liquid with no control over itself. Once the pod fills to the brim you move off the ground a few centimeters.

 

“It’s a rejuvenation chamber. This will bring him back to one hundred percent by the time we reach Sanfransokyo,” Alistair explains.

“Hm… With no side effects?”

Alistair nods.

“Of course. You think I would accept it WITH side effects?”

Hunter rolls his eyes and starts to walk out of the room.

“You should rest. We have a lot of work to do,” Alistair recommends.

“What? So you can kill me in my sleep?” Hunter scorns.

 

Alistair snickers.

“Oh ye of little faith. I’m resting up too, so I suggest you do the same.”

Alistair makes his way out of the room. He walks past Hunter and stops right beside him, not looking at him.

“Or should I be worried about you killing me in my sleep?”

 

He doesn’t give Hunter the chance to respond. Instead he walks to the left towards the remaining three rooms.

“You can choose whatever room you want; other than mine of course. Unless you want to snuggle with you daddy,” he finishes with a baby voice.

Hunter clenches his fists, grinding his teeth. Alistair smirks at the reaction he got.

 

Hunter looks back at you, hovering in the pod. Your eye is twitching every so often but your body remains as still as it can with the constant pushing and pulling of the recovery gel. Hunter sighs, rubbing his eyes.

 

“Maybe… maybe I could use some rest.”

 

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Elsa writes her signature at the bottom of a page and sighs. This is the eighteenth page that she’s had to sign. It’s early in the morning and yet her mind is already on fire. Not only does she have work on the mind, but you, Olaf, and that Erik Westergaard fellow. It’s all piling on her psyche, making it hard to focus on the simplest tasks. She can tell that her signature is getting lazier.

 

Elsa puts her pen down and rests her head into her hand. She keeps her eyes closed as she drags her hand down her face.

“Ms. Anderson? Are you okay?” Juno asks with true concern.

Elsa quickly looks up at Juno in surprise. She shakes her head then smiles.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Thank you, Juno. What did you need?”

Juno slowly walks in and cautiously approaches Elsa as if she was a timid kitty who could run away at any second. Juno takes a seat across from Elsa and watches her, trying to find any way to help or even find out what’s wrong with her boss and friend.

 

“Elsa… If there’s one thing I’m good at its knowing when someone isn’t okay. My husband forced me to be good at it. Quite an introvert when it comes to feelings,” Juno voices.

 

Is he there for you? Would he be a good husband?

 

“Huh…” Elsa mumbles.

Juno raises her brow. She can see that something is wrong when she mentions her marriage.

“Is something wrong with you and (Y/N)?” Juno questions, being blunt about the subject.

Elsa’s eyes widen. She’s about to answer she can’t seem to utter a single word. She slowly looks down at her desk. Juno lightly places her hand on Elsa’s, making her quickly look up at her secretary.

 

“Maybe we should take a break? Grab a coffee?” Juno recommends. “Then maybe we can talk.”

Elsa ponders Juno’s request for a moment before nodding.

“Okay… I suppose a little break would be okay. I do have some things on my mind.”

Elsa tidies up the paperwork she has on her desk before getting out of the chair. She pushes the chair back a bit before elegantly exiting the office chair. Juno, in turn, leaves her chair and begins walking towards the door, Elsa just a few steps behind her.

 

The two women make their way through the hallway to the elevator. Their heels each make their own distinct sound each time they hit the floor. It gives a little more sound to the otherwise quiet space. Elsa reaches the elevator first, so she hits the button. Elsa looks up at the floor counter. Thankfully it’s already closing in on her floor, so the wait time is little-to-none. Juno comes to a stop beside Elsa. She glances over at the CEO to see if her expression has changed at all. Elsa has a slightly optimistic face, but it simply masks a deeper problem. Juno has seen Elsa with a genuinely upbeat face, and this isn’t it. It’s a mask for her employees, which includes Juno herself.

 

The elevator door slowly opens up, allowing them to enter. Juno takes the lead this time and clicks the button. The two patiently wait for the elevator to bring them down to their intended floor. There’s an awkward silence between the two, as Elsa is still pondering her life in her head and Juno is Juno. She isn’t the most social person. This task she has now is one of the more difficult she’s ever had. Smiling all the time, being a polite and gentle person makes her sick to her stomach. She would rather just finish her objective now and get it over with. But Alistair has other plans, so she happily follows. He knows what he’s doing, and he’s worked his whole life to get to this point. He has a plan that he wants to accomplish, and Juno wants nothing more than to watch it come to fruition. She can swallow her pride for him anytime.

 

The elevator brings itself to a halt after a short time. After the doors open, Elsa and Juno promptly exit the elevator, and then the building.

“So, there’s this nice coffee shop just at the end of the street. We could go there?” Juno advises.

Elsa lightly nods.

“Yeah… that sounds fine.”

 

Is he there for you? Would he be a good husband?

 

Elsa cringes a little as the doubt echoes in her head. She doesn’t even want to think it, and yet it’s stuck in her thoughts. She hates it. She thinks it’s wrong. You WILL be a good husband. You’re ALWAYS there for her when she needs you. Well… you’re not here now. But she understands. She does… right?

 

The two women take a stroll down the street, holding their heads high as they pass by all the men who constantly cat call the two. Juno desperately wants to snap their necks, and she probably would if Elsa wasn’t there. Juno glares at the men, giving them a look that makes them feel dead inside. It’s like she destroyed their souls with just her eyes. They sink into themselves, feeling completely defeated. Elsa turns to Juno. Juno bears a pleasant smile when she faces Elsa, keeping her persona intact.

 

Within a minute the ladies reach the caffeine producing building. They enter the building and instantly look for a seat, not bothering to enter the ever-growing line. They find a spot close to the window and decide to rest there. Juno can see that Elsa is restless. Uneasy. It’s especially odd since she seemed fine this morning.

 

“So… look,” Elsa starts fidgeting a little. “I just have to get this off my chest. Can I trust that this stays between us?”

Juno enthusiastically nods.

“Of course. You’re my friend before you’re my boss.”

Elsa subtly smiles at the comfort. She keeps her eyes focused on the table, her body constantly moving in the subtlest ways. It’s not like Elsa to be like this.

 

“Well… I don’t know why but these weird thoughts have just been aching in my mind. I’m… and I know this is stupid since he’s proven it over and over… but I don’t know whether (Y/N) will be a good husband. It’s always been something I thought of… but…”

 

“Elsa,” Juno pipes up.

Elsa deters from her train of thought and looks up at Juno.

“If a guy could grab your attention – your love – then I think he’s worth it.”

“You’re… right. You’re right. I don’t know why I keep thinking that. It’s almost like that Erik gu-“

“Wait,” Juno cuts off, her voice becoming deadly serious. “Erik? Erik who?”

Juno raises her brow.

“Erik Westergaard. He stopped by to see how I was doing as CEO. He gave off a really creepy vibe though, I have to admit.”

 

Juno springs out of her chair and starts walking towards a small hallway.

“I have to go to the bathroom. I’ll be back,” she coldly informs.

“Oh… okay,” Elsa mutters, confused by the ordeal.

 

Juno marches through the shop with fire in her eyes. Anyone who’s standing in her way scurries away from her, and for good reason. The entire shop’s very tone drops to a dark and deathly one, all stemming from Juno. She barges into the bathroom and slams the door behind her. Her hair is a bit messy now, a few drops of sweat forming around her face, her breathing escalates. She twists her head towards the mirror, facing her own menacing gaze. It almost seems like the mirror itself cowers in her presence. She advances towards the mirror only to deliver a solid punch aimed for herself. The mirror shatters. Pieces of glass stick in Juno’s fist, causing her to bleed. She doesn’t care. Her anger has reached new heights. She can’t feel any pain right now.

 

The blood slips down her hand and drops to the floor, making tiny puddles of blood around the floor for the next door chap to slip on. Juno grinds her teeth to the point of breaking them.

“Erik… I’ll kill him… I’ll kill that fucking bastard,” she hisses.

Juno takes a few seconds to calm down. She needs to talk to Alistair, but she can’t the way she is. She closes her eyes and exhales, thinking back to the teachings Alistair taught her. After about half a minute Juno opens her eyes. The fire has receded to mere coals. Knowing that she’s calm enough to speak with Alistair, she activates her holowatch and scrolls to Alistair’s name.

 

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Alistair calmly lays on one of the many couches, his head resting on his hands. His body and mind is completely relaxed. Hunter, on the other hand, is utterly tense. He’s leaning against the wall outside of your room. He takes a gander at you every once in a while. You haven’t moved since Alistair tossed you inside of it.

 

Suddenly Alistair’s holowatch lights up. He opens up his watch and notices that he’s getting a call from Juno. He raises his brow and opens both eyes. He flips off the couch and strolls away from Hunter, not wanting him to hear anything that he says incase his loving wife has something sensitive to discuss. He passes through a door and closes it behind him before accepting the call.

 

“Juno, my darling, what is it you-“

“He’s fucking alive, Alistair!” She screams.

Alistair cringes at the tone Juno yells at him in.

“Who is alive?”

“Erik Westergaard! He’s here!”

“I know.”

 

There is a short pause. Alistair can almost hear Juno’s fists clenching, her brow furrowing, and her teeth pushing against themselves so hard he’s expecting a shattering sound. He closes his eyes and turns away from the watch a bit.

 

“You knew… why… didn’t you tell me?” She asks, trying to be as polite as possible but Alistair can hear the venom in her voice.

He sighs.

“Juno, sweetie, you have a job to do right now. Elsa is your priority, so I couldn’t have you chasing down Erik even though you’d love to rip his spine out. I have someone dealing with him already. Please, just don’t do anything rash.”

Juno sighs, leaning her head against a wall.

“It’s… been hard for me to keep my temper in check… without you.”

 

Alistair adopts a warm smile at her remark, relishing in the fact that his wife still needs him. However the smile quickly dissipates when the thought of his love suffering without him slithers into his mind. It’s true that he’s necessary to keep Juno’s sanity in check. In close quarters his mind links with hers, keeping her monstrous urges intact. It’s been that way for years, and it’s how Juno remains so calm. Without him, she may deteriorate into an animalistic nature. Thankfully Juno’s gotten better over the years. She can last longer without Alistair around.

 

He knows he has to hurry. Kill Hans, finish his plan in Corona, and Juno will take care of Arendelle.

“Juno… I trust you’ll be fine without me. Erik is being taken care of, and I’ll tell Alec to inform you when you find anything. Just stay strong, my love. We’re so close.”

 

Juno embraces the love Alistair gives her.

“You’re right… I won’t mess up, for you. Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you too, Juno. Make sure Alec saves Erik for you. He must suffer for what he did.”

A devious, pure evil smile emerges on Juno’s face.

“He will.”

 

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Elsa vigorously taps her nails against the table. She’s not aggravated that Juno’s left her for a moment. She’s irritated at herself.

 

Is he there for you? Would he be a good husband?

 

It’s still repeating in her mind. It’s a never ending message that she’s telling herself. It’s not even a different, invading voice. It’s hers. Her thoughts. Is that what she really thinks? Does she really want to marry you? YES! No?

 

Elsa bursts out of her chair from pure frustration, her pale complexion replaced with a red tone. She can’t handle her own mentality. Luckily Juno comes back just in time. Her face mirrors concern and she rushes to Elsa’s side.

 

“Elsa!? Are you okay?”

Elsa stares into Juno’s concerned eyes, which calms her down a bit. Her heavy breathing dials down a bit. Her icy complexion returning to her face. She looks away, shamed that she couldn’t keep her cool.

 

“I… think I’m going to take the day off. If I get any important messages then call me.”

Juno nods.

“I will. Get some rest.”

 

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It’s rare that Alec has to do any field work, not that he’s never done any before. His early days were filled with leg work. It may surprise most people who don’t know Alec very well. Hunter and Alec used to do a lot until Alec was truly trusted within the Hierarchy. Alec pulls out his flask and takes a swig. It calms his nerves, even though the taste is terrible.

 

“Huh, feels like the good ol’ days,” he whispers to himself.

 

With his new outfit and mission ahead of him, he goes to the first place he can think of. He needs intel on his brother since he’s had no contact with him for years. So, his first stop is the asylum at on the edge of town. It’s an eerie drive there, no doubt. Fog covered the entire route there, and loomed around the building itself. Alec stands in the parking lot beside his bright, white, extremely modified car. It’s basically a tank in car form.

 

Alec huffs before strolling towards the chilling building. His body is already shivering from the mere feeling of being outside the building. A cold, deadly aura is reaching out to him, almost asking for help but at the same time it’s wishing for his demise. If there’s one thing Alec will admit, it’s that he’s never been somewhere that smelled more like death.

 

Alec marches up the cold stairs and approaches the steel doors. He pushes on one, which doesn’t open. Alec sighs at the hindrance. He can tell that the doors aren’t locked, they’re just stuck. He lifts one leg and places his heel on the door. With a moment of preparation, he forced his leg forward, which forcefully flings the door open. Alec gazes into the desolate entrance. There’s a broken reception desk, metal chairs flipped all around the room, fake plants which still look nice – a real outlier compared to the rest of the room. The most notable sight, and smell, is a few rotting corpses against the wall and in the receptionist desk.

 

“They didn’t even clean the corpses,” Alec remarks. “Shouldn’t they be skeletons after more than two decades? Hm… this place was said to be air tight. I guess they might have been preserved.”

 

Deciding not to dwell on corpses, Alec continues with his mission. He needs to find Dr. Bishop’s notes, which are likely in their office. He shuffles past the desk and approaches the computer. It’s riddled with dust to such an extent that the screen isn’t even visible. Alec is slightly disgusted at the filthy surroundings. He looks down at the dead receptionist who still has her clothes. Alec rips part of her sleeve off, quite easily, in fact, and uses the cloth to clean off the screen. The dust nearly takes over the cloth, which goes to show how much is there.

 

With a visible screen, Alec boots the computer up.

“Let’s hope it works. I don’t have any technology on me,” Alec feels his pockets for the electronic ball given to him by Hans. “Except this.”

He clicks the power button on the ancient computer. He waits in anticipation for the technology to light up. It’s so quiet that he can hear his own breathing, as quiet as it is. He sees no lights come on, no sounds start up. He can only assume its dead. Alec takes a quick look around the room, attempting to test a new theory.

 

He sees a light switch across the room, and walks towards it. He steps over the dusty corpses and broken vases to get there. The place is just an absolute mess only made worse by time. Alec reaches the light switch and flips it up. Nothing. Not even the hum of the lights as they attempt to brighten the place.

 

“Fantastic, power’s out. If I remember correctly this place has a generator in the basement. I can probably find a way to turn that on. Hell, maybe I’ll find Bishop’s office on the way. But… I think I’ll need a flashlight.” Alec takes a gander outside. “There isn’t much light outside and I doubt it’ll carry over into the building.”

 

Alec backtracks to his car, having to expose himself to the chilly weather. He opens the car door and looks to his glove box. He pauses for a moment, thinking what would work better: a flashlight, or night vision glasses. Unfortunately the only glasses he has with him are aviators. He isn’t a fan of any type of glasses, so the flashlight is his choice.

 

“Flashlight,” he states as he opens the glove box.

 

A large, black flashlight sits neatly in the glove box, waiting for Alec to take it. He wraps his hands around the cold metal and claims it as his own. With the classic tool at his side, he ventures back into the building. Alec passes by reception, taking the right hall. It’s already getting dark, so Alec turns on the flashlight. It’s a powerful light, illuminating almost the entirety of the hallway. There are glass windows on the sides, but Alec can barely see out of it thanks to the fog. He isn’t too keen on looking at them anyway. To his knowledge they’re some sort of courtyards for “recess”. However, after the massacre here, it’s now filled with corpses, likely picked apart by crows or other animals desperate for food. That, or they’ve become the houses of maggots. Either way, it’s an undesirable sight.

 

Alec keeps the flashlight steady as he walks. His shoes echo through the halls, making his location known to anything that may be here. Not that anything is here other than Alec himself. He comes to a crossroad: straight, left, or right. From what Alec remembers from his time here, Erik’s containment room was near the end of the building, which means there’s quite a walk ahead of him.

 

He continues straight, taking a quick peek left and right just in case. Nothing is there. As calm as Alec is, he can’t help but be superstitious. He’s in an abandoned insane asylum where everyone was killed. If that doesn’t warrant a haunting then nothing does. The décor is mostly the same throughout the entire thing. There are doors on the side, some more caged than others, signifying some more dangerous people. They have labels on most of them.

 

“T. Romanov. M. Katar. S. Fisher,” Alec says aloud as he walks past.

 

There are a few benches every so often, along with plants housed in vases, though a lot of them are knocked over. Alec notices some blood stains littered on some of the leaves. Oddly enough, there are no bodies in this hallway.

 

“So… where did the blood come from?” Alec asks himself.

 

He stops in his tracks and turns towards one of the doors. He slowly approaches it, keeping the light focused on the door. He grabs the handle and slowly turns it. He can hear the rust breaking apart from its docile state. Alec opens the door up and peers inside. The light illuminates a body attached to the wall. Each limb is nailed into the wall… except each of his limbs were cut off from the body. Alec shakes his head.

 

“I wonder if all the rooms are like this. Hell, I don’t think I want to know.” Alec closes the door behind him and starts walking down the hall. “Ignorance is bliss, and I’ll happily be ignorant about this.”

 

Alec focuses on his ears. His eyes can only see what the flashlight is pointing at, where his ears can hear anything around him. Though his shoes disrupt it a bit, but it’s still most efficient. Suddenly he hears wind smashing against the glass around him. The rushing of wind through the cracks of the eroded building. Alec moves the flashlight to the wall. He can see roots squeezing through, trying to make the building part of it. Alec dismisses this, returning to his objective. He slowly walks down the hall, passing three different hallways that split off. He can’t deny that he doesn’t like the feeling of this place. He knows there’s no such thing as ghosts, but he can’t help feeling a dark aura that surrounds this place. He can nearly feel something trying to get into his head. Someone trying to enter his body.

 

Alec unconsciously starts moving the flashlight around in an attempt to gain his bearings. He doesn’t want anything to sneak up on him. All he has is his flashlight. His flashlight and flask. Flask! Alec reaches into his pocket and pulls out his flask. He opens it up and takes a good swig. He grinds his teeth, enjoying the burning taste of his drink. One would think that his flask would be empty by now.

 

Alec rests it back in his pocket and continues on, a new drunken confidence driving him. Though he’s always drunk to an extent. It’s how he’s functioned for the past few years, and he needs it more than ever in this eerie place. He knows he’s closing in on his destination; closing in on Erik’s old cell. Alec takes a breath, trying to focus on something. After a moment, he smiles. He’s going to be fine. Alec continues on with a new confidence, trailing through the hallway to the room.

 

Alec starts to feel a slight breeze blowing against him. He can only feel it against his face. The only other indication is the push against his coat. He raises his brow. Judging by how windy it was outside, and how far away he is from Erik’s room, he has an idea what that could be. Alec’s light flashes upon Erik’s room. It’s at the very end of the hall. It was supposed to be the most secure room in this place… and its door is through a wall. Alec’s suspicion was correct. The door has been thrown off its hinges and is through the wall. Bodies are all over the place, along with stained blood splattered all along the walls and ceiling.

 

Alec walks into the cell. Nothing is really there, but he can almost feel a dark aura envelop his entire being, attempting to enter his soul and corrupt him from the very core. A cold shiver slides through his spine. It’s not even subtle. A normal shiver is like a feather grazing down your spine. This feels like a chainsaw grinding through his bones. There’s absolutely no doubt in his mind that Erik still has a presence here. But he knows that Erik wasn’t strong enough to do all this, to kill these people and rip a door off its hinges.

 

Something piques Alec’s interest in that department. He turns around, looking away from the torn apart room. He approaches the hinges and takes a closer look. Judging how they are broken, it looks like the door was forced open from the inside.

 

So he had something break him out? There’s still no way he could have opened it on its own.

 

Alec turns back around and lights up the room again. Surprisingly, the place is clean. It’s surprising that there are no scratch marks, or any vandalism in the room, contrary to most of the other rooms. He heard Erik went crazy. Why didn’t he defile his room in madness?

 

“Perhaps he’s not as mad as I’ve been told. I’ll only get that answer if I find him,” Alec states.

 

Alec’s ears pick something up. He turns around after a large crash in the distance. It was something breaking, no doubt. A vase, probably. But this only indicates that something else is here with him. Alec sighs, taking another swig from his flask to prepare himself. He takes a step and kicks something. Alec looks down at the object he hit. It’s a clipboard, faced down after getting kicked.

 

Alec grabs it and turns it over. There’s a ripped piece of paper attached to the clipboard. It’s an evaluation sheet. Three quarters of the paper is ripped off, but the stop is still there. Dr. Bishop’s name is labelled at the top, along with Erik. Alec takes another look around the room to see if the other part of the paper is around. There’s nothing, so he has to settle with what he has. Of course, in the back of his mind, he’s still concerned about whatever else is in the building, but he has a goal he needs to accomplish and chasing some person around is not that goal. 

 

Lucky for Alec, the page he found has Dr. Bishop’s room number on it. He doesn’t have to search every room now.

 

“Room two fifty three, huh? Alright, I know where the two hundreds are. This should be quick,” he turns back to the shrouded hallway. “Then again, whatever’s here might slow me down a bit.” Alec shrugs. “I’ll deal with the troll when I get to the bridge.”

 

Alec keeps the paper in his pocket, then grabs his flask again. After a swig, he gets going. Not really caring about the bodies, blood, or mess of the building anymore, he’s completely focusing on where he is. He passes the four hundred hallway, then turns down the three hundred hallway. More bodies, more blood. It seems like nearly a hundred people are dead from what he’s seen. There’s still dozens of rooms, and hallways that probably host more.

 

In no time he reaches room two hundred and fifty three. There’s a label on the door that says “Dr. J. Bishop”.

 

“Looks like this is the place,” Alec huffs. “Let’s hope her notes are intact. I got no leads otherwise. Except maybe the note… hm… let’s just get this over with.”

 

Alec pushes the door… only for it to fall right over, smashing on the ground and echoing through the building. Alec pauses for a moment, listening for anything that responds to it. A few seconds later he hears something. He can’t decipher what it is. Almost like a howl or a shout. It’s too distorted for him to make it clear.

 

“Hm… something’s definitely here. What could it be? Why would someone stick around… or why would someone leave something here?”

 

Alec takes a step in the room and heads straight for the filing cabinets. He sets his flashlight up in a place to see everything in the cabinet. There’s a list going from A to Z. Alec goes to W first, looking for Westergaard. He finds W, then cycles down until he finds it.

 

“Here we go,” he states, grabbing Erik’s file. “This should be it. But maybe I should check her desk, just to be thorough.”

 

Alec grabs the flashlight and moves to her desk. He searches each drawer, focusing his flashlight in each drawer. His eyes scans through each of the compartments, searching for anything that relates to Erik. He moves to another drawer and instantly finds something. It’s a note book with Erik’s name on it. Alec grabs that and stuffs it in his inner coat pocket. He takes a quick look in the other drawers and finds nothing.

 

“This is all I’m gonna get. No point in sticking around.”

 

With the folder in hand and journal in his pocket, Alec grabs the flashlight and leaves the room. Alec starts walking down the hallway, making his way to the exit. He can hear something prowling the halls, coming closer and closer. Alec doesn’t run, or even hurry at all. He keeps a steady pace while making his way to the exit. The sound gets closer, barreling through the halls like a wild animal that’s barely large enough to comfortably run through.

 

Alec turns the corner and sees the entrance. He calmly grabs his flask and holds it in his hand. The sound gets ever closer. It sounds just down the hallway Alec just left. Alec reaches the door and stops. He hears a vase crash. He turns around, flask in hand, to see whatever is coming at him. But something is different. The thing stares at him.

 

A large dog with no hair on it, skin charred and flesh showing. Blood seems to be dripping from its mouth and stained teeth. It’s growling at him, intent adding his taste to his palate. Alec raises his brow at the sight of the deformed dog.

 

“Hm… Erik’s doing, I assume.”

 

Alec opens the flask, raising it to his face.

 

“Come on then.”

 

The dog barks then rushes him. Alec drinks the whiskey, closing his eyes while the liquid burns down his throat. After a decent amount, he opens his eyes. The dog is gone. The vase is back to normal. Alec smiles.

 

“Hm… looks like it still works,” he smiles.

 

Alec knocks back another bit of whiskey in victory. Alec places the flask back into his pocket and approaches the car. He enters the car and relaxes a bit.

 

“Go to Arendelle,” he says aloud.

 

The car lights up and the engine starts. On its own, the car backs out of the parking space and makes its way to Arendelle. Alec waits until the asylum is out of sight before looking at the papers he snagged. A notebook and files. One personal, one professional. Honestly Alec is interested in both equally. First has to come professional, though. He takes the notebook out of his pocket and lies it down in the passenger seat, then grabs the files with the same, now free, hand.

 

Alec opens the file and explores its contents. Many of the pages are just reports to superiors about how Erik’s condition is unexplainable through health and sciences. It’s nonsense that doesn’t explain much. Thus, he has to move to the personal notes. Alec grabs the notebook and looks through. There’s six entries in total about Erik, so he goes through them.

Entry 1

 

It’s hard to determine why this man is here. He just seems angry more than anything. I sometimes listen to him when he’s alone. He just sits there, whispering to himself. He talks about someone named Alistair, and someone named Balthier. From the files, Balthier is his father, and the one who sent him here. But that’s the thing that confuses me the most. Off the record, I’ve been doing the entrance evaluation during our sessions and he doesn’t seem to pass any of the requirements. He’s just resentful towards those two people. We’ll have to see how things go. Maybe his placement here was all a misunderstanding.

 

 

Entry 2

 

Seems that I’m being monitored while working with Erik. I was questioned why I was doing the entrance evaluation, and told to stop. Something is odd about all of this, but nevertheless I have a job to do. Finding out what’s plaguing him is what I have to do. It’s been a few weeks since he’s got here. No human interaction, other than myself. I believe his brother, Alec, visited once, but they didn’t talk. He wasn’t allowed to enter the room. For some reason, Erik is placed under maximum security. Even the room being used has been customized by W.A industires. Their men were here for a while before. Maybe Balthier wants a more comfortable room for his son? I truly can’t say. Hopefully I can get some progress with Erik. I might be able to find out why he resents his father and this “Alistair” character.

 

 

Entry 3

 

It’s been a month since I started talking to Erik. Progress has been slow, and talking to him has been awkward. He keeps asking me questions about myself. I don’t want to answer these questions, but I’m told that it’s important to let him learn about me. I don’t want to give away any personal information, but I’m being told – no forced – to talk about my personal life. I don’t like it but if it helps then I will. I’ll be going back on everything I stand for if I don’t do everything I can for this man. He’s troubled, I know that. I just have to find the source.

 

 

Entry 4

 

I’ve been having this weird headache lately. It’s been getting in my way a few times a day. My doctor just recommended some pills to take, but they don’t seem to work. I’ve noticed that it’s more intense when I’m at work. Maybe it’s the air conditioning or something. I’ll have to talk to someone about it. Anyway, Erik has been increasingly talkative lately. I don’t know why. He smiles when I come into the room, and I swear what he says sticks with me long after our sessions. He likes to know more about me and my roll. He likes that I’ve taken self-defense, work out, and read. But he continues to avoid the question about Alistair. I can nearly feel the hate seeping out of him. Maybe one day he’ll reveal it to me.

 

 

Entry 5

 

I keep hearing him, all the time. After our sessions I can hear him telling me things. He wants me to get him out of here, and of course I decline. But something keeps telling me to do it. And, well, I could be put in this place if I said this but, it’s almost like I can hear his thoughts. He thought about Alistair today, and how he wants him dead. I could hear that thought. I don’t have anyway to explain it, but… it makes me interested in this Alistair character. I want to learn about him, know him, and discover what makes Erik hate him so. Maybe then, I’ll get my answer.

 

 

Entry 6

 

Erik… Erik… I hate him. I hate who he is, and what he wants. He’s twisted, he’s manipulative, and he wants revenge. It sounds straight out of some movie but… it’s true. I need to stop him; tell someone about what he wants. But then, he never says anything. He just thinks it. We never speak anymore. He talks to me through my mind, and I talk right back. He knows everything about me. Where I live, who my parents are, and even my friends. But it works both ways. I know who he is, why he wants Alistair. Alistair… he’s the goal. He knows. I want him. Want to find him. He’s my answer, my way out. That name is always on my mind. I know how much Erik hates him and it makes me want to find him more. I have one more session with Erik tonight. After that, when I leave, I search for Alistair. There’s one place Alec has in mind: his old mansion. I… don’t know how, but I know where it is. A childhood home or something. He thinks Alistair might be there. I must find it.

Alec sets the notes beside him. He knows exactly what place she’s talking about. Alec clicks the screen of the car and brings up a GPS. He inputs the coordinates then sits back again. The car will go there automatically, so Alec just has to relax.

“So… Dr. Bishop tried to treat Erik, but instead she fell under his control? No, he made a link between them. But why? From the timing of this all, it would be smart to think this was when he wasn’t used to his newfound power. Perhaps she was his test subject? Early trials of his powers. He accidently linked their minds for a time. So, I wonder what Dr. Bishop gained from this.”

Suddenly Alec’s pocket starts to light up. He looks down at it, sighs, and then grabs the small orb that Hans gave him. He places it on the passenger seat, then clicks a button on the side. The ball lights up, taking on the form of Hans.

“Found anything?” Alec asks, getting straight to the point.                                                                   “A bit. Seems Erik has been traveling a lot lately. And I mean a LOT. Obviously under aliases; he even used your name.”

Alec snickers.

“So that’s who it was. That was years ago, though.”

Hans shrugs.

“I really have nothing on him. He’s been extraordinarily difficult to even track, let alone find. I can’t even begin to guess what he would want.”

 

“Well, naturally, as your older brother, I’m about to one up you,” Alec confidently states.

Hans rolls his eyes.

“I’m waiting with bated breath,” he sarcastically remarks.

“I know where Erik is.”

Hans’ eyes widen.

“Wait, seriously? Where?”

“You’ll know when I get there.”

“Alec…”

“Just be patient, Hans. You can do nothing from where you are. Besides, he wants to see me alone. He even left a little something to make sure I knew I was on the right trail. I’ll call you back when I arrive.”

 

Hans huffs.

“Fine. Just, don’t die, alright?”

“Ha, is that concern?” Alec laughs.

“You’re a Westergaard. You’re my brother. I have no intention of letting any of us die.”

“Even Erik?” Alec quickly asks.

Hans pauses for a moment, his eyes moving around, indicating that he’s thinking.

“I don’t know. If he threatens us…”

“I don’t know what he threatens. You’ll see for yourself, soon. I’ll speak to you soon, brother.”

The hologram disappears, leaving the floating, glowing ball. The light fades from the ball, causing it to fall on the seat. Alec huffs. He lies back on his chair, clicking a button so it will recline. It goes back the entire way, letting Alec lie completely flat. He takes another quick drink while he waits.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Sir Alec, you have arrived at your destination,” the car notifies.

Alec opens his eyes. It’s a little difficult, as he admittedly took a nap on the way here. He’s still in that stage where he could fall back to sleep in a second if he let himself. To fix that, Alec takes another drink.

“Alright Erik, I hope you’re ready for me.”

 

Alec gets out of the car and looks at the structure in front of him. A whole wave of memories flood him at once, attempting to drown his brain but the alcohol already has taken that place for itself. Still, he can’t help but feel nostalgia for this place. This is where he was born. This is where he grew up. A massive mansion, at least five stories tall. When he was young, Alec always wondered why the building had to be so big. Years later he still thinks that. It’s completely unnecessary. Erik used to own an entire floor, when he was still there. Alec was really the only one who visited him when he was up there. Erik would always be inventing something or drawing plans. He was a genius, and it showed through everything he did.

Balthier would supply Erik with whatever he wanted and Erik, in turn, would create extravagant things. Alec’s certain that the original design for the holowatch came from Erik. Alistair was the one who perfected it though. He and Adgar designed the ultimate holowatches, which the Knight family all wear. Alec’s certain that Hans has one as well. Soon enough, a holowatch will be made for world distribution.

Of course Alec is a genius in his own regard. He simply wasn’t given the resources that Erik was. Besides, Alec visited Hunter a lot in his youth, and that was good enough for him. Seems he chose the better path too. Alec wasn’t sent to an insane asylum. Alec isn’t being hunted by Alistair.

Alec shakes his head and sighs, his shoulder jumping during his sigh. Some minor way to warm himself up. Alec walks up to the house. He walks around to the stairs, which there are two of. The go from the side and meet in the middle. There’s a fountain in the middle that used to release some of the clearest water Alec has ever seen. Alec looks down at the fountain as he walks up the stairs. There’s not even a foot of water in the fountain, not that anyone could tell. The water is far from clean. Alec shakes his head at the state of his home. Thankfully it’s not as bad the insane asylum. The building was abandoned a few years after Balthier’s death. All the Westergaards simply moved onto other places, and didn’t want the reminder of both Balthier and Erik.

Alec meets the door. The Westergaard symbol still stands strong on the metal doors. Alec slowly reaches into his pocket and pulls out the flask. He looks down at the screw on lid. Right on the top is the same symbol. Other than his flask, which he doesn’t necessarily look at, he hasn’t seen that symbol since Alistair fought the Hierarchy. It was taken down, stripped away, and spit on. But that isn’t of Alec’s concern. Balthier brought it on himself, and Alec will not pity him for that decision.

Alec pushes the door open. It emanates a loud creak that echoes through the entire house. Alec steps in and immediately gets hit by the distinct smell of home. It’s an odd smell, one that Alec himself can’t even describe. It just smells like home. Surprising that he can still recognize it after all this time.

Alec enters the building, taking a look around. There are balconies all above him, with a chandelier hanging prominently above him. It’s dusty, and not nearly as beautiful as it once was. In fact, the entire place is filled with dust, taking away from what this place used to look like. Alec takes tightens his grip on his flask and downs some more.

 

“Alec… brother,” a voice calls out.

Alec looks towards the stairs, directly in front of him. He sees a skinny man in an all-white suit. He looks similar to Hans, in some ways, and different in others. But his eyes… his eyes have changed. They aren’t like they used to be. They used to be filled with ambition and ideas. Now all Alec can see is despair and hatred. It’s more prominent than his iris. It’s a cloudy mess that Alec can’t see through. But there’s one thing Alec knows. He can feel it from here. Once again, he takes a drink.

He wipes some of the liquid from his lips.

“Erik… it’s been too long,” Alec exhales, tired.

Erik walks down the stairs, confident as ever. He stops a few steps from the ground floor. His eye brow raises as he stares at Alec. He focuses a bit, cringing while intensely staring at him.

“Nice guard dog you have at the asylum. He looks a lot like ol’ Fergus. Except Fergus was a lot smaller, and had a distinct lack of blood like this one,” Alec says.

 

“You recognized our old dog, huh? I’d say I’m surprised that you survived him, but… I can’t seem to access your mind. No wonder why his illusion didn’t work. Would have killed anyone else out of their own fear.”

Alec shrugs, proudly smiling.

“I have my way. Wouldn’t be alive if not.”

“Hm…” Erik walks down the stairs and reaches the ground floor. He starts pacing towards his brother. “It’s interesting. There’s only three people whose mind I can’t enter. (Y/N), because of his blood. Alistair, because of his own mental powers, and the Doctor, since she’ll know where I am the moment I enter her mind. But yours… I can’t enter yours either. Why?”

Alec lifts his flask.

“Alistair can enter people’s minds. I’ve known that since I was young. Drinking helps keep them out. I’ve drank so much that I function normally with it, and now nobody can enter my mind. Not you, or Alistair. Would be compromising for myself and Hunter if Alistair found out what I’ve done. So, I always have this handy thing with me. Never runs out of whatever liquid I pour into it, so I always have some.”

Erik shuts his eyes and smiles. Admittedly that’s genius. Erik never would have thought of that. Makes sense why his illusion at the asylum didn’t work. Most others would break down in proximity to the building. Any who entered would be lost forever.

 

Alec, remembering about his younger brother, pulls out the ball. He clicks it and lightly tosses it beside him. The ball hovers beside Alec, waiting for a connection. Not wanting to waste time waiting on Hans, Alec continues his conversation with Erik. He doesn’t seem to care about the ball anyway.

“By the way… the doctor, who was she? J. Bishop? The one you broke?”

Erik’s smile turns devious.

“The chess piece, huh? She was an interesting subject. So innocent and sweet. Did you know she had a husband before I got to her? Dead now, unfortunately.”

“What did you do to her?”

 

Erik looks away from Alec to a picture of Balthier, hanging on one of the walls.

“I hate them. Balthier, Alistair, the entire Hierarchy. Balthier… he sent me to Alistair as a test subject. All the work I did for father and he cast me aside for his project.”

“Considering how you are now… and who worked on that project… I assume it formed your powers?” Alec hypothesizes.

Erik nods.

“Alistair and Pabbie used me to harness mental powers. It benefited both of them, and even Balthier. But after that, Balthier tossed me aside, saying I was no longer useful. He put me in that damndable asylum, hoping I would just go insane. I nearly did. The powers manifested themselves in ways that not even Alistair could predict, which is why he can’t do what I can do. But because of my room, I couldn’t reach out to others. I couldn’t practice my powers. Until Bishop came along.”

The floating ball starts to light up some more. It’s quickly surrounded by a hologram of Hans.

“What is-“

“Hans, quiet,” Alec snaps.

Hans turns to Alec, then looks around the room. He instantly recognizes this place. It’s his home.

 

Erik ignores Hans, continuing his story.

 

“My mind slithered into hers in no time. A connection was formed – a bond. But… well I’m man enough to admit that I hadn’t mastered my powers at that time. I entered her head, but it was a two way street.” He places his hands behind his back and slowly paces around the room. “She learned everything about me. She started to hate me after all our sessions, and I hated the world right back. Most of all, I hated Alistair. Balthier was already dead, this I took from her mind, so everything was focused on him.” He clenches his fist in anger. Alec can feel the house begin to rumble. Lucky for him, Erik clams down rather quickly. “Then the time came… I couldn’t take it anymore. I knew Bishop was a skilled fighter for her age, so I used that. I put everything into her, boosting her strength, speed, perception, endurance, and bloodlust. I made her break me out and kill everyone there for what they did to me.”

 

Alec’s eyes widen in shock.

“What? You mean everyone was killed by her? Who is this woman?”

 

Erik turns back towards his two brothers. They both stare at him, eagerly waiting his response. He can tell Hans is especially curious, even though he’s just looking at a hologram.

“She is a being created by me. I made her kill. I twisted her mind. She was nearly my thrall, but… she leeched off of one thing I had. She turned my hatred into love.”

Alec’s mind has been running overdrive for the past few minutes, piecing everything together that Erik tells him. Now… he knows who Dr. J. Bishop was. Who she is. Hans, however, is still lost.

“The Bishop became a Knight,” Erik finishes.

“Juno…” Alec whispers.

“What?” Hans questions, turning to Alec.

“Juno… she was Dr. Bishop. That’s why she’s so obsessed with Alistair. She hated you, Erik, and you hated Alistair. She changed that hatred into love and admiration. She loved the thing you hated, because she hated you.”

 

Erik smiles.

“You haven’t lost your touch, brother. You’re correct. For her crimes and insanity, Juno was sent to another facility which Alistair took her from. Though I think now they truly have formed a bond.” Erik looks to his hand. “I can’t wait to crush it,” he declares, tightening his hand into a fist.“But why? Why attack the Hierarchy? Our father’s work?” Hans shouts.

“Because he started it all! He was the architect of his own destruction. If Alistair didn’t kill him, I would have come eventually. I want to tear down what he wanted, just like he tore my future apart!”

 

“But, he’s dead. Wouldn’t it be better to use his resources to your own advantage? You’re smart enough to see that, are you not?” Alec fires back.

“Why use tainted resources like that?” Erik coldly responds.

“Look, I want to kill Alistair too! I can restore our family name! You can change anything however you want! Just help me kill him,” Hans offers. “With your powers, we can turn the tide, kill Alistair!”

 

Erik stares intently at Hans. Hans looks almost desperate, but he does make sense. Hans has no reason to betray him, but still. There’s something about him. Hans resembles Balthier so closely, from the way he talks to his very gestures. It just reminds him about Balthier.

 

“Well, I can’t say I have the same views as Hans here,” Alec interjects. “But destroying everything that father built up seems foolish. Think of the companies, technology, and advancements that are being made long after father’s death. I won’t get in your way, Erik, and I don’t necessarily care if you side with Hans, but perhaps just kill the Hierarchy, and leave what they built. W.A. Industries, Dysa Co., all of these things are still useful for the future.”

 

Erik snickers.

“Why should I care about the future?”

“Don’t care about the future then!” Alec snaps, taking a step towards Erik. “Focus on the past and kill who you want, but leave everything to me. I’ll take care of the companies, the foundation. If all the leaders of the Hierarchy are dead, the small fries won’t care. If I take the lead-“

“You take the lead?” Hans questions, almost laughing. “Why should you take it? If anything, I deserve it more. I am far more powerful then you.”

“Your power is overshadowed by your immaturity.” Alec growls at Hans. “And the war against (Y/N) and Elsa proves this.”

“They are working with Alistair, however. (Y/N)… he’s his son… so Is Hunter… they must die,” Erik snarls.

Alec looks back and forth between Erik and Hans. They seem to be completely focused on you and Hunter. He has to find some way to get them off your back. Erik himself said that he can’t enter your mind, and he knows that Hans doesn’t stand a chance in a fair fight. Directly, you have nothing to worry from these two, but they are both extraordinarily sneaky. The fact that Erik has been able to get around, survive, and plan something. To be fair, Erik never said he has something planned, but there’s no way he doesn’t. Not with all the hatred backing him up. Who knows what he’s done already, and what gears he’s started turning.

Alec sighs and lazily waves his hand in the air.

“Whatever, do what you want. But, Erik, I have another question for you. Why did you want me to meet you? You made your presence known to Alistair and Juno, just to talk to me? Why? To tell me about Juno?”

“Because I need to tell you something.”

 

Erik looks towards Hans’ reflection. His eyes widen for a moment, and the ball starts to malfunction. It drops on the ground, lifeless.

“I care nothing about Hans and his plans. (Y/N) must die for my vengeance to be complete. But Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff… I care nothing about their fate.”

Alec walks over to the ball and picks it up, his eyes still on Erik.

“What’s your point then?” Alec asks, attitude flowing in his voice.

“You have to kill Elsa.”

Alec springs to his feet, take a step towards Erik in a menacing way.

“What?” Alec shouts. “Kill her? Are you insane?”

 

“I’m determined, not insane, and I’m determined to stop Alistair. But, I know that I need time to fight him. But time is on no one’s side but his. But, if you kill Elsa, his plans will be delayed for years.”

“You know what will happen if I kill her? Are you trying to make (Y/N) kill us all?” Alec debates.

“If you don’t kill her then we’ll all die anyway. (Y/N) will be gone from this world, Hunter will die, you will die, and everyone who tried to fight him will die. He’ll destroy the Hierarchy, which includes you,” he says, pointing at Alec. “Then, everyone who isn’t dead, will submit to Alistair and Juno. But you can stop it all by killing her.”

Alec’s eyes drift down to the ground, Erik’s bright, white shoes take part in his vision. He’s contemplating everything that Erik is saying. It’s true, Erik would have nothing against Elsa, and he has no reason to side with Hans. It really seems like the best option, logically, is to kill Elsa. But… what if Erik is wrong? Do they really need her? For what? Elsa wouldn’t help them do anything. Not voluntarily, anyway. But what if it wasn’t voluntary?

Erik smiles in victory. He can tell Alec is really considering all his options right now. He walks straight, moving beside Alec. He places his gloved hand on Alec’s shoulder. He pats it twice.

“Think on it, brother. You think like I do. It may not be the most popular choice, but it’s the most logical.”

Erik pats Alec’s shoulder one last time, then walks away. He exits the house. The door closes behind him, a thundering noise echoes in the house. Alec doesn’t even hear it. He’s too involved in his own thoughts.

What is the best option?


	42. Creeping Ever Closer

#  **Chapter 42: Creeping Ever Closer**

 

Shadow stands extremely still, like he was a stone statue. His arms are crossed, his suit is stretched, and his gaze is strong. You’re there, in Limbo, floating. You’re completely unconscious and won’t wake up. Shadow tried to wake you, but you wouldn’t.

 

_Can Alistair knock us out that badly? Or is it the tank? Hm… can’t be the tank. I’m still conscious. Must be Alistair. The thought of him being able to render (Y/N) completely unconscious with one attack is unsettling. He was weak, but… still…_

Shadow cringes a bit.

 

_I need to get stronger. But I also need to be patient. The strength will come in time. If not… well…_

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Alistair pours himself a drink, smiling at the perfection of the concoction he created. He grabs the cool glass and takes a swig. He enjoys the odd taste. He looks down the room at Hunter, who is laying against a wall, his arms crossed, his snow-like hair dangles in front of his face, and his eyes closed. Alistair sighs.

 

“You’re too tense, Hunter. You need to learn to relax,” Alistair speaks. “Have a drink. Take a nap.”

“I’m fine, thank you,” he snarls.

Alistair shrugs.

“I see. Maybe it’s not (Y/N) who’s pushing himself too much. Maybe it’s you who’s pushing (Y/N) too much,” Alistair predicts, looking away from Hunter.

“He knows the stakes,” Hunter snaps. “He knows what needs to be done, and why we have to stop you.”

 

Alistair sighs.

“Always so dramatic. Maybe you need to take a rest too. At least (Y/N)’s getting his. But what about you? There’s no way you can defeat me unless you’re at your peak,” he says, purposefully pushing his son’s buttons.

Hunter remains silent.

“Whatever. You should at least be grateful that I’m trying to help you, despite you being against me.”

“Your generosity is overwhelming,” Hunter sarcastically answers.

 

Alistair shrugs.

“Well, I’ll be resting until we’re there. I’m not sure whether (Y/N) will be ready by the time we get back, so we may have to operate on our own for a time. If you have a problem… deal with it,” Alistair finishes, deadly serious.

 

Hunter opens one eye and looks at his father. He shakes his head then returns to his original position.

“Fine. I’ll be ready.”

 

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Alec lies in his car, the seat laid all the way back while the automatic driver brings him back to Arendelle. His mind is working on overdrive right now. He’s good at looking at a problem from all angles, but usually he doesn’t have a personal connection to the problem. He also promised Hunter that he’d take care of Elsa. But if Erik is right… but what would Alistair want with Elsa? He could have her whenever he wants, especially now that you’re both far away from her. She has basically no protection. There’s Alec himself, but he can’t directly intervene.

 

But Erik wouldn’t lie. There’s no reason too. Though, it’s unsure whether his powers can actually see into the future. He can only influence people, to Alec’s knowledge. But he’s also been manifesting his powers for years. Who knows his prowess now. He may be powerful enough to see into the future. From what he remembers, Pabbie had the same power too, though his age distorted it.

 

Alec lets out a massively exaggerated sigh. He lays his hands behind his head and continues to stare at the inner roof of the car. Suddenly his car beeps. He rolls his eyes, knowing that someone is calling him.

 

“Accept,” he states.

 

The car makes a more high pitch beep before connecting.

 

“Alec,” Juno’s voice starts, immediately making Alec’s eyes open. “Erik… where is Erik?”

“I…” Alec thinks back. Erik left, and Alec genuinely has no idea where he went. “I don’t know.”

“You… you find him. You bring him to me. If you don’t… well,” she snickers. “I’ll make a new drink out of whatever’s left of you.”

Alec audibly gulps.

“R-Right, yeah. Of course.”

“Well… I’ll see you at work,” Juno chuckles, hanging up.

 

“Christ,” Alec huffs. “Hm… where did he go, anyway? Well, he’ll contact me when the time comes. I’ve gotten what I want out of him.”

 

He has a few things in mind he needs to do when he gets back. Hopefully Elsa is okay. He’s now worried about her. Hell, he’s worried about everything.

 

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Elsa pulls into the driveway, her hands shaking. She’s on the fritz, her pale complexion now completely red.

 

_Is he there for you? Would he be a good husband?_

Those words have been repeating over and over and over. She can’t get it out of her mind. It’s like she wants to claw her brain out to get it to shut up. It’s a lie, she knows it. You’ll be a good husband. You’re there for her when you can. If she was busy with work all the time and couldn’t see you, you wouldn’t be doubting her at all. So she has to give you the same respect. But what if she’s wrong? What if you’d abandon her?

 

“Elsa?” Anna says, innocently.

 

Elsa shakes her head and looks around. She looks out the driver window and sees Anna, leaning over to Elsa’s window. She has some shopping bags lying around her feet. She has a very innocent, very Anna-like look. She’s not quite worried about Elsa, but just curious as to what she’s doing. But, she notices Elsa’s more distressed look. A dead giveaway being her red skin.

 

“Elsa, are you okay?” Anna quickly adds, concern filling her voice.

 

Elsa clenches the wheel of her car, silently venting her frustration.

“I’m… fine, Anna. Just a rough day at work,” she lies.

“Well, do you want to ta-“

“No!” Elsa barks, making Anna sit up straight, creating more distance between the two sisters. “I… don’t want to talk about it. I think I’m just going to go to bed,” she sighs before getting out of her car and walking past her sister.

 

Anna pouts in a sort of frustration. She knows that something is bothering her stubborn sister, but lucky for Anna, she’s quite stubborn herself. She won’t let this go. Considering everything that’s going on lately between you and her, there’s no way Elsa’s mind isn’t constantly overwhelmed with stress. Seems Anna has a mission right now: a mission to help her sister.

 

Anna saunters back to her house, gently closing the door behind her. She notices that Elsa’s shoes and suitcase are laid by the door with no Elsa in sight. Anna can hear a little bit of rustling upstairs, likely from Elsa’s room. Anna slips out of her own shoes and carefully makes her way up the stair and to her sister’s room. She gently leans against the door so her ear is right up against it. Elsa’s in there, mumbling something incoherent to Anna. But her tone is what concerns Anna the most. It’s a distressed voice, almost like Elsa’s going to breakdown at any moment. There’s a breath every other word, her speech is incredibly fast yet full of stutters.

 

Anna moves her body off of the door and sighs, biting her bottom lip. She can’t think of what could be troubling the normally calm and collected Elsa to this extent. The only option now is to confront her and make Elsa confess what’s on her mind. Maybe Anna can calm her down a bit, or at least allow Elsa to vent so whatever’s on her mind can be let out.

 

But something suddenly comes to Anna’s mind. She used to do this all the time. She used to stand outside Elsa’s door, ear to the door, listening and hoping her sister would talk to her. But now it’s years later, they’re both adults, and Anna has no fear of rushing into her room and forcing Elsa to confess to her.

 

Anna reaches to the door handle and wraps her hand around it. Her heart’s pumping with fear and adrenaline. She shakes her head, letting out as many jitters as she can, then pushes the door open and stepping into the room. Anna instantly notices the frost crawling along the walls and floor of the room. From this alone it’s clear that Elsa’s having a freak-out. Elsa’s a little shocked at the sudden invasion of privacy by her sister, and attempts to collect herself. Some of her makeup has dribbled down her face from some tears, and her hair’s a little messy from her wrestling with it. She’s taken off her suit jacket – which is lying on the bed – and is now simply in a dress shirt.

 

“A-Anna? What’re you doing in my room?” Elsa firmly asks, attempting to be gentle yet empowered, though her appearance doesn’t help that at all.

“Elsa, you’re going to tell me what’s bothering you right now! I’m not letting you out of this room until you do!” Anna confidently says, closing the door behind her and leaning on it.

Elsa can do anything right now. She can confess what’s on her mind. She can yell at her sister to get out. She could do nothing and simply go to bed. But something about Anna’s actions spark something in her. The way Anna is leaning on the door, the way she’s pouting. It reminds her of a younger Anna – an Anna she never revealed anything to.

 

Elsa’s lip begins to quiver, then she sighs. Elsa lazily walks onto the bed and lies on it, staring up at the ceiling. Anna assumes this means Elsa’s ready to talk, so she slowly makes her way beside Elsa’s bed.

 

“I’ve… had something on my mind. Well,” Elsa struggles to find the proper words as the mantra keeps beating in her head. “It’s almost so sudden… so… different. It’s stupid, and I know it’s stupid, but the more I think about it the more relevant it becomes,” Elsa vents.

Anna stares at her sister with compassion and confusion.

“Elsa, what’re you talking about? I don’t get it.”

“(Y/N)!” She shouts in frustration, slapping her forehead and leaving her hand there. “It’s about him, Anna,” she breathes, calmer than her last statement. “I… I keep thinking about the future. He’s asked me to marry him, and I love him, but… Anna I don’t know whether he’ll be a good husband.”

 

“Elsa, that’s insane,” Anna chuckles. “(Y/N) is a great guy.”

“He is,” Elsa nods. “But… take now for instance. Where is he? We should be planning our wedding, but instead he’s off somewhere in the world getting hurt, fighting some secret organization that nearly sounds made up! They have powers, and weapons, and people and he just wants to fight them without any regard for me and what I want! I don’t want any of this anymore, Anna! I’ve had enough of all this. I want to live a normal life, ignoring the powers I have,” she huffs, squeezing the bed. “I just want a happy family. I just want it to be calm.” Elsa finishes before tears roll down her cheeks once more.

 

Anna finds it hard to produce words at the moment. She wants to defend you so badly. She knows you don’t WANT to be doing this, but you still are. You’re still gone, ignoring the family you have here in Arendelle. Your business has even gotten their own family hurt, that being Rapunzel’s father and husband. She can even understand Elsa wanting a normal life, considering everything that’s happened to her. It’s unclear whether you want a normal life, even to Anna. You’re always off doing something, always needed because of what you’re capable of. It’s possible you could always be gone, always be doing something that drags you away from Elsa.

 

Anna slides her hand over her sister’s in an attempt to comfort her.

“Hey Elsa, you remember when we were kids? You remember what you always did when I was sad?”

Elsa thinks for a moment, then softly chuckles.

“I would make a bit of snow in our room and build a snowman for yo- wait, you remember that? I thought your memory was lost?” Elsa inquires, her mind effectively off the previous subject.

“Pabbie has helped me remember those memories. Besides, I remembered us building snowmen, just not with your powers. But… do you remember what I would ask you to do every day?”

 

Elsa smiles.

“You’d come up to my door every day and knock on it.” Both sisters imitate knocking on a door, even making the sound in perfect unison.

“Elsa? Do you wanna build a snowman?” They both sing, then break into laughter.

“I did it because I knew you were sad. So maybe…”

“Anna?” Elsa interjects, lifting her upper body off the bed and looking at her sister. “Are you saying-“

“Elsa,” Anna lightly taps Elsa’s forehead, making the sound. “Do you wanna build a snowman?”

 

Somehow, someway, Anna always knows what buttons to press to calm her down. Elsa stares at her sister as she waits for a response. Elsa sighs, then looks to her sister with a smile.

“Go get a carrot,” she smirks.

Anna starts laughing from pure excitement, then instantly runs out of the room and down the stairs. Elsa looks around her room for a good spot to fill with snow. As she scans her room her head floods with thoughts.

 

_Is he there for you? Would he be a good husband?_

Elsa grinds her teeth at the thought, then shoots out a plethora of snow out of frustration, covering nearly half of her room. She breathes a little heavier after releasing the tension, but she returns to normal when she hears Anna rushing back up the stairs. Anna bursts into Elsa’s room, carrot in hand, and is a little too dazzled at the sight of all the snow. But the thought of building a snowman again with her sister after all these years is something that gives Anna the major jitters. She’s so happy, excited, everything!

 

“It’s just like I remember! No! Even better! It’s so shiny and beautiful, Elsa!” Anna shrieks with glee.

It’s been some time since Anna’s seen Elsa’s powers used like this. Here and there she chills something like a fire, but most of the time it’s used in a combat situation. Not that Elsa has been in a fight for quite some time, but the sight of such a beautiful use of her powers is truly a sight to see. Elsa, on the other hand, has a certain pride in seeing her sister dazzled by such a simple display on Elsa’s part.

 

“Yeah, I guess,” Elsa humbly smiles. “So,” she starts, rolling up her sleeves. “Are you ready? I haven’t done this in a while.”

“Me neither, but we’ll figure it out somehow.”

Elsa and Anna both drop to their knees and making their own snowballs.

“How hard can it be for two grown women to make a snowman?” Elsa brings up, rolling the small ball across more snow.

“No cheating!” Anna warns, vigorously pointing at Elsa. “You can’t use your powers to make the best snowman.”

 

Elsa rolls her eyes in a friendly manner.

“Who do you take me for, Anna?”

The sisters giggle, then go back to making the snowmen. Elsa is easily making the ball of snow without her powers, getting it far bigger than Anna’s far easier. Elsa notices this and brings something up.

“I’ll make the bottom ball, you make the middle one. I’m closer to it anyway. Here,” Elsa looks a bit behind Anna and shoots some more snow out. “There, in case you run out. “

 

Anna nods, still giddy from the whole ordeal, and shimmies over to the new patch of snow. Surprisingly the snow isn’t very cold on Anna’s bare hands, but this doesn’t even come to Anna’s mind as she makes the ball bigger and bigger. Elsa’s already made the bottom big enough to hold a medium sized ball. She rolls it close to the corner, using her powers push any extra snow away from her so her clothes don’t get damp. She sets it close to the corner, nods at her work, then looks to her sister’s progress. Anna’s gotten a decent sized ball for the middle.

 

“That should be enough, Anna!” Elsa informs, to which Anna replies to with a nod.

Anna moves to the other side of the ball and rolls it towards Elsa’s, collecting some extra snow on the way. Once there, she and Elsa lift the ball on top of the other. Anna wipes her hands with pride.

 

“All that’s left is the head,” she declares.

Elsa nods, then turns to her side to roll another ball of snow. She rolls it around herself, then in-between her and Anna. Anna pushes a large amount of snow on it, completely ruining what little symmetry it had. Elsa’s face drops and she stares at her sister with sassy disappointment. Anna covers her mouth as she giggles, then leans over to drag some snow onto the other side of it as if it’ll fix it. Elsa shakes her head and the action, giggling, then rolls the ball around, lightly smacking to even out the ball. Once done, Elsa places the head on top of the other two balls. Anna quickly grabs the carrot off Elsa’s bed and jams it into his head. The two then quickly get to work, tracing eyes and a smile with their fingers. This takes little time, and the two lean back to admire their work. Elsa disperses the excess snow into thin air; it’s as if nothing was ever there.

 

“This… was fun, Anna. I needed this,” Elsa admits, smiling at their creation.

Anna nods.

“It was. Olaf would…”

 

Her voice trails off as a grim reminder falls on the two. Their little brother is still missing with no evidence of where he is. It’s been weeks. Anna looks over to her sister and sees the melancholy look on her face. Anna mentally smacks herself for bringing it up, but she’s determined to lift Elsa’s spirits. Anna slips her hand onto Elsa’s, which makes Elsa meet Anna’s gaze.

 

“They’ll find him, don’t worry. And, about (Y/N)… well… maybe it’s not our time to settle down yet. I mean, we’re not even 25, Elsa. Even I don’t want to settle, marry, and have kids. We just have to have faith, you know? We have plenty of life left to live with (Y/N) and Olaf.”

Elsa sighs.

“I know. But I just keep worrying – it’s always on my mind.”

“And you’re always on his mind, I’m sure of it. Besides, (Y/N)’s definitely not the ‘average job’ kind of guy. Adventure seems like his thing, at least for now. I know I like a good party here and there.”

Elsa leans away from Anna with a doubtful look.

“How often do you go to parties?”

“Well,” Anna smirks. “Not too many yet. But maybe my upcoming schooling with change that.”

“No parties! You study, you stay safe,” Elsa lectures.

Anna giggles at Elsa’s demeanor. She winks at her before starting to get up.

“There’s my big sister. Stay calm, Elsa. I’m always going to be here for you when (Y/N) can’t.”

 

With those words, Anna leaves Elsa alone with the snowman. Elsa watches her sister leave, then once she’s gone, Elsa turns her gaze to the snowman. Anna’s right. No matter how much Elsa’s own brain tries to psyche her out, there’ll be people there to support her. If you’re not here, then Anna will be. If she’s not here, then Kristoff will be. There’ll always be someone to help her. Still… she hopes you’re back soon, safe and sound.

 

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Alistair swiftly opens his eyes, taking in his immediate environment in an instant. He’s in his cabin of the plane – taking a quick nap to pass the time and keep his body rested. He sits on the edge of the bed and looks down at his now wrinkled dress shirt. He knew this was going to happen, but it’s always a pain when it does. He begins unbuttoning the shirt as he stands up. Once the shirt is unbuttoned he slips it off and tosses it onto the bed. He approaches the build in closet and slides the door open. The entire thing is filled with suits and dress shirts. All suits are black, dress shirts mix of black and white. Alistair grabs the traditional white and black for his attire, then redresses himself in a brand new suit.

 

Once outfitted, Alistair leaves his room and walks down the corridor. As he’s walking his eye catches something in the room two down from his own. He stops and takes a closer look. Hunter is… actually sleeping in one of the beds.

“Watch out, that’s the one filled with snakes,” Alistair quietly teases. “Though it’s humbling to see you’re somewhat trusting me during our truce.” Alistair returns to walking down the corridor. “I simply hope this leads to something better than both your deaths. Perhaps you’ll see why I’m right.”

 

After a few more moments Alistair reaches your room. You’re still floating in the tube, unconscious, healing. He enters your room and positions himself right in front of the glass, staring directly at you. Bubbles float past you to the top, slipping through the liquid that fills the tube. Alistair gently places his hand on the glass without diverting his eyes from you. He then huffs, closes his eyes, and focuses.

 

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Shadow’s eyes burst open with urgency. He can sense someone here, but won’t allow his confidence to waver. He closes his eyes once more and waits for his guest to approach him. As he assumed, someone’s here.

 

“Interesting. You allowed me to enter,” the voice points out.

Shadow remains ever calm.

“You cannot hurt me here, and I can force you out at any time. None of you psychics can enter our mind now.”

The new voice finally assumes a form. Alistair’s body and clothing materialize a short distance behind Shadow. He examines his own body, slightly amazed that it’s the exact same as his physical body – clothes and all.

 

“Hm… I sense Pabbie’s presence. He’s been here before?” Alistair inquires, sauntering towards his son.

“Once, yes. When that happened I took measures so that would never happen again. Not even you or Erik can enter my mind now.”

Alistair completely pauses at the mention of Erik for just a moment, then shakes his head with a smile.

“So you’ve met Erik?”

“Not formally, no. He simply dropped by at the hospital back in Corona,” Shadow answers.

Alistair chuckles.

“I thought I felt him, but it matters little. He’s no concern of mine. I’m more interested in you.”

 

Shadow finally turns around to face his father. He opens his eyes and meets with Alistair’s.

“Similar fashion sense, hm?” Alistair points out, seeing as their both wearing similar suits.

“It’s comfortable, despite what most would say,” Shadow responds.

 

“Indeed,” Alistair nods, admiring Shadow’s suit. “Well, let’s get down to business. I didn’t come here to make up for the lost years.”

“I would be surprised if you were. Helping (Y/N) defeat Hans is more than enough, but you’re not doing it out of the kindness of your own heart.”

Alistair snickers, waving his finger at Shadow.

“You’re definitely the clever one out of my sons. Being the logical one, I ask you this: how do you see this ending. I want the honest truth.”

 

Shadow raises his brow at Alistair’s question.

“Why do you care about my predictions?”

Alistair waves Shadow off and starts pacing.

“Bah, the other two are too idealistic. Hunter is caught up in his vendetta against me, so no matter what he’ll say ‘with you dead’. (Y/N) just wants this to end, but I don’t think he’ll ever side with me. Thus he’ll say when I’m stopped. See the difference between the two,” Alistair smirks, stopping beside Shadow. “Which leaves you.”

 

Shadow thinks for a moment.

“I… I’m not sure. I don’t have all the pieces yet. We’re unaware what your true intentions are or what you’re end game i-“

“Oh please,” Alistair scoffs. “You know more then you’re letting on.”

“What makes you say that?” Shadow responds in a serious tone, keeping his eyes on Alistair.

“Because you’re like me, always keeping your cards close to your chest, showing what needs to be shown and saving the best ones. So, I ask again,” Alistair takes position right in front of Shadow. “How do you see this ending?”

 

Shadow takes in a deep breath.

“The best case scenario? You and (Y/N) dead.”

Alistair smirks.

“Now there’s something I can agree to. BUT,” Alistair shouts, turning and walking away from Shadow. “Unless (Y/N) – or you – can fully tap into your latent abilities then he’ll be the dead one.”

“At the temple you both fought relatively equal,” Shadow points out.

Alistair stops dead in his tracks. He turns his head to the side so he can eye Shadow. He grins deviously, sending a short chill down Shadow’s spine.

“You haven’t seen anything.”

 

Alistair returns to walking away.

“And I agree with your prediction. No matter what I say, there will be no truce. Either I will die, or (Y/N) will.”

And with that, Alistair dissipates from Shadow’s realm. Shadow continues to stare forward, tightening his fist.

 

“You haven’t seen anything either, Alistair.”

 

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Alistair opens his eyes to meet reality. He’s immediately greeted with your unconscious body. Alistair smirks.

“But I have a plan for both outcomes,” Alistair speaks to you.

He pats the tube before stepping away and leaving the room.

 

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Normally it would take nearly an entire day to reach San Fransokyo. However, this is no normal aircraft the Knights are utilizing. After sleeping, recovering, and having a few more drinks, the three Knights’ plane lands on a reserved airstrip. Alistair, who’s watching the news with a drink in his hand, feels the slight bump made by the contact of the ground. He smiles with relief. He sets his drink on the nearest surface and makes his way to Hunter’s room. Once there, Alistair stands just inside of the room.

 

“Hunter, wake up!” Alistair shouts.

Hunter’s eyes burst open as he pushes himself off the bed, lands on the other side, and has his fists up ready for battle. Alistair sighs.

“We’ve arrived, and I don’t wish to waste any more time than I need to. Let’s go.”

Hunter gradually lowers his guard.

“What about (Y/N)? Is he coming with us?”

Alistair shakes his head.

“He’s not fully healed yet, so no. It will release him once that happens, so for now he stays here.”

 

“There’s no way I’m leaving him here! You could take him somewhere a-“

“Did we NOT agree on a truce?” Alistair asks with an irritated tone. “Hunter, please get over yourself. I’m a man of my word, so when I say I’m no threat to you and (Y/N)… I’m. No. Threat. You can pick him up once we’re done.”

Hunter looks away, acting like some sort of child. Alistair rolls his eyes and walks out of the room.

“Come now. Don’t make me put you on the counter,” Alistair snickers.

Hunter crosses his arms and saunters out of the room. He quickly follows Alistair to the exit of the plane. The door slides open and the ramp materializes. Alistair and Hunter walk down the ramp and head towards a limo that’s been waiting since the plane landed. A suited man who would easily be recognized as a bodyguard steps out of the passenger seat of the limo, walks to the back door, and opens it.

 

Alistair nods his head to thank the man, then enters the limo. Hunter ignores him completely and simply gets in. The suited man closes the limo and returns to his passenger seat. Once everyone is in the limousine the vehicle begins rolling to its destination. Inside the limo, Alistair and Hunter sit at opposite ends at the limo.

 

“So, where are we going?” Hunter asks with some resentment.

“Krei Tech. Duke Krei should have information about Hans’ whereabouts.”

“You’re sure about that?”

“I am. I better be, for his sake. We’ll find out soon enough,” Alistair decides, crossing his arms and closing his eyes.

Hunter looks away from his father in contempt. Yet he’s going to be stuck in the car for some time until they reach Krei Tech, so he might as well brush it off the best he can.

 

After a very uncomfortable and silent ride, after a few stops for the traffic of the city, the limo finally comes to a halt. Hunter pointlessly looks around, pondering whether they’ve actually arrived or not. His suspicion is confirmed when the door is opened for himself and Alistair. Alistair moves to the door and exits the limo. Hunter follows, hopping out and looking around at the new and improved Krei Tech. Hunter remembers the whole incident with some masked man and the Big Hero 6 saving the day.

 

It’s far bigger and discreetly more fortified than the previous version. There are more buildings that link with the main one. The main building is a grand circle with a clear entrance, a hole in the middle for whatever tests they need to do outside, and is the hub to reach all the buildings connected to the center. The main circle is at least five stories tall, with the connected buildings ranging from one to seven. Most have small hallways connecting each other, whether that be on the ground floor or built above the main circle. Either way, Krei Tech looks far different.

 

“Notice the new designs?” Alistair speaks, eyeing Hunter. “After that idiot attacked the building,” Alistair starts explaining as the two approach the building. “I recruited Krei and helped him rebuild.”

“So you bribed him, basically?”

Alistair snickers.

“Of course not. Krei, with his money, could have rebuilt on his own. But he saw the perks of being my ally.” Alistair looks to his son, a coy smirk on his face. “Guess that’s what the smarter ones do.”

 

Hunter rolls his eyes at Alistair’s little jab. Hunter throws his hands in his pockets and follows Alistair’s lead. There’s far more security than Hunter remembers, but that’s likely a combination of the resources from the Hierarchy and the paranoia of Alistair Krei. All of the security eyes the two Knights – awestruck and honoured by Alistair’s presence while resentful of Hunter’s. Hunter is well known throughout the entire Hierarchy for all the wrong reasons. Hunter winks at any who eyes him, almost taunting them.

 

The inside of the building is massive and beautiful. Chrome all around, brand new technology on display, pictures of Krei every so often, people, furniture, everything. It’s a common theme among companies run by the Hierarchy – they all look extremely similar. It also makes it easy for Hunter to pinpoint weak spots and flaws that transfer over to other buildings. It’s a useful thing to keep in mind when infiltrating these buildings, not that he’s had the time or reason to do so.

 

Alistair and Hunter pass by a security gate completely unchecked, and begin to enter the labs. Alistair taps his ear while walking and waits a moment for the connection to be established.

“Monarch? How can I help you?” Krei responds with a somewhat timid voice.

“I’m on my way to you with a little guest. You have minutes to secure any data or projects you’re looking at, since company secrets can’t be shown to my dear son,” Alistair smirks.

“Dear son..? Is Hunter with you? That little ba-“

“As I said, don’t let anything compromising be there. Now hurry up, I’m almost to you.”

“Y-Yes sir.”

 

Alistair taps his ear to end the connection. The two make their way through hallways, passing various staff and security until they reach one of the various rooms in this one hallway. Alistair enters a quick code, the door clicks, and Alistair pushes the door open. The two walk into a less than extraordinary room. In fact, it’s absolutely empty, save for the one man standing in the middle of the room. Hunter recognizes him instantly. Blonde hair, suit, a… prominent nose – Alistair Krei. He bows his head with a smile.

 

“Monarch. Always a pleasure. And… you,” he says, turning his gaze to Hunter.

Hunter shrugs.

“Nice seeing you too, Krei. Now le-“

“No time for pointless arguments,” Alistair cuts it. “Duke Krei, what have you got on Hans?”

Krei nods before extending his hand forward, palm facing the ground. He lifts his arm up which brings up a massive diagram of San Fransokyo in perfect detail.

“You’ll be pleased. It seems that a transmission has come from San Fransokyo, which I have confirmed to be Hans through voice recognition,” he reassures, walking through the diagram. “However, he seemed to be talking to someone in Arendelle.” Alistair scratches his jaw the moment he hears this news. “Who that is… I don’t know,” Krei admits. “However, I know for a fact he’s here. The kicker is that his transmission was blocked, guarded. The only thing that can cloak from our technology is-“

 

“Our own tech. So you’re saying he’s in one of our bases?” Alistair theorizes.

Krei nods.

“You’re right. I have a few ideas, but nothing concrete. I’ve been working on getting a location on its origins, but that’ll take some time – a day, at most.”

Alistair nods.

“Alright, keep working on this until you’ve found something. This is your top priority,” Alistair says, to which Krei nods. “When you learn where he is, contact me. I’ll be in town.”

 

Alistair turns around and heads for the door.

“Hunter, come. Let the man work.”

Hunter sighs, hating the fact that Alistair’s bossing him around, but he begrudgingly follows the orders given. Hunter catches up to Alistair and instantly starts speaking.

 

“That’s it? We just wait?”

“Yes. But you’ll be waiting on your own. I have things to do, but I’ll contact you when I know Hans’ location. Just don’t be an idiot and force me to kill you. I’ve been enjoying this family bonding.”

Hunter snickers.

“I’m sure you do. Fine, I’ll get (Y/N) and go.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

As you float silently in the tube, it begins to light up. Slowly the liquid starts draining out, and in place of it is a huge gust of wind to dry you and your clothes. Once the process is complete, the tube opens and you fall out of it, still unconscious. You slowly start to feel your body again. You manage to move your hand forward, grasping at the floor. Your eye lids peel open and expose your eyes to light. You cringe a bit at the light but manage to push through it. You cough a few times, spitting out some of the liquid that was in the tube.

 

“Blegh, that’s… what is that?”

You rub your eyes and get to your feet slowly and steadily. Once standing up straight, you take a moment to feel your body – get it working again. You roll your shoulders, stretch your arms and legs, twist your torso. You can’t believe it…

 

“I… I feel incredible! I’ve never felt so good or… so strong! What happened to me,” you state, chuckling.

You roll your wrist then clench your fist. You smile at the feeling.

“Haha! This is awesome! But, uh… where am I?” You question, looking around.

You step out of the room and notice the ramp out of the plane. You shrug and head towards it. Being outside will definitely get you a better feel for you surroundings than being cooped up in a plane.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“What’s your scans say?” A young voice asks.

“It is indeed a Hierarchy plane. Is there someone there who needs medical attention?” A robotic voice inquires.

“No, no, but there’s definitely something on that plane. I say we take it, see what we can find. We’ll only be helping Hunter,” the same voice responds, activating his own visor.

“Hey, Hiro, someone’s coming out of the plane,” someone points out over comms.

“I got’em. Lemon, keep them in place,” a separate, female voice requests.

“Got it!”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You hop out of the plane and land gently. You’re still surprising yourself at how good you feel, how powerful you feel. Whatever happened while you were knocked out really gave you a boost. In truth, it’s likely you feel as you normally would, but after being injured for so long your body has forgotten what it’s like to be normal.

 

You stretch your arms up as you examine your surroundings, which is quite extravagant. The city’s booming with lights, life, and lots of noise. You’ve never been to San Fransokyo, and it’s definitely a different experience already from Corona, Arendelle, and even your home town.

 

“Well… I guess Hunter or dad isn’t around. So… what am I suppo-“

Suddenly something flies toward you from one of the nearby buildings, hitting your foot. The moment it makes contact the object expands, covering your entire right leg with some sort of goo. You stare at it, trying to understand what just happened to you.

“That is, um... different. Alright, this place has got my-“

Another one hits your other leg, covering it up for your knee. Now you’re stuck, but you’re not feeling overly threatened at the moment. You sigh at the inconvenience.

“Thaaaaat’s unfortunate. Well, I suppose I should cut myself out of here.”

 

You go to reach around to your back but something distracts you. Someone zooms by, making your clothes and hair flutter in the wind. You lower your hand and lean to see what’s behind you. The same thing zooms past you again, stopping a bit in front of you. You, again, turn to see what it is. In front of you is a person, a woman, it looks like, with a very interesting suit. Over her black hair is a yellow helmet with a visor coming down from it. The rest of her body is situated in a black suit with red lines, covered with yellow armour. The most notable thing is what’s on her feet and hands, which are discs of some kind.

 

She blows up some bubble gum and lets it pop.

“Cheeky. I see how it is. So is this just bubble gum?” You ask, looking down at the material covering your feet.

“Funny. Now, tell me what you know. I won’t ask again,” she demands.

 

_Hm… Must be with the Hierarchy. I thought I was on the nice list for now, but it seems not._

_“Better finish this fast then,”_ Shadow comments.

_Oh, now you’re speaking! What happened while I was out?_

_“I’ll explain later. Focus.”_

You shrug and decide to get down to business. You reach your hand over your shoulder and grip your sword as it materialized from the holowatch. You quickly and expertly cut through the substance surrounding your legs, making it fall to the side and release your limbs. You shake your feet as you sheathe your blade.

 

“He broke free…”

“This isn’t just some guy. We shouldn’t take any chances. Everyone, to Go!” Hiro commands.

 

Before you can speak again you notice a flash from a somewhat close building. You squint to see what it is, but it’s moving at such a pace that it reaches you before you can recognize it. A large, red robot lands beside Go Go, dropping off two different people while one stays on its back. One is another woman in some armour akin to the first one, and the other is a man also wearing a similar suit except his afro is clearly visible, and his face isn’t as covered as the women’s. In fact, upon inspection all of them are wearing a similar fashion of armour with varying colours.

 

“Well, this is new. I gotta say, last time I had to fight a team…” Your mind travels back to years ago, back to when the elementals attacked Elsa. Back to when you slaughtered them. “Well… It didn’t end well. Buuuut I’m sure it’ll fair better this time around.”

 

“I don’t like his attitude,” Go Go declares, readying her visor for battle.

You shrug at the numbers. You really don’t feel like you’re gonna lose, even if you don’t know what they can do. Still, there’s only five of them. Nothing too-

“Fred to the rescue!” Someone shouts from behind you.

You look over your shoulder, then up to see some monster suit shooting flames coming right for you.

“Whoa!” You shout, leaping to the side.

 

The monstrosity lands where you were, brushing away the fire it erupted.

“Six of them now?” You question.

“ _Seems we have friends, even here. Interesting how the Hierarchy would attack us. But…”_

_You’re thinking what I’m thinking, huh?_

_“These people aren’t part of the Hierarchy. Who are they, then? What do they want?” Shadow ponders._

“Haha! Fear the almighty flame of Fred!” He shouts, proud of his glorious entry.

You chuckle.

“I like this one. He’s got more charm than dark and brooding over there,” you say, lazily pointing to Go Go.

“Okay,” Go Go irritatedly states, pulling out her gum and sticking it to her helmet. “I’m taking him down.”

Her visor activates and she starts speeding towards you. She’s far faster than you expected, but not fast enough to make her a blur. You’re fully capable of seeing every move she makes with no difficulty. She circles around you at a rapid pace in an attempt to disorient you. Finally she actually attacks by throwing one of the disks. You lean your head to the side, allowing the disc to zoom right by your head.

 

You reach to your shoulder and grip the Dragon Sword tightly. You keep your hand on it while your eyes follow Go Go. Once she throws another you manage to quickly slash it in half, rendering the weapon completely useless. Go Go stops circling you and grinds to a halt beside her friends.

 

Wasabi activates his two blades of light.

“This is why we have plans! And right now my plan is to take those swords out,” he shouts as he charges you.

“ _(Y/N), be careful. We don’t know what those are capable of.”_

_Got it._

Wasabi leaps forward, charging his two blades to come down on you. Having ample time to prepare, you decide to simply block it. Wasabi’s blades connect – plasma against steel. Wasabi, along with the entire squad, save Baymax, are surprised. Wasabi’s blades are supposed to cut through anything, yet your regular steel blade is holding its own against them. Since he’s not putting too much force into it, you easily push him to the side, sending him flying across the pavement.

 

“Well that was… underwhelming,” you admit with a perplexed face, sheathing your blade once more.

“Perhaps attacking together would minimalize any potential injuries,” Baymax declares, extending his finger.

“Alright, charge team!” Hiro declares, magnetizing himself onto Baymax’s back to prepare himself.

 

Honey Lemon activates her purse and throws small balls at you. You leap away from them and notice, once you land, that they explode on contact.

_So she’s the one who can lock me in place. Good to know._

Once you land your eyes catch Go Go coming at you once more. She comes right at you and swipes with her remaining disc. You shuffle to the side and lean back, dodging the disc. As you do that you kick the back of Go Go’s leg, right above the disc, and knock her completely off balance. To your surprise, when she falls forward she uses the disc on her hand to keep her momentum to move away from you and recover.

 

At the same time Honey continues to launch her sticky bombs at you while you’re dodging them and the mascot-looking suit. He swipes at you, you lean back. He swipes again, you duck. You hop back to dodge a sticky ball, then he shoots his flame at you. You twirl right over it, your arms, back, and legs mere inches from being caught in the main flame. You land beside him and duck down, sweeping his legs out from under him so he lands flat on his back. You know that the girl is going to throw another one of those balls, so you act accordingly.

 

“Hammerfist,” Baymax says as he brings his fist down on your location.

You roll out of the way, grab Fred, and lift him in front of you. The ball flies right into the suits mouth, effectively blocking anymore fire. As the sticky substance expands, you twirl around and throw him at the girl, making sure he hits her face first. He falls atop her, and the substance locks them together. You smile at your success, but you’re not done yet. You have three left to deal with. The giant robot, the speedster, and the sword man.

 

_The robot is the strongest one, though I don’t really know how hard he can hit._

 Baymax extends his fist at you and propels it towards you, which, admittedly, you weren’t expecting.

“ _The fast one is circling you. Perhaps you can take her out with this,”_ Shadow recommends.

You nod, then kick your leg to the side, twirl your entire body around to gain momentum and waste time, then you finish your twirl and kick the fist right to the side. You make sure to use more force than you have been to counter the jets, and it works perfectly. The fist’s course is completely rerouted and slams into an unsuspecting Go Go. She tumbles onto the ground, disoriented from the attack.

 

“Oh no,” Baymax exclaims, concerned for the health of his friend.

“Baymax, we’ll get her later!” Hiro reassures, completely focused on you – the man who’s defeating his friends.

Wasabi gets back into action, running at you from the side with his blades activated. You grip the Dragon Sword once more, ready to block his attacks. He executes a fairly decent if very amateurish flurry of strikes that you easily block.

 

_Is it just me, or is he really slow?_

_“Perhaps you’re just used to dealing with people far faster, like Alistair.”_

You lean, duck, block, and simply outmaneuver anything this guy has to give. You slide back a foot to dodge his attack, then seamlessly rush in with a side kick to his stomach, forcing saliva out and causing him to collapse, holding his stomach. You sheathe your blade once more and look around. Everyone except the robot and its pilot are down. They turn towards you and you can tell the pilot isn’t pleased you’ve beaten his teammates.

 

“Baymax, we have to stop this guy!”

Baymax nods and prepares for battle. His wings extend and he soars right towards you, fist charging. You push yourself off your back foot to gain momentum and ready your own fist. You both throw your fists at one another. You feel the sudden force of metal pushing against your flesh and bone… yet… it’s not overpowering you at all. In fact, you’re pushing into it. The three of you watch as your fist breaks through Baymax’s artificial one, rendering the glove utterly useless. Having won the collision, Baymax and Hiro are sent flying across the air strip and land some distance away.

 

You look around, assuring yourself that you’ve dealt with any hostiles. Everyone is still alive but beaten. They’re slowly starting to get up, but they’re in no condition to beat you. Hell, they weren’t when they first got here.

 

“Hey! Whoa! What the hell’s going on?” Hunter shouts, sprinting into the fray.

“Oh, hey Hunter,” you wave. “Well I woke up and these people just kind of attacked me, so I took’em down,” you say in a cheery tone.

“(Y/N), these are my contacts in San Fransokyo! Hell, Hiro! What’s with the brawl?”

 

Everyone, now somewhat calmed down from Hunter’s presence, converge on his location. Wasabi rushes over to Fred and Honey to cut them free of the goo. Hiro takes off his helmet and approaches Hunter, frustrated at his defeat.

“What’re you doing? He’s part of the Hierarchy! He came off their plane!” Hiro argues.

“Ah, jeez,” Hunter shakes his head. “Everyone, I’d like you to meet my little brother, (Y/N). He’s NOT part of the Hierarchy,” he says in an exhausted tone.

“Ooooh, well right on!” Fred chuckles as he approaches you. “Name’s Fred, good to meet you little Hunter,” he greets, extending his hand out of the mouth of his suit.

You’re… confused, to say the least. You have no idea who these guys are and why they look so weird. But they’re Hunter’s friends and it’s evident they’re going to help you, so you might as well get friendly with them.

 

You throw on a smile and shake his hand.

“Heya! Sorry for the mix up. But I had fun,” you pleasantly say.

Hunter approaches you two.

“Yeah, we’ll get to introductions later. For now, let’s get to your lab. I have something you guys will find interesting.”

 

Everyone nods, though still a little cautious of you. But your now carefree attitude and smile warms everyone up to the idea, and they can see the resemblance between you and Hunter… even if Hunter is being far more serious than they’ve ever seen him. Still, everyone makes their way off the airstrip with no problem. However, the whole time walking Go Go keeps her eyes glued to you with a menacing look. You don’t notice, but it’s there.

 

 

**Bet this caught you by surprise, huh? I’ll bet you twenty bucks when you woke up you didn’t expect a chapter of Project’s Past. Yes, quite a few months since a chapter was released. I remember I said that it wouldn’t take so long, and I admit I was wrong. Honestly I thought about canceling the story entirely and just giving you an abridged version of what would happen from this point to the end of Act 3. But I kinda got my spark back when I explained my plan for the story to my friend. I just got so fired up and wanted you all to see what I have up my sleeve. Thus, with this new found passion, I wrote most of this chapter (probably sixteen pages) in a matter of a few days. Plus, I have a plan to alternate between this story and my other major one, Crimson Shadow. Thus I will always be returning to this story. I really hope to finish this story by the end of the year. I’m not sure if that’s possible, but I’m going to try my best!**

**Also, and this is going to bug some people, I have a small announcement about this story. Up until this point I have been adding some… well, kind of BS fluff because I remember a few people mentioning how the plot was getting too intense and how there was too much action. I get it, but right now the fluff is going down dramatically. I’m sorry, but see it from my perspective for a second. We’re getting close to the end of Act 2, which means a lot if important events are coming and I need to stick to my schedule. I can’t add more Elsa and Anna just because you guys want to see them more. It interrupts with the flow of my narrative. I know, this is a Frozen fanfiction about these characters, but there’ll be time for that stuff later. Imagine watching a movie and it’s getting to a really important point, but it just keeps cutting off to other characters doing nothing related to the plot. That would be very annoying to me, and that’s what I feel fluff is at the moment. So yes, there will be less Anna, Kristoff, and Elsa in these coming chapters. I’m sorry, but I have to do what’s best for my plan. I hope you all understand, and realize there’s room for more of that later on.**

**Anyway, that’s about it. I’m really happy to be back and hope you’re all ready to see the conclusion to this VERY long story. If you want updates on writing and such, I do have a Twitter account where I post updates. Nothing there is unrelated to my stories, so if you want to know what’s coming and when, I suggest you check it out. But that’s it for me. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and I’ll see you all next time!**

**Want to keep up with me? Know what chapter’s coming out next and the progress of them? Follow me on Twitter! Twitter . com (slash) Chinsangan**

**Want to support me in creating more content? Get your own one-shot written? Decide which stories I focus on? Consider checking out my Patreon page! Pat reon . com (slash) Chinsangan**

**Questions? Comments? Concerns? Advice? Send me a message! See ya!**


	43. Partnerships Fall Apart

#  **Chapter 43: Partnerships Fall Apart**

 

You have been wrong before, and have been surprised many times. You’re almost spoiled at this point from everything you’ve seen. You’ve been in an underwater base, fought a man who destroyed an entire forest with little effort, a room that enhanced gravity, people who can use elements whenever they want, and so much more. It’s insane how many experiences you’ve participated in. Now, most people would be amazed in your current situation, but to you it’s not so amazing.

 

When Hunter first said to head out from the airstrip, you thought he meant walking to wherever you had to go. You did not expect riding the giant robot you fought no more than ten minutes ago. The one you now know as Hiro, which is the smallest, and youngest, one who rides on the robot called Baymax, seems to be almost attached to his back. Go Go, Honey Lemon, Wasabi, and Fred are all hanging off of Baymax’s hands. You and Hunter, on the other hand, are simply standing on Baymax’s back as he soars through San Fransokyo. Hunter seems to be having a little more trouble keeping his balance than you, but after all the gravity training you did this really seems like nothing.

 

Still, the flight is amazing. Not because you’re flying, per se, but because you can see everything in San Fransokyo. It’s truly a beautiful and diverse city, and most certainly a bright one. The various lights blaring from almost every store, corner, and sign is overwhelming, but in a good way.

 

“It’s… amazing,” you chuckle.

Hunter looks over at you, then to the city.

“It is. Perhaps we can explore it after our job is done.”

“Yeah… I guess we… wait,” a thought pops into your mind. “Where’s Alis-“

“Later,” Hunter sharply whispers.

 

You furrow your brow, but it returns to a relaxed manner. You’ll ask him later. Riding on the back of a robot with so much wind smashing against you isn’t really the best time to have a chat. Wherever you’re going will do fine. In fact, you have no idea where you’re going. Probably to some base or another like in Corona. Then again, Corona’s “base” was just Gaia’s shop. Your face drops a bit when you think on your green haired friend. She’s one of the last elementals, and one of the most damaged. You can still remember what she told you about Hunter, about his obsession. In truth, you have noticed a change in him over the course of your knowing him. But things are getting tense, and even you’re doing things you wouldn’t normally do.

 

“Are we almost there?” You shout to Hiro.

“Yeah, just under a minute. You two better brace yourselves for landing,” he informs.

“Are we jumping?” You ask, leaning over to Hunter.

Hunter snickers.

“We’re jumping.”

 

Baymax passes by a few more buildings before approaching the backyard of a large mansion.

“Get ready!” Hiro shouts.

Baymax loops around the back courtyard, lowering his altitude. You uncross your arms, bend your legs, and then jump off of him. Baymax and the others leave you in the dust while you flip through the air and land with an impressive amount of grace and fluidity. You drop down, bending your legs and allowing your arms to flow to the side. Once you know the impact has been taken and nothing is damaged, you stand up and look for the flying robot. Soon enough you notice Hunter landing a few feet away from you. He brushes himself off and approaches you while Baymax slowly descends, allowing the others to hop off of him.

 

“Whoa! That was amazing! Do you have super jump too?” Fred asks as he takes off his mask and approaches you.

“Oh, that’s what you look like,” you speedily say before responding to him. “No, no super jump,” you chuckle. “Just, uh… really dense bones,” you shrug.

You eye the others all surrounding Baymax. Hunter is talking to Hiro while the others are walking inside. Baymax looks over at you and his eyes seem to watch you. You raise your brow, then stroll towards the small group, throwing your hands into your pockets.

 

“-tify what this is then we might get a clue,” Hunter speaks, handing Hiro a small chip.

Hiro nods at Hunter, then notices you in his peripheral vision. He, Baymax, and Hunter turn to you.

“So you’re (Y/N). Sorry for attacking you. But… I gotta ask… what is that sword made of? Can I examine it? Scan it? Break it down to its very core to see what could create such a weapon?” He asks with excitement, completely dismissing the sorrow from earlier.

“Oh… what, the Dragon Sword? Why?” You inquire.

“Whatever it’s made of stood against pure plasma that can literally cut anything to tiny slices. I’ve never seen anything go up against it before.”

 

You activate your holowatch and unsheathe your sword, inspecting it for yourself. There’s no evident wear and tear on it.

“I mean… I guess. Just don’t do anything weird to it,” you say, flipping the sword so you catch the blade and hand the hilt to Hiro.

Hiro grabs the hilt with both hands, but the sword is too heavy and he drops it. You kick your foot out, catching the blade with your foot.

“Don’t drop it either,” you say, helping Hiro lift it.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t think it’d be so heavy.”

 

You shrug, then slide your hands into your pockets.

“It takes some getting used to, I suppose. So, Hunter, may I ask why we’re here?”

“Well, Hiro here is going to take a look at some tech I’ve gathered from Hierarchy facilities. Besides that, Fred has graciously allowed us to stay with him during our time here.”

“Wait, how is Hiro supposed to do anything in some mansion?”

“Oh, it’s not just some mansion. Come on, I’ll show you!”

 

Hiro and Baymax walk into the building, Hiro still having trouble holding your weapon which makes you a little nervous, admittedly. Hunter takes a few steps towards the building.

“Come on, I’ll have time to explain later.”

“Seems you’re always saying that,” you mumble under your breath.

 

But with no other choice, you follow Hunter into the building. The inside seems to be even more impressive than the outside. It certainly seems to be a higher class house than most, with pictures of family along the walls, expensive, somewhat useless art as décor, and even a butler who you only caught a glimpse of. Hunter leads you to a room which is filled with comic books and figures. Hiro, along with the others are already there.

 

“Lots gets done here, hm?” You speak.

“Nah, it’s just a front. Mom and dad might be super mad if they knew I had a secret room. Though they have one too… so I guess we’re even!” Fred explains.

Hiro walks up to a poster with some hero extending his hand forward. Hiro rests his hand against that one, and soon enough the entire wall slides to the side, making way for another, bigger room.

 

“This is where they’ll be working,” Hunter says to you.

“Oh… well, I stand corrected then.”

 

Your group enters the room which is massive, but… somewhat divided. It seems like some parts of the room are completely different from others both in look and technology. Your thought is quickly given merit when everyone splits off into their own space, working on whatever they may need to. Most of it is repairs and diagnostics for their current equipment, since you just gave them a thrashing.

 

Hiro leads you and Hunter to his own space which holds the largest computer. Hiro takes a seat in his chair, sets your sword beside him, and cracks his knuckles.

“Alright, so everything should be here, right?” Hiro asks Hunter, though his eyes are glued to the screen.

“Yes. The chip I gave you should have everything on their project, I hope.”

Hiro grabs the chip out of his sweater pocket and inserts it into a port. New windows pop up with information that you can’t begin to process.

“Encrypted, no surprise. It’s going to take me some time to break it and gather relevant information. I’ll let you know the moment I have something.”

 

“Right, thanks Hiro. (Y/N), you… go do something.”

Your face drops.

“Wow… fine, whatever. I’ll just go BLOW UP A FOREST OR SOMETHING,” you shout, spinning on your heel and heading for the door.

You exit the room which makes the door slide closed. Everyone watches as you leave, then turns to Hunter.

 

“You’re seriously going to let him go on his own?” Gogo asks, slightly irritated.

“He can’t do any harm to-“

“Any harm?” She questions. “We’ve never seen anyone like that. YOU’VE never seen anyone like that.”

“Not true,” Hunter retorts. “Alistair is quite like him. But that’s not the point. You know all the shit I went through that made me who I am. He probably went through the-“

 

“His mental condition is… strained,” Baymax starts. “Also I couldn’t identify his blood type.”

Hunter shrugs.

“As I said, we both had stuff done to us. I doubt you could determine my blood t-“

“B+,” Baymax answers.

Hunter sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“It doesn’t matter. He’s our strongest ally. Whatever they did to him can be figured out once Alistair is stopped. In the meantime…” Hunter grabs your sword, bringing it over to Hiro’s bench. “I’m interested in what this thing is made of too.”

 

Baymax tilts his head, curious as to why nobody is concerned with your health.

“What medication has been given to (Y/N)? Would it change anything mentally?” He asks Hiro.

Hiro shrugs.

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“That is a shame. It seems like there are two different thoughts in his brain. Perhaps an evaluation is best!” Baymax claims, lifting one finger,

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Alistair approaches a security door with a small keypad beside it. He inputs the code then waits a moment for the door to open. Once it does, he walks in. The room has three things in it: nearly a hundred boxes, some sort of device, and Duke Weselton working on the aforementioned device. Weselton turns away to see who’s entering.

 

“Oh, Monarch, I-I-I wasn’t expecting to see you,” he spews, getting out of his seat and approaching Alistair.

Alistair raises his hand, making Weselton stop in his tracks.

“Sit back down. Is the device ready?”

Weselton steps backwards, assuring to keep eye contact with the menacing Monarch.

“Y-Yes, sir. I mean, it won’t work unless we-“

“Juno has that covered. So I assume you fixed the problems?”

 

Weselton nods.

“Yes, sir. Without a doubt if we have our final ingredient then it’ll work.”

A sadistic smirk creeps onto Alistair’s face.

“Perfect. Have a chopper pick up the device and have these boxes sent to the airport. We need all of this in Arendelle ASAP.”

“Of course, sir. I’ll get in contact with Alec and make the arrangements.”

 

Alistair pleasantly nods at Weselton.

“You’ve done a good job, Weselton. Stay here. Some people will be by to talk to you within a few days.”

Weselton’s face drops.

“S-Sir… who?” He asks, voice laced with fear to such an extent that Alistair can hear the fear.

“Some associates. You won’t be harmed, Weselton, I assure you. But you still have one more role in this plan. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to speak with Duke Krei.”

“Of course.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You saunter around the massive, lively city of San Fransokyo. This is definitely a different from what you’re used to. Corona was different from Arendelle, but this is a whole different ball game. There’s so much here, so many people walking past you or attempting to sell things from their stores, or outdoor restaurants. It’s amazing, yet intimidating. Funny to think of someone as capable as you being intimidated by a large crowd of people which, realistically, couldn’t do anything to you.

 

Every other step you seem to have to avoid someone’s shoulder, scoot out of the way of an oncoming individual, or actually nick someone’s shoulder. It’s quite uncomfortable, and it makes you wish you could just fly outta there or something. Then again, that would require you activating you’re enhanced state, and you still have no idea how to do that naturally. If you knew, perhaps Rain wouldn’t have died.

 

You shake your head to rid yourself of those thoughts. You can’t dwell on it. He sacrificed himself so you could live, thus you must succeed no matter what. As if someone was peering into your thoughts, other than your handy friend, you pass by a café with the TV going. Images on the screen show ambulances in Corona parked around the lake’s edge, along with bodies lying along the coast.

 

 _“Seems the bodies have finally been found,”_ Shadow chimes in.

“Yeah… Whatever.”

 

You turn away from TV and continue on your way, looking for that forest to burn down. Though you doubt you’ll find one when there’s practically no end to this city. You look up at the tall buildings, tempted to just climb up and jump from building to building as a faster means of transportation. It’d kill the boredom, at least. You just want this to get moving. You want to end all this and get back to Elsa, back to your normal life. Granted, your life hasn’t been normal for a long time. Perhaps your wish is not to return to a normal life, but to finally experience one.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Krei inputs some new data into the hologram, refreshing the entire city. He’s been able to narrow down Hans’ signal somewhat, but there’s not enough reliable data to report. Though Krei has no need of contacting Alistair.

 

“Found anything?” Alistair questions.

Krei slightly jumps out of terror.

“M-Monarch. I didn’t hear you come in,” he nervously chuckles. “You won’t, unless I want you to. Have you made any progress?”

 

Before Krei can respond Alistair’s holowatch lights up, grabbing the attention of both men. Though Krei is unsure what that means, Alistair knows what the teal flash symbolizes: a call. Alistair taps the holowatch and a hologram of Hans appears. Instantly the layout of San Fransokyo spikes in activity, the signal Krei was hunting for shining prominently. Krei looks back and forth between Alistair and the model, but quickly gets to work on locking down the signal.

 

“Hans… what do you want?” Alistair coldly asks.

“Just checking in, Alistair. I realize you’re now in San Fransokyo. It’s an honour to be hunted by someone as esteemed as you,” Hans recites, acting extremely confident.

“No matter how small the bug, I’ll be sure to squash it.”

“Then why do your sons still draw breath? Do you have a soft spot for them?”

“Possibly. I see their use, and they might see reason. You, however, are simply a thorn in my side. Besides, your resemblance to your father disgusts me.”

 

Hans’ face twitches, but enough for Alistair to notice even through a hologram.

“There is one difference between my father and I.”

“And that is?”

“I will live.”

 

Hans cuts off the connection, dissipating in a flash. Alistair eyes Krei.

“I got it sir. He’s underneath San Fransokyo in our base, though the signal is originating from somewhere that’s… not on my map.”

Alistair sighs.

“That’s because I erased it. Very well, good work Duke Krei. Carry on with whatever you were doing before I arrived.”

 

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Hunter watches as Wasabi, Lemon, and Gogo analyze your sword. He’d help but… well this isn’t his field of expertise. By no means is Hunter an idiot, he’s nowhere close to the IQ of these people. Well, at least with Fred in the room he’s not the least intelligent in the room; however he’s likely the most useless at the moment.

 

Hunter crosses his arms and steps away from the group, aimlessly wondering around the confines. Suddenly his holowatch lights up. He opens it up and reads the message from Alistair. He quickly closes it so none of his allies can see. If they knew he was working with Alistair they may no longer trust him. Not that Hunter is pleased about it, but between you and him, he’s fairly sure that you can handle him if he gets out of hand.

 

“Hiro, I have some things to do. Let me know when your research on the Dragon Sword is done, and if you find anything on that chip.”

“Yeah, I got it,” Hiro waves off, completely focused on his work.

“Now, I have to find (Y/N). If only he could sit still and not be such a pain.”

 

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You let your hands dangle as you watch office workers go about their daily grind.

_Sheesh, working at an office like that would kill me. Just sitting in a cubicle all day typing pointless email after email would drain my soul into nothingness. Then again, that’s kinda what Elsa does. Though she has her own office… at her own company… where she gets a lot of money- man, I never realized that I’m actually pretty rich. How did I go from scraping by in the back room of Oaken’s to living in a mansion where I don’t have to do anything. Man… why am I so high?_

You look down, past your arms, and see all the people who appear to be tiny ants from so high up. You honestly can’t remember how you climbed up the building and hung yourself upside down from a flag pole. You start swinging your body to gain momentum, then, once having enough, you swing yourself all the way around so you’re now sitting on the metal beam. However now there’s a difference. You’re staring at a man in a suit, arms crossed, staring at you with disappointment.

 

“Why are you up here?” Alistair asks with a hint of confusion.

“Thought I could find a forest from this angle.”

“What?”

“Nothing, nevermind,” you wave. “What’re you doing here? How are you…” You look down to see what Alistair is standing on… but of course he’s using air to keep himself afloat. “Oh… right.”

“Come on, I have Hans’ location. Where’s your brother?”

 

You hesitate answering his question. You don’t think its wise to start telling Alistair of all Hunter’s allies. Though I tiny part of you assumes he already knows.

“Doing… stuff. I’m sure we’ll find him.”

“It’s no problem. I just assumed he was with you. I did tell him to meet me at this building, though I didn’t mean from this altitude. I take it you’re feeling better?”

You nod, getting a tighter grip on the pole.

“Yeah, better than ever, in fact. Whatever you put me in worked wonders.”

“As it should. Come, Hunter should be here soon, if he isn’t already.” Alistair extends his hand to you. “Grab my hand. I’ll bring you down gently.”

 

“I could survive this fall,” you defend, looking down to the ground.

“True, but you’d make a lot more noise and attract unwanted attention.”

“That’s… fair. Fine.”

 

You grab Alistair’s hand, getting a firm grip.

“Good grip. At least my son can give a good handshake.”

“I could crush a normal person’s hand, dad. Same with you.”

“That’s not incorrect,” Alistair snickers.

 

He flies forward, dragging you gently along by your hand. He makes his way above a nearby alley, then, once making sure it’s clear, descends. Once you two hit the ground Alistair fixes his suit, you brush yourself off, and you both look at each other.

 

“What?” You exclaim.

“Nothing.”

 

He leads the way out of the alley with you close behind. You merge into the massive pedestrian traffic jam that’s flooding the sidewalk. Luckily you don’t have to endure it for long, as Alistair steps inside the very same building you were hanging off of. It’s a hotel, a very expensive looking one at that. Alistair takes a seat in the closest chair. You saunter over, avoiding everyone you can, and take a seat across from him.

 

“Does nobody care we’re just sitting here?”

“Why would they? The Hierarchy owns this building, thus I own it,” Alistair casually states, keeping his eyes out for Hunter.

“How much does the Hierarchy own?”

Alistair closes his eyes and smirks.

“Anything that’s worth owning.”

“So you’re basically the illuminati,” you flat out say.

“Psh, that’s for tinfoil wearing idiots,” Alistair remarks. “But we can get into this later. Your brother’s here.”

 

You look to where Alistair’s staring, and he was correct. Hunter marches in, scanning the room and quickly finding you two. He makes a b-line towards you.

“What’re you doing with Alistair?” Hunter questions.

“He found me,” you answer, casually pointing to Alistair. “I was high.”

“You… what?”

 

“Stop babbling. We’re taking down Hans, now. Follow me.”

Alistair gets out of his chair and walks towards the elevator.

“Where are you going? Is he here?” You ask, chasing after him.

“Tsk, of course not. We’re going to head underground. Now come on.”

Hunter crosses his arms and follows Alistair, passing by you as you remain stationary. You sigh, giving up on asking questions. You lazily follow Hunter and Alistair a few feet behind them. Alistair approaches the elevator and makes sure nobody is watching him. He clicks the elevator button and leads the three of you into the elevator. Once the three of you are there, he closes the elevator door, grabs a key card from his holowatch, and swipes it across the elevator buttons. The panel opens, revealing a secondary, lone button.

 

“Whoa… what’s that?” You ask in awe.

“Every Hierarch facility has a path to the catacombs, a place that connects them all.”

“Really? Why would you have so many? Couldn’t people just attack you?”

Alistair snickers.

“I’m sure your friend could come up with the same answer that I have.”

“Wha-“

 

 _“Think logically. A hotel? This is a civilian building. If someone launched an attack on a neutral building it would look like terrorism. The entire country would be after them. It’s likely why Hunter has such a difficult time,”_ Shadow assumes.

“Oh… that’s actually clever,” you say aloud.

“That’s why it’s reality,” Alistair adds.

Hunter rolls his eyes.

“Hiding behind civilians. How impressive,” he spitefully spews.

“A good defense can be the best offense, Hunter. Have we been attacked?” Alistair retorts.

 

Finally, Alistair presses the button. The elevator rumbles to life and follows the instruction it was given. The elevator descends down… and down… and down. The floor reader has completely shut down, thus you have indication of how far you really are other than estimating the speed and time. Though that’s a lot of work that you don’t really want to do. Alistair has no real reason to betray you now, so you put your faith in your father that he knows what he’s doing. Besides, Hunter isn’t acting out of the ordinary, so you suspect he knows exactly where this is taking you.

 

The elevator finally grinds to a halt. Everything remains eerily silent for some time before the doors slide open. Before you is a very dark, very uninviting hallway.

“What section is this?” Hunter questions, stepping out of the elevator.

“An abandoned section. Luckily the route was safe, thus the journey was very smooth.”

“Didn’t we just go down?” You ask, following Alistair as he leaves the elevator.

Alistair chuckles.

“No, not at all. We went down, forward, and right. As I said, the journey was smooth.”

“Huh…”

 

You three traverse the hallway, keeping within a foot of each other. Alistair leads while you and Hunter are behind him on either side, forming a tight triangle.

“So where exactly are we?” You pipe up, your voice echoing through the abandoned hallways.

“We’re approaching a section of our base that was severely damaged many years ago. Nobody ever bothered to fix it up, but it was still operational, to an extent.”

“So Hans has been using the old systems?” Hunter guesses.

“You’re correct. Though be on your guard. He contacted me knowing that I would find him.”

“Sooooo, we’re walking into a trap?” You state the obvious.

“Indeed. Though I doubt anything he has will be able to stop me, let alone all three of us,” Alistair casually says, keeping his eyes attune to his surroundings. “Come, down this hallway. The entrance should be a minute away.”

 

This area is… odd. You imagined a Hierarchy base to be much like what you saw in Corona – lots of labs, scientists and engineers, and projects going on in every room. This… this is dead, empty. You can smell fear and anger in these halls. Something happened in this hallway, and the closer you get to this section of the base, the stronger this knot in your stomach becomes. You may not be the smartest person in the world, but your gut feeling has gotten you through a lot. This situation, this place, is no difference.

 

Alistair stops in front of a large, impenetrable looking door. It’s similar to a blast door that you might not even be able to open. You walk past Alistair and Hunter, approaching the door. You tap it with your knuckles.

 

“What are you doing?” Alistair inquires.

“Just checking. So, we have a way past this? Are we ripping it open… or?”

“No,” he sighs, evidently disappointed. “I have a code.”

Alistair approaches a small keypad to the right of the door. He inputs a rather lengthy code while Hunter moves beside you. Once Alistair is finished the large door begins to rumble, echoing through the entire hallway on both sides. You can hear the rust peeling away as the door finally starts moving after so long.

 

“Are you sure Hans is here? This door looks like it hasn’t been opened in decades,” Hunter points out.

“There are multiple ways into this section. It’s probable that he used a different one,” Alistair answers as he steps away from the keypad.

Once the door opens itself enough, Alistair walks through. You and Hunter follow suit, keeping up with your father. This hallway is even worse than the previous one. Rust is everywhere, along with some sort of tried liquid. From the colour you can only assume it’s blood. This assumption is fueled when you eye bones laying around.

 

“What… happened here?” You whisper.

“They got in my way,” Alistair coldly states.

 

You don’t pursue the topic any further. You just want to get to Hans and leave this place. No matter how strong you are, this place just gives you a continuous chill down your spine and tingles on your skin. Alistair activates his holowatch and pulls up a hologram of the base. Within this hologram are three squares, representing the three of you. Not far away from those squares is a signal that’s pulsing throughout the base, but the origin point is clear. It’s conveniently down the hall in the main testing lab. There are various other rooms in this section, but the main testing lab is the only place worth noting here. Alistair remembers this place too well.

 

“Hans should be at the end of this hall. Get ready, we don’t know what he’s planning.”

You nod, Hunter does nothing. After a short amount of walking the three of you reach another door, far smaller than the previous bulkhead. Alistair stops in front of the door, thinking on how he should go about this. He slides his foot as he turns to face you.

 

“The door over there,” he says, pointing at a nearby door on the right. “There’s a hole in the wall that will lead you into another room inside this main one. You two go that way while I get his attention.”

You both acknowledge Alistair’s orders and head for the door. Alistair waits until you both enter the room, then he opens the door. The main testing lab isn’t large at all, but it’s of a decent size.

 

The first thing he notices is the intentional focal point Hans has set up. Hans is standing in the middle of the room behind a chair. In the chair is a person with some sort of material over their head to hide their identity. The person in the chair is… small… whimpering. Why he has a hostage is unknown. He doubts that Hans could have anyone Alistair truly cares about, so why would he have them here?

 

“Ah, you came!” Hans greets, stepping around the chair with his hands to the side. “Alone, I see. Hm… interesting.”

“I fail to see your plan right now, Hans. Do you really think you can kill me here?” Alistair doubtfully asks, looking around.

Alistair notes the darker corners around the room. From what he remembers, turrets were once set up there. He destroyed them a long time ago, but it’s still something to note. Other than that possibility, nothing is out of the ordinary. Broken lab equipment, degrading walls… nothing out of the ordinary.

“Because I’m smarter than you, Alistair. I know how to beat you… I know how to beat anyone. For instance…” Hans turns around, grabs the mask on his hostage, and rips it off.

 

From the sidelines you and Hunter have reached the room and are watching from the darkness. There’s no door to this room, but lack of any lights keeps you hidden. You watch as Hans rips some material off his hostage and… you can’t believe it. Sniffling, scared, and beaten, Olaf is sitting on that chair, tied up. Instantly your heart beats faster, your judgement is clouded and you run into the room.

 

“Hans!” You shout, stepping out of the darkness.

“Damnit, (Y/N),” Alistair sneers.

“(Y/N)?” Olaf hopefully says, looking towards you.

Hans backhands him, forcing him to look away.

“DON’T TOUCH HIM!” You shout, your fist clenching tighter.

“Why wouldn’t I? It’s not like anyone was looking after him. Pretending to be a brother of his friend was all it took. How embarrassing for the Anderson family. Well, it’s not like he’s really part of it anyway.”

 

Hans grabs the back of Olaf’s neck and lifts him into the air.

“Now, here’s the deal. You’re going to kill Alistair, or I’ll kill Olaf,” Hans smiles, slipping a knife out of his pocket and holding it against Olaf’s throat.

You grind your teeth as you watch Hans maniacally smile. He’ll do it. He’ll kill Olaf. You turn your gaze to Alistair as he stares at Hans.

“You’re just like your father…” He whispers. “(Y/N)… come on,” he says, raising his fists.

 

Hunter steps out from the room, seeing no need to be hiding anymore. Hans gives him a glance, but isn’t worried about what the weakest son will do. He’s focused on the two powerhouses in front of him. He can’t help but enjoy it even more when he sees your reluctance to fight Alistair. You’re torn at what to do. Fighting Alistair… is very difficult, and you don’t necessarily want to. There’s no reason, no desire, and no time. You have to find a way to beat Hans without fighting Alistair.

 

“Well, come on now. Or do you want me to gut him?” Hans taunts, pushing the blade against Olaf’s skin.

You clench your fists, close your eyes, and dash towards Alistair. Hans watches eagerly… like he’s waiting. Without either of you seeing, he slips his hand into his pocket, putting away the knife. Alistair can tell by your form that you don’t want to do this. When he fought you at the temple, you threw a punch with the intent to kill. Now all that’s behind the punch is sorrow. Alistair easily catches the punch, the sound of it hitting his palm echoes through the room.

 

But something’s wrong. Alistair doesn’t feel right. Something else made a sound when you connected. Alistair grabs your fist and twirls around, throwing you across the room but also moving himself. He barely manages to evade a bullet from the corner of the room. He slides to a stop, facing the corner, and fires a ball of fire at it. But that’s not all that’s wrong. The moment the fire leaves Alistair’s hand a pain flourishes from his stomach. Alistair pauses, looking down at his stomach. His suit is slowly absorbing a red liquid. His legs slightly buckle as he grabs his wound. He turns around to see Hans aiming at him with a pistol.

 

“You were distracted. Too many noises, even for the great Alistair Knight to hear,” Hans proudly says, feeling triumphant.

 

Hunter’s eyes widen at the sight of Alistair’s wounds. This… he’s weak. This is a chance to take him down! Hunter looks around the room, attempting to find some sort of computer. If some of the lights still work, then power is still in this section thanks to Hans. His eyes lock onto a computer on the far side of the room. A smile slowly grows on his face.

 

You tumble across the ground but manage to grind yourself to a halt. You look to your father only to be shocked by the blood trickling down his clothes.

 

“Now that you’re out of the way, (Y/N) won’t be a challenge.”

“He.. heh… you can’t beat (Y/N),” Olaf states.

Hans looks down at the child.

“What?”

“He… he’s too strong for you! He can’t be beat!”

 

Alistair’s eyes widen. He remembers this scene. This… Balthier once…

 

Hans’ smile dissipates.

“But he won’t save you,” Hans shouts, shoving the gun against Olaf’s chest.

“NO! HANS!” You howl.

 

But your words do nothing. Hans pulls the trigger. The gun shoots. The bullet blows through Olaf’s chest, forcing blood out of the young child’s mouth. His eyes go dim. His spirit breaks. Hans lets Olaf fall on the floor, bleeding. The sight of this, of Olaf, dying right in front of you… your body begins to swirl with power. Lightining starts to surround your body, appearing for brief moments before leaving existence. Your muscles grow, your eyes go pure white. You leap off your back foot, flying at Hans with inhuman speed.

 

“YOU BASTARD!”

 

Your fist fills with power as you slam all your anger into Hans’ cheek. His bones nearly collapse at the pressure. If not for his augmentations, he’d be dead from that punch. Even with them, however, he’s not in great shape. You push him forward with everything you have, sending him flying through the air, across the room, and crashing through the far wall into the next room. You slide to a stop, a foot away from Olaf. You’re breathing heavily, releasing frustration with each exhale. Your form slowly seeps away, letting your eyes return to normal.

 

You ignore Hans completely, instead turning to Olaf.

“Olaf! Come on, keep your eyes open!”

You get to your knees, taking Olaf into your arms. He’s breathing, barely. You need to stop the bleeding. Frantically you grab Olaf’s shirt, ripping it off him, then tie it around the bullet hole to stop any bleeding.

 

Meanwhile, Alistair leaves you behind and follows Hans. He steps through the crack that Hans’ body made, leading him to the room where Hans lies defeated on the ground. Hans rubs his cheek as blood drips out of his mouth. He feels a presence in the room and looks up, seeing Alistair approaching him, still holding his side.

 

“You know Hans… you remind me too much of your father. It’s the reason I’m going to get so much satisfaction from ending your life.”

“You… you think you’re so powerful! Taking over the Hierarchy and making my family submit to you! You murdered my father in cold blood when he did nothing to you! He was a noble man! A kind man! A-“

 

“YOUR FATHER WAS PATHETIC!” Alistair screams, losing his cool. He takes a moment to breath before continuing. “Do you know why I killed your father?” Hans hesitantly shakes his head. “Your father… just like you… used innocents to win. He killed those who could not fight back, and forced me to attack him. I killed him in the name of vengeance. Everything I do is in the name of justice. I will correct what your scum of a father created. And I’ll kill you,” Alistair opens his free palm and faces it at Hans. “The same way I ended your father.”

 

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You frantically push on his wound, providing as much pressure as you can to stop the bleeding. Hunter watches you for a moment, then sees Alistair step out from the hole. He’s still wounded, badly. Even with all his power, he’s still human. A bullet can kill him, as it’s slowly doing right now. It’s his chance.

 

“Hunter, help me! Do you have anything in your holowatch for injuries? We have to save Olaf!” You shout, shaken from what’s happening.

Hunter looks down at you, then back to Alistair. He lifts his holowatch and inputs a few codes.

“Yeah… I have the solution,” he smiles.

Suddenly an alarm starts going off, red lights flash, and a broken voice attempts to speak only to come out as garbled nonsense. Hunter clenches his fists and dashes towards Alistair.

 

“Hunter!” You scream, watching your brother attack.

 

Alistair looks towards you as you scream and sees Hunter coming towards him. Hunter jumps off his heel and throws a punch. Alistair pivots his body so Hunter passes by. He quickly shoots his knee into Hunter’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him, then drives his elbow into the back of his neck, sending Hunter to the ground with no consciousness. Alistair then turns his eyes to you.

 

“Our partnership is over. Hans is dead, Hunter hasn’t changed, and you… I’m sorry. Hunter has set this place to explode, crumble the foundation of San Fransokyo.”

“Wait, you mean-“

“Everyone in San Fransokyo is going to die because of Hunter.”

 

You stare at Alistair in shock. You can’t believe Hunter would do something like this, all to try and kill Alistair.

“But… how do we…”

“I can activate security doors, containing the blast to this area. Some of the city will still crumble, however…” Alistair sighs, then grunts in pain. “Ah… I’m leaving. Take Hunter and Olaf, leave through that corridor. Hurry, the bulkheads will be closing in thirty seconds. If you’re trapped here… well…” He exhales, looking around the room. “I hope you’ll see things my way, (Y/N). I don’t want to kill you, but if you get in my way I won’t hesitate. Good bye, my son.”

 

Alistair turns and leaves the way you all came in. With no time to waste, you carry Olaf in one arm, still holding his wound, to Hunter. You pick him up in the other arm, not struggling thanks to all your training, then run for the door Alistair pointed to. You sprint as fast as you can with the extra weight, but you know the bulkheads are closing. You can hear them behind you, closing rather quickly. You assume you’re fine until you nearly trip over the floor. You regain balance, but you hear the door close very close behind you.

 

You sprint as fast as you can, but you don’t know what to think when you see a door closing ahead of you. You jump forward, twirling like a bullet so you can pass by. You land gracefully, taking a second to readjust, then burst forward again. The doors are starting to surpass you, but thankfully you see a light at the end of the tunnel. You jump forward, using all your might to throw Olaf forward, then spin and throw Hunter. They soar through the air, out of the tunnel. With them out of the way, you can run as fast as you can.

 

To make matters worse, you hear an explosion behind you, you hear fire and death coming your way. You sprint as fast as you can, looking down at the ground as you gain up speed. You hop forward, then use all power in your legs to jump forward.

 

“HYAAAAAAAA!”

 

You pass through the bulkhead as it almost closes on your foot. You roll across ground to follow through with your momentum. You pass by Hunter and Olaf but manage to stop yourself. You quickly get to your feet and collect your environment. Somehow you’re in a more grassy land just outside of San Fransokyo. But everything is outside of San Fransokyo now. You watch as buildings fall, people scream, and destruction fills the air. You watch in awe as all this happens.

 

And it just so happens that Hunter wakes up as you watch a section of San Fransokyo crumble. Hunter rubs the back of his head as he stands up.

“Where… where is Alis-“

You cut Hunter off with a punch. Hunter falls back to the ground.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?” You holler. “YOU FUCKING DESTROYED SAN FRANSOKYO!”

Hunter rubs his cheek and stands up.

“We have to kill him! How dare you question this.”

“How dare I… HOW DARE I? You are fucking insane Hunter. You no longer are the person I knew. Gaia was right. You and me… we’re done.” You seriously say.

“What? You’re just going to give up?”

 

You shake your head.

“No. But I will not work with someone who sacrifices people. You’re lucky I don’t fucking kill you right now. You have killed more people there than I have ever seen Alistair kill.”

“DON’T COMPARE ME TO HIM!”

“Who do I compare you to then? You didn’t even kill him! You only killed thousands of innocent people. Fuck you, Hunter. I’m done. I’ll beat Alistair on my own without compromising who I am. I should have seen this before.”

“You… how-“

“Shut up, Hunter,” you coldly say, turning away from him. “I have to get Olaf to a hospital, then do what I can to fix YOUR mess. Now, Hunter… never speak to me again.”

 

You grab Olaf, holding him with care. You don’t even give Hunter another look. You start running towards Corona to get Olaf to a hospital. Hunter watches you go, teeth and fists clenched.

 

“You… idiot…” He says, though who he’s saying it to… not even he knows.

 

 

**So, yeah, chapter done! I hope you… well, I think this was built up. I know some people have a dislike of Hunter for various reasons, and it’s fair to say you might hate him now. Well, Knight you hates him now, so, at least one version of you does. But at least you found Olaf! Kinda… he’s alive! Maybe…**

**Anyway, anyway, I’m going to give you guys a rundown on what’s happening for this story. As you may have noticed I was working on my other story, Crimson Shadow, for the entire month of September. But I didn’t forget Project’s Past! November will Project’s Past month, which means I’m going to attempt to pump out as many, quality chapters as I can. My goal is one a week, but we’ll have to see how it goes. If I managed to do it with Crimson Shadow, I should be able to get it done with this. Also, Act 2 is coming to a close soon. Yes, I aim to finish it off in November. In fact, I’ll give you a quick sneak peek of what the chapters to come will be called!**

**Chapter 44: Catching a Flight**

**Chapter 45: Alistair Knight**

**Act 2 Finale – Chapter 46: Knightfall**

**This means that Act 2 will be thirty chapters, which is SO much. Honestly I could have split it into two, but whatever. Act 3 will only be about ten to twenty chapters. I know I said I wanted to finish it by the end of this year, but that’s not possible. I may give Project’s Past another month of its own later down the line to get as much of it done as possible. It’s about time I finish it. I don’t want this to be going on for three years. I’m going to get this done, and I hope you all like what I have planned. In fact, there’s a scene in a chapter (not telling which one) that will absolutely crack open what I have planned. Surprisingly, nobody has found it yet, despite that chapter being out for a while. But, whatever. You’ll figure it all out soon enough.**

**Anyway, I’m adding this last second before I post it. So, November will be Project’s Past month, but I don’t think all the chapters will actually come out in November due to editing. Know that I will keep working on Project’s Past through all of November and after, but it’s a high chance that I’ll be ahead of the chapters that are coming out. Just letting you in on what’s going on.**

**Want to keep up with me? Know what chapter’s coming out next and the progress of them? Follow me on Twitter! Twitter . com (slash) Chinsangan**

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**Questions? Comments? Concerns? Advice? Send me a message! See ya!**


	44. Catching a Flight

#  **Chapter 44: Catching a Flight**

 

The past few hours have been absolute hell for your psyche. After bringing Olaf to the hospital the doctors told you to wait. You couldn’t, however. The fear of Olaf’s health, Hunter’s idiocy, and all the people who probably died from Hunter’s act. Hans may be dead, but now you’re alone. You don’t have any of your family helping you anymore, and you honestly have no idea where to go from here. So as you wait for the status on Olaf, you requested them to call you when he’s stable.

 

Thus that leads to where you are now, at the ground zero of the collapse. Firefighters, policemen, and paramedics are all over the place, helping those who were just outside the blast radius and the few who were found buried under debris. You, with all your strength, are helping in the recovery effort. You hop over a small chasm and land on a destroyed building. There’s a smaller building fallen on the one you’re currently standing on; you were tasked with looking around this area for any survivors… or bodies.

 

You approach the fallen building, ducking under the corner so you can get as close to the base as possible. Once you reach a point where it’s starting to get uncomfortable, you place one hand on the building and straighten your legs, lifting the building with minimal effort. Though that’s mostly because the majority of the equipment in the building, along with it only being a section of the full structure, makes it easier to lift than a full skyscraper. The building grinds along yours as you lift it and walk forward.

 

“Hello!” You shout, checking if anyone is below the building.

There’s no response. You get to the edge of your building and look down into the small pit below. There’s half a dozen bodies, both men in women, all in some sort of suit. None of them are moving. You sigh at the sight of these innocent people dead. They did nothing wrong, at least nothing that deserved this. They were killed without any warning, any preparation, or any reasoning. You just hope their families, if they have any, will take it well. They won’t, of course, but everyone handles death differently.

 

It’s almost humourous to you that you can look at a group of corpses and be so passive about it. It’s… sad, but it’s understandable in your mind. You didn’t know these people. You have no connection to them, thus their death doesn’t move you like, say, Pabbie’s for instance. He wasn’t your family, but you still felt bad about his death both because you knew him and because Kristoff was so effected by it, which, in turn, affected you. These random people… well, it’s just sad to see life cut short.

 

You hop into the small pit which results in the building above you to fall back onto the other. Some glass shatters at the impact and trickles down on you, but doesn’t even cut your clothing. You gather all the bodies, holding them in both arms which isn’t strenuous at all. You look around for a way out. The building cut off your initial exit, but now that the glass is broken you could simply leave through the building, which, in hindsight, would have been easier than lifting it in the first place. Though you’re not of the clearest mind right now.

 

You bend your knees down, charging for a moment before springing to the air. You easily make the distance and land just past the hole. You walk forward, taking light steps as to not rock the building any more than you have to. Since the building collapsed there is a large hole on both ends leading to some sort of exit. The way you’re walking leads out, whilst the other leads deeper into the debris. You carry the bodies out of the building and look for resting site. They’re laying all the dead in one large area to catalogue and keep out of the way. You leap across a few buildings, passing by some other volunteers and official personnel, and land back on solid ground. You approach the resting grounds and lay the bodies along the side with a few others that haven’t been accounted for.

 

“Hey, you found some more!” A woman speaks, approaching you.

She’s Layla, a paramedic whose been instructing you this entire time. She’s middle aged, probably getting close to fifty, but she seems to be the most experienced one on site.

“Yeah… found more dead than living, though,” you regrettably admit.

Layla places a hand on your shoulder, giving you a comforting smile.

“Hey, don’t worry about that. It’s not your fault this happened. In fact we don’t even know why this happened yet. But you’ve been helping, and we all appreciate it.”

You give her a smile and a nod.

“Of course. I’ll get back out there an-“ Your holowatch starts to flash. “Oh, a call,” you say to yourself. “Sorry, I got to take this,” you excuse yourself, taking a few steps away before clicking the holowatch. “Hello?”

 

“Yes… (Y/N) Knight?” A male asks.

“Yes! That’s me. Is this the hospital?”

“Yes, I’m Dr. Mikels. There’s been a development with a patient, Olaf Anderson. Can you please come in?”

“I’ll be there as fast as I can!” You inform, hanging up the holowatch. You turn to Layla. “I’m sorry, I have to go.”

“It’s alright, thank you for the help!”

 

Without even a glance back, you start running past other volunteers and tents to get to the hospital. You’re flooded with joy. Olaf will be okay, you can send him home to Elsa, and you might be able to return to your fri- no, family, again.

 

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“You owe me one for this,” the pilot shouts as a helicopter sets down on the ground.

Hunter exits the helicopter, waving at the pilot. He still has plenty of connections that he’s made over the years, so getting a ride from San Fransokyo to Corona, even in such a short amount of time, is completely plausible for him.

 

The helicopter takes off, whipping Hunter’s clothes and hair all over the place as the young man walks away. He has things to do, things to think about. He’s never felt such confliction in his entire life.

 

_What I did was right. I wanted to kill Alistair. But… I didn’t. But to compare me to him! Who should I be compared to, though. I’m no saint, none of us are. I gambled thousands of lives and lost._

Hunter shakes his head to try and make sense of everything, but that only bungles it up some more. He needs a place to think, and he already has one in mind. It’s a place he used to visit with a… certain someone. They always had fun there, and it was extremely peaceful for him. Perhaps there, with some peace and quiet, he’ll be able to come up with an answer for himself. Maybe he can find the Hunter that everyone says is gone.

 

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You rush through the doors of the hospital, knowing exactly where to go. You run through hallways, passing by all doctors, patients, and visitors that are here. You push through a set of doors and slide to a halt. The doctor who you dealt with before when dropping off Olaf is standing at a desk, signing some documents. He hears you burst through the door and turns his attention to you. His face drops a bit once you approach him.

 

“Doc, how is he? What room did you move him to?”

The doctor looks to the nurse, then to you.

“The bullet pierced through his lung. By the time you got him to us his lung had filled with blood, an-“

“Doc… is…”

The doctor sighs.

“I’m sorry. There was nothing we could do.”

 

Your spirit dies instantly, evident from the light in your eyes dimming the moment you hear it. Little Olaf, the kid you can remember from so long ago… he’s dead. Gone. His cheerful nature, his love of snowmen, the way he could ask such deep question innocently, his love for his sisters… and even you. That little rascal is gone because you couldn’t save him. Because Hans wanted to get to you. YOU are the reason Olaf is dead. That thought shakes you to the core, erupting small bouts of silent tears from your eyes.

 

“Olaf…” You mumble.

“His family is in Arendelle? I w-“

“I’ll talk to them,” you cut in. “I’m his sister’s fiancée.”

“Very well. Once again, I’m sorry. With your permission, we’ll send his body back to Arendelle – to this family.”

You nod, to which he hands you the necessary paperwork. You emotionlessly sign the few documents he gives you. Once you’re finished he places his hand on your shoulder.

“I’m sorry. It’s a shame to see the young die, but I suppose a lot did when the city collapsed. A lot of lives were unfortunately cut short.”

 

You shrug him off and walk away. He doesn’t blame you for your cold actions, however. He’s been through this process dozens of time throughout his career. You need time to cope, accept it, and move on. Well, that’s what normal people need. You’re far from a normal person, so your coping mechanism is far different from the average person’s. You don’t even know how to cope as you walk through the hospital, every step so heavy that it slows you down. Your body feels far heavier than any gravity training you’ve done in the past. Your stomach is in a knot, your mind is flooded with depressing emotions that only rival one moment… the one time you saw Elsa die in front of you. Only that beats this feeling, and you transformed instantly the first time.

 

With no place to go and no drive to do anything, you decide to head back to the Big Hero 6. They have your sword, anyway, so you need that before doing anything productive. In all honesty, you don’t want to do anymore fighting. You don’t want to kill anything anymore. You don’t want anything to die.

 

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Elsa pushes a stack of papers to the corner of her desk, letting out a sigh of relief that all the paperwork is done. Well, most of it. There are less than a dozen pages left, so her work is nearly done. For the past few hours she’s been signing off or denying projects that W.A Industries. It’s been tiring, and at some points her mind couldn’t focus on it, what with being occupied with you and Olaf. They still haven’t found the little guy and she’s just generally worried about you because of all the danger you’re putting yourself through.

 

She shakes her head, reassuring herself that everything will be fine. Olaf is a tough little guy, and you’re tough enough to stand in front of a train and live, so it’s an irrational worry. She focuses back on her work and scans the next page. Something is wrong with this next project, however.

 

“Project… Holowatch?” She quietly says to herself. “But doesn’t…”

Elsa combs over every detail of the plans, specs, and even… where it’s being made.

“What? Why would it already be in development? Something’s wrong here.”

She grabs a separate notepad, her personal one, and jots down the supposed location of where this is being tested and produced. This shouldn’t be on her list of things to approve if it’s already in production. On top of that, you already have one, and, from what she’s heard, other people have them as well. As CEO she has to get to the bottom of this. She rips the page off of her pad and shoves it into her jacket pocket. She’s honestly somewhat relieved that she can get out and do something, rather than sitting around in an office. It seems you’ve rubbed off on her, in that regard.

 

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You return to Fred’s abode, approaching the doorway. Before you even reach it the door opens and the butler is awaiting you.

“Evening, Master (Y/N).”

“Yeah…”

 

You walk past him and towards Fred’s room where the rest of the team is. You push through the door and see them, still in the chamber, working away. Honey Lemon notices you and rushes to you. The first thing you notice when looking at the room is that nobody else is there. You can hear Hiro typing away, but that’s it. Go Go, Fred, Baymax, and Wasabi are all gone. The most logical guess is that they’re helping with the recent sinking of San Fransokyo.

 

“(Y/N)! You’re okay! Where’s Hunter? He hasn’t been picking up his phone?”

You sneer.

“I don’t care. Are you done with my blade?” You ask as you brush past Honey Lemon.

She watches you walk with a concerned face. You’re definitely different than when you first left.

Hiro spins around in his chair and approaches you.

“Where is Hunter? We have something for him.”

You raise your brow.

“What do you have? I’ll deal with it,” you say, still walking towards your weapon.

 

“Well,” Hiro slides back to his computer, pulling up some data. “We’ve discovered Hierarch forces moving plenty of cargo into a plane. I assumed Hunter would want to stop them, but… I guess you’ll do it.”

“I’d end up doing most of the heavy lifting anyway,” you state, summoning your sheathe so you can holster your sword, then allow the Holowatch to hide it again. “I’ll be back when I’m done. Hopefully this puts an end to it.”

 

You march out of the room, leaving the two wondering what happened between you and Hunter. You’re different, Hunter’s gone, and San Fransokyo now has a hole where the city used to be.

“Are we going to tell him about his sword?”

“I doubt he cares about the specifics. But I want to keep this data. This metal… there’s none like it,” he says, working with lighting fast speed.

 

Honey sighs.

“I just hope they’re okay. I don’t like this at all.”

 

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Alistair watches as all the boxes are loaded into the cargo plane. Most of them are for his grand plan, but there’s one box he’s putting on there just in case. He has a feeling some trouble might brew, so Alistair assures he has a back-up plan for every contingency. Even if his plane is attacked, everything will still be delivered and his plan will move forward. Alistair’s holowatch lights up, indicating he has a call incoming.

 

“Yes?”

“Sir, you wanted us to keep an eye on your sons?” A male speaks.

“Ah, yes. What’re the two troublemakers up to?” He jokingly answers, though keeps a fairly serious tone.

“Oh, well, the eldest, Hunter, seems to be visiting the earth elemental.”

“In Corona?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Hm… Interesting.” He rubs his chin for a moment. “And (Y/N)?” He continues.

“Well, sir, he’s… on his way to your location. Should we engage?”

 

Alistair chuckles.

“No, don’t bother. I expected something like this. Let him come.”

“I… okay, sir.”

Alistair’s watch lights up again, indicating another call.

“I have matters to attend to. Goodbye,” he says before switching calls. “Juno?”

“Alistair, Elsa’s on her way to our delivery point. How does she know about it?”

Alistair smirks.

“Because she caught on. Follow her, but no killing. You know that’s not part of the plan.”

Juno deviously laughs, then inhales.

“Ohhh, I just want to tear someone apart, Alistair. It’s been eating at me, and she’s so small. I could break her.”

“Juno, honey, its okay,” Alistair consoles. “You’ll have plenty of people to kill when we’re done. I promised you Weselton, remember?”

Juno starts laughing again.

“Yes… savoury…”

 

Alistair’s face drops. Juno’s slowly descending back into madness without his mental connection. If she harms Elsa it could ruin his entire plan, or at least make it more difficult. But Arendelle is his next destination, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

“Just hold out, my love. We’ll be done soon.”

“Yes… soon… soon. I love you, Alistair.”

“I love you too, Juno. I’ll be back at Arendelle in a few hours. Prepare everything for me.”

“Yes, of course. Goodbye, my love.”

 

Juno disconnects the call, leaving Alistair to blankly stare ahead of him, contemplating and planning. He nods his head, affirming that everything is going as he wants it to. He didn’t plan on Hunter returning to Gaia, but that’s such a small change that it won’t hurt his plans in any way. The fact that you’re on your way is… actually his plan to a t. He would almost be disappointed if you didn’t show up. He even purposefully allowed himself and his crew be seen as they load up the boxes so you or Hunter will intercept. His wish has been fulfilled.

 

“Alright, everyone out! I’ll load the last few boxes myself. We need to get going.”

 

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You hop onto a nearby building a short distance away from the airport to gain some bearings of what you’re dealing with. You find the plane in seconds, but surprisingly there’s nobody around. In fact, the plane looks odd. It’s slowly getting small-

 

_The plane is moving!_

_“You didn’t notice that before?”_ Shadow shouts.

You leap off the building, passing the wall that separates the airport from the nearby street. The moment you hit the ground you start running.

“I wasn’t paying attention, okay!” You frantically shout.

 

That time wasted may have lost you the plane. It begins lifting off before you’re close. You grind your teeth as you push your legs even faster, almost making them feel like jelly as they carry you. Dust flies behind you as you bolt at high speeds towards the plane. By this time the plane already retracted its wheels and is starting to really ascend. With nothing holding you back, you leap forward, land, charge another jump, and fly diagonally through the air. The wind blows your hair back, your skin rippling at the high speeds. You get closer and closer whilst extending your hand, hoping to grab onto some part of the plane. You manage to grab the tail of the plane, though your grip is less than strong. The wind is whipping your hair and clothes at an extremely fast rate, distracting you somewhat. The force of the air pushing back on your weak grip loosens it. You look back, seeing that you’re about to be higher than the skyscrapers. A fall from here might be lethal, maybe, probably not but still. You try to move your other hand to grab it, but your fingers give out and you fall back.

 

“WAAAAAAH!”

 

You shout as you windmill your hands, trying desperately to grab hold of anything you can, but there’s nothing for you to grab but air. You fall farther and farther from the plane, getting closer and closer to the ground. You look down at the rapidly approaching cement and brace yourself for the impact. You land dead center in the road, smashing the back of your head on the cement as it bounces from the impact. The crash landing sends a ripple through the ground to flip nearby cars. You lift your back off the ground, rubbing the back of your head.

 

“That was less than comfortable…”

You look up and see Baymax, standing in front of you in his armour.

“You’ve crash landed.”

“You think?” You retort. “Wait, you can fly!”

“It makes me a better healthcare companion.”

“Yes it does,” you smile, getting off the ground and assuming Hiro’s usual position. “I need you to get me to that plane up there,” you ask, pointing to your intended target.

 

Baymax identifies it and nods.

“Very well.”

His wings extend and he soars into the air, leaving everyone on the ground watching him, amazed both to see Baymax and a random man fall from the sky and get up like it’s nothing.

 

“How did you find me, anyway?” You ask.

“Hiro said you might need help.”

You smirk.

“He is a smart one. Come on, let’s do this Baymax!”

Baymax goes faster, quickly catching up to the cargo plane.

“What do you need now, (Y/N)?” He calmly asks.

“I need a way in… I can’t just bust in or the plane will crash.”

Suddenly the loading ramp starts to open.

“What the? Nevermind, Baymax, get close!”

 

He flies you right up to it, allowing you to jump in, sliding down the ramp and quickly getting to your feet. Once you enter the ramp stops and reverses, closing. You raise your brow at why this is happening.

 

_Perhaps Hiro is hacking in?_

You ignore it and look around. There’s nothing but boxes in the cargo bay. No guards, no people, nothing. It’s almost eerily quiet with the only sounds being your own footsteps, breathing, and the sound of wind hitting the metal skin of the plane. You approach one of the boxes and forcefully open it. It’s filled with… tiny bots. They’re so small, but the large container makes them obvious. You grab a handful of them and examine them. They look like tiny beetles, almost, but completely silver and robotic. You toss a few in your holowatch for safe keeping and examine another box. It’s also filled with the same tiny bots.

 

“ _They’re likely all filled with those. But what are they? Why do they need them?_ ” Shadow ponders.

“Who knows… but… there is one different box. Look,” you say, gazing at a larger box.

“ _We should check for the pilot, first. They could tell us where this plane is going._ ”

“Right.”

 

You run past all the boxes, hopping over a few to get to the cockpit. You slow down as you get there, take a few quiet steps as you approach the door, and slowly open it. You peek in, seeing… nobody.

“Huh?”

You drop your guard and open the door, entering the small room and looking around. Nobody is there. It’s completely empty. You scratch your head as you look over the controls.

“Autopilot… Then I guess it’ll say where this plane is going.”

“Arendelle,” a voice answers.

 

You turn around, raising your guard again once you see Alistair at the end of the cargo bay. The ramp is open and the boxes are all floating out of the plane.

“What the..?”

“Oh, well, I never really planned on having a plane bring them there anyway. These helicopters can carry them all well enough. I told you, son, to not get in my way. Why are you here?”

 

You exit the cockpit slowly, thinking on his question.

“I don’t know,” you honestly answer, your eyes proof enough that you’re telling the truth. “I just… I know I had to come.”

“You’re different, aren’t you? Something’s different,” Alistair asks.

You look away from him.

“Hunter turned into a monster chasing you. I don’t want to be like him, but… there’s still something in my heart… telling me I have to stop you!” You shout, becoming passionate. “Besides, Shadow wouldn’t shut up if I gave up.”

 

Alistair nods, smiling.

“Good… our family doesn’t give up. So, I suppose you’re expecting a fight. Well, not with me. Power Man… activate!”

The large box you noted earlier explodes into small pieces of wood, allowing a hulking, humanoid machine free. You spread your legs, bending down and getting ready for whatever that thing is.

 

“I need to bring these to Arendelle. You can play with my creation.”

The last boxes hover out of the plane and connect to helicopters close by.

“Goodbye, (Y/N). I hope for your sake, you give up. Though I know you won’t.”

 

Alistair walks out of the plane, falling the moment he steps out. You want to chase after him, but Power Man locks onto you. His face is completely smooth, but still had an outline of a face, almost as if a skintight mask is on him. In fact his entire body is a smooth and sleek grey that looks more synthetic than robotic. A red glow fills his eyes as he marches towards you. He’s at least seven feet tall, maybe more. He’s taller than you, at least. You run towards him, jump, and thrust your fist into his chest. He skids across the floor, but he doesn’t stagger. He grabs your hand with a surprising amount of strength and pulls it away from his chest. You grind your teeth, trying to resist him but failing. He lightly tosses you in the air then drives his fist into your stomach. You clench your teeth, but you’re far from beaten. You pull a fist back and connect with his face, sending him a short distance away. You land on the ground, falling to one knee as you hold your stomach.

 

Power Man remains emotionless and continues his assault on you. He marches towards you and throws a punch, which you easily dodge. With this one attack you know you have the speed advantage, no doubt, but Alistair wouldn’t sick this thing on you if it didn’t have some special way of taking you out. Your feet trail along the ground as you slow down, positioning yourself behind the hulking mass. You spin and roundhouse its ribs, but all it does is send a slight pain to your foot, but not much. You twist your foot and hook yourself onto him, pull yourself in, unhook that foot and drive the same foot into his head. You twist your body to the right, making you face the floor, and slam your other foot directly on his head. With your attack done, you allow your body to fall to the ground so you can roll away.

 

Once you roll you turn around to get a sight on your opponent, but you weren’t ready for his hand to grab your face so quickly. He grasps your head, holding you in the air. Without any thought he slams you head first into the floor, then, with all his strength, throws you up, breaking through the steel of the plane. The moment you break through the seal you start falling behind the plane. You bounce off the plane once, sending you over the side. You quickly summon the Dragon Sword and stab into the plane, cutting through it but also stopping you from falling off it completely. You hold yourself there for a moment, waiting for the right moment to hop back to the surface. You wait for your moment then swing off the sword and land on the surface. You keep low as you shimmy close to the edge to reclaim your sword. You sheathe it on your back and look to the hole where he threw you. You crawl towards it, but a loud sound behind you gets your attention. You turn around and see Power Man, landing in front of another large hole, marching to you.

 

You panic, leaping forward onto your feet and pushing down as hard as you can. Your stability isn’t great right now. You’re used to more gravity, not less, so this is a little tricky for you.

“ _We can’t overpower him like this. We need a plan_ ,” Shadow advises.

“Yeah, you think of one while I keep him distracted!”

 

He runs to you and throws a punch. You dash to the side, sliding onto the wing of the plane. Power Man pursues you, catching up to you and throwing very heavy punches. You guide one away, slide to the side to avoid another, duck under one, slide under his legs to dodge a slam. He turns to you, emotionless as ever, which still gives you the chills.

 

“(Y/N), are you there?” Hiro shouts.

“Hiro? Where ar-“

 

With the distraction Power Man grabs your throat and slams you into the wing, tilting the plane slightly.

 

“I can’t hear you, but listen to me. Your plane is compromised. It’s slowly going down. You have to get off of it. Baymax and I are on our way! Just hang on!”

 

Power Man lifts you off the ground and holds you there. You punch his metallic arm to no avail. You have no real power behind your punches due to your compromised position. He squeezes harder on your neck, releasing precious air from your throat. You grab his wrist and use everything you have to pull it away. Luckily his grip loosens enough for you make a move. You grab onto his arm and lift your legs onto his chest, then slam him onto the ground. The wing tilts more, almost putting it completely on its side. You let go of the arm and slide down the wing, getting a grip after a second of sliding.

 

Power Man stands back up, scanning the area until he finds you standing back on the body of the plane. He takes a few steps towards you then stops. He looks down at the wing he’s standing on, then punches into the wing. Your eyes widen, your mouth stretches, and your heart starts facing. With the hole in the wing, he turns around and starts ripping the wing off the plane.

 

“What are you doing?” You frantically shout.

 

Power Man successfully rips a large section of the wing off, completely throwing off the balance of the plane. It starts falling left and right, attempting to maintain a steady course. You get low, hand resting on the surface. Power Man turns around, the wing in his hand, and attempts to crush you with it. You push yourself to the side, dodging it. However it pierces the second wing, leaving a hole in the wing and damaging the engine.

 

“ _(Y/N), give me control. I have a plan!_ ”

“Right!”

You close your eyes and relax, relinquishing control of your body so Shadow can take over. You stand in your mind, looking around. You can’t see anything. It’s covered in Shadow, not allowing you to see anything happening outside.

“Shadow… Shadow!”

 

On the outside, Shadow is smiling. He finally has a chance to let loose and put his training to the test. Besides, he needs to end this quick. Power Man starts to rush at Shadow, but he doesn’t move. In fact he stands up straight, extremely casual. Power Man throws a punch, which Shadow catches. He opens his eyes, showing only a grey colour to it. Sparks emerge around him as power surges through his body.

 

“I’m not like that idiot,” he states, sliding beside Power Man and driving his elbow on Power Man’s arm, breaking right through the metal.

Shadow takes a step back brushing off the pieces of metal landing on his clothes.

“I don’t understand how he’s comfortable in these clothes,” Shadow comments, staring at your casual clothes.

Power Man spins and backhands Shadow… but he doesn’t move. Shadow watches Power Man, completely unamused as his cheek is pushed in by the metal arm.

“Simple machine.”

 

Shadow clenches his fist and thrusts it through Power Man’s chest. Sparks erupts from the chest once Shadow pulls back, and he watches Power Man fall down. Shadow grabs his remaining hand and throws him off the plane, then looks at that same hand. He smiles, his lips filled with pride.

 

“I… am the stronger one,” he states. “(Y/N)?”

“ _Shadow! I couldn’t hear or see you. What happened?”_

“The robot is down. You can finish this.”

 

Shadow closes his eyes, returning control to you. The form fades away as you gain control. You look around and immediately lose your footing, having to get low. The plane is going down, no question about that. You need to get off this plane and quick. Luckily Hiro and Baymax come up beside you.

 

“What happened?” Hiro shouts, his voice coming through your holowatch.

“An enemy… it doesn’t matter, can you send this this to the ocean?” You shout into your holowatch, doing your best to maintain stability.

“No! You can’t crash it!” A familiar voice speaks.

“Wha- Hunter?” You question.

“Listen, there’s no time to explain. Every Hierarch building, transport, anything, is equipped with an atomic level bomb. It you crash it into the ocean it will detonate and destroy Corona.”

“Corona?”

 

You look ahead and see Corona not too far away.

“So what should I do?” You yell, hoping Hiro or Hunter will have an answer.

“Well, I can’t explain how to defuse it, so you have to land it.”

“Land it? Hunter, the wings don’t even work! Where am I supposed to land this thing?”

There’s a silence for a few seconds.

“(Y/N),” a female voice speaks. “It’s Gaia, listen, you need to take some liberties.”

“What does that mean?” You shout.

 

The plane shakes, dropping fast towards Corona.

 

“The Corona Freeway. Land it there! Hiro, meet Gaia and me on the Freeway. We’ll clear it for (Y/N) to land the plane. And (Y/N)… you can’t let it crash. It if does, everyone dies.”

You take in the legitimacy of the situation and nod to yourself.

“Right. But, Hunter, we’re talking after this.”

“Yeah… I know. But lets save this city first.”

 

You hop into the hole and run for the cockpit. You slide open the door and jump into the pilot’s seat… but something’s wrong. There’s no means to steer the plane. You frantically look around, hoping to find something but it all looks the same since you have no flying experience. You have no idea how to direct this plane now. You slam your fists on the screen before getting up and running to the cargo hold and leaping back on the surface. The plane is going down fast, but it’s not aimed towards the Freeway. You run to the edge of the plane, trying to plan how to move this plane to where you want.

 

“ _(Y/N), check your holowatch. Something’s there that will help._ ” Shadow says.

You don’t question him, and instead look right to your holowatch. You pull up the items in your watch and instantly notice a few things you’ve never seen before.

“ _The wrist mounted one_ ,” Shadow guides.

You grab it, and suddenly a contraption appears around your wrist, opposite to the watch, with a small blade on your palm’s side.

“What is this?” You ask allowed.

“ _Jump off the plane and thrust your wrist! You can kick the plane whatever direction you want._ ”

“Jump off the plane? Are you-“

“ _Just do it!_ ”

 

You look to the left. You need the plane to go right, so… You huff, hoping Shadow knows what he’s doing. You look down at the contraption and notice something – an engraving.

“KT?” You mumble.

You shake your head and decide to focus on that later. You have work to do. You run to the right wing which still has a bit left to it. You get ready, shake your hands to rid yourself of the nerves, and sprint forward. You jump off the plane, turn around, and thrust your wrist forward. The blade shoots forward, tied to a rope that resides in your contraption. It pierces through the hull of the plane and latches on the inside. Suddenly you clench your fist, almost like you know what you’re doing. You zoom back towards the plane, curling your feet until you get close enough. You then kick the plane with both feet, knocking it completely off course, which is what you want.

 

The plane keeps going down, but now it’s at least going in the direction of the Freeway. Next, you need to activate the wheels, or else it won’t land so much as crash into a million pieces. You allow the blade to release itself, letting you fall. It feels almost exhilarating with all the wind, tension, and possibility for death. It’s odd, but you’re finally having fun again, even though the stakes are high. This isn’t being dragged around, fighting whoever Hunter tells you to. This is trying to save a city with your friends in it, and the way you’re doing it just fills you with such an adrenaline rush that you can’t help but smile. It’s wrong to, but you can’t help it. This is just so awesome to you!

 

You shoot the tether out once more, connecting it beside the front wheel. You bring yourself to the location and hang by your arm while your other one rips open the doors protecting the wheel. You get a good grip on the wheel and allow the blade to retract. You climb up the wheel and enter a small opening where you can push the wheel down. You rest your hands against the ceiling, your feet firmly on the wheel, and push with all your might. With how strong you are, you manage to force the wheel down, but you still have two more to go. You prepare to hop off the wheel when you hear an explosion, and the plane starts to rock. You lose your footing and fall off the wheel, plummeting back to the ground. You thank Shadow that he got this… however he got it, and latch yourself back onto the plane.

 

You dangle a fair bit away from the plane, looking at what caused the explosion. Fire is erupting all over the plane, but you recognize that the right side engine is no longer working.

“It must have been because of that robot, damnit!”

 

With nothing keeping the plane going anymore, it descends faster than ever, falling to Corona at an alarming rate. You swing yourself around the plane and land on the front glass to see what you can do. You’re still falling to the Freeway, which is good. You’re close enough to see that most of the cars are off the road thanks to Hiro, Baymax, Hunter, and Gaia. Now it’s all on you. You have to land this plane properly.

 

“(Y/N)! We have a problem!” Hunter shouts at you through your phone.

Right as he says it you see it. The explosion caused by those two brutes all that time ago. The explosion that broke the Freeway. It’s still under construction, so there’s a gaping hole there.

“You have to stop it! If it crashes below it’ll explode!”

“You want me to stop a fucking plane? How?”

“I don’t know! I’m thinking!” Hunter shouts, panic evident in his voice.

 

You try to come up with an idea too.

 

_Come on, come on. There has to be something. I mean, I could just stand in front of the plane, but… is that my only option?_

“ _I… think it is, (Y/N),”_ Shadow adds.

You sigh.

_Great…_

 

You leap back onto the plane right as it starts to enter Corona. The broken right wing smashes through a building’s floor, making the plane topple on its weakened left side. The pure force, speed, and lack of stability breaks the wheel you put down, making the hull of the plane grind against the pavement. You can hear screams erupting from the streets, panic seeping into people’s hearts. Only a handful of people know what will truly happen if this plane crashes. You failed San Fransokyo… you will NOT fail Corona. You run across the plane and spring forward, landing a good distance away from the plane, though it’s closing in fast. You drag one leg back, hold your arms forward, if slightly bent, and prepare yourself. The expression “getting hit like a truck” will have a whole new meaning to you now.

 

The nose of the plane hits you, but you manage to catch it before it can impact your chest. The force overwhelms you as you’re dragged along for the ride with this ticking time bomb. Your feet drag along the ground, slowly wearing down your shoes to nothingness. Every muscle in your body is being used to its fullest, veins showing, face red, teeth almost cracking from the pressure you’re putting on them. One of your eyes are closed as you do everything you can to stop this plane.

 

The right wing continues to pierce through buildings close enough to hit, causing panic to those who’re unaware of what’s happening. From a distance away, Hunter and the rest have gathered all the cars and people to the other end of the Freeway, far enough away so the plane won’t hit them if you manage to stop it. Everyone can see you holding the plane as you get closer and closer to them.

 

“Who are you people? She used vines… you lifted a car… that boy used… I don’t understand,” a woman asks, holding her baby boy close.

Gaia and Hunter share a look. Their little group aren’t like Hiro and his team. They were happily accepted as help and nobody questions it. Hunter, however…

“They’re the ones who work behind the scenes,” Matt answers, walking around Baymax. “And that one over there…” He points to the plane. “He’s the one you should worry about.”

 

Hunter smiles.

“Yeah… and Matt, thank you for helping. Thank you both,” he says loud enough so Matt and the other can hear him.

“Of course,” a voice says behind Baymax.

Matt nods.

“Of course we’ll help! I finally have a reason again, even if I went through something before. Not that it’ll matter if that hunk doesn’t stop the plane.”

“H-Hunk?” Hunter blinks.

 

Though they’re suppressing their fear and worry, you’re releasing it all into this plane.

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH Ggg… GAAAAH!”

You push your body past it limits trying to stop this monster, but you’re running out of power. Your shoes are long gone, leaving your bare feet to drag along the harsh pavement, your arms and legs feel like they’re going to burst, and you’re getting tired.

 

“H… Hunter… I can’t! I CAN’T!” You shout, shaking your head as you lose your footing, dropping a bit.

Hunter shakes his head, places his finger on his ear piece.

“No, (Y/N), you can! You have to! You have the strength, I know it! You can stop this plane!”

Everyone looks to Hunter, concerned that you might be losing your spirit. Baymax scans you from a distance, trying to get a read on your health. In the moment he knows you’re slowly deteriorating. He activates his wings and flies towards the plane.

“Baymax!” Hiro shouts, but it’s too late.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Shadow watches from inside your mind, hating the position. He could use his powers, but a transition at this point isn’t possible. The moment it takes for you to relinquish control and for his to assume it would end your endeavor. But you need that power.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Baymax hovers over you, a little to the left, and pushes his body against the plane, activating his full thrusters. You see him attempting to help and a surge fills you. You lift yourself back up and throw everything you have at this plane. It’s slowing down, there’s no doubt, but not enough. Even with your strength, you can’t stop this plane. Your clothes start to rip at how much you’re flexing your muscles, and how much they’re burning from overworking.

 

“COME ON! COME ON!! GAAAAAAAAAH!”

 

You’re closing in on the gap, but the plane isn’t slowing down fast enough. Hunter tries to think of something, but he can’t do anything. If Gaia used her full power, she would reveal her power to more than just a few bystanders. There’s nothing he can do but watch and hope.

 

“Come on, brother! You can do this! Please!” Hunter cheers. “I did something wrong, I know that, but you’ve always stayed true to who you are and never compromised yourself! You can’t do that now! You have to stop that plane with everything you have, cause that’s who you are! Come on! Show your power!”

“We believe in you, (Y/N)!” Gaia cheers.

“Show’em what you got!” Matt chants.

“You can do it!” The woman shouts. “You can!”

 

Suddenly all the people who Hunter has gathered starts cheering your name. You can hear it… you can hear their hope, their confidence. It’s not just them, but you’re saving Rapunzel and Eugene too! You have to do it for those people, for your family, for Elsa. You have to do this!

 

“ _Focus your power, (Y/N)! It’s now or never!_ ”

 

You hear some beeping and look to Baymax. He’s used too much power, so he gives in, falling beside the plane and getting left behind. You’re the only one left now. The plane edges closer to the gap, now only a dozen meters away. You close your eyes, focusing everything you have to do this. YOU HAVE TO!

 

Your eyes open with a spark of electricity. You feel rejuvenated and powerful, but there’s not time to focus on that. You let go and hop a foot back, repositioning yourself, then catch the plane once more. This time the plane really grinds to a halt, the plane almost goes head over heels at the sudden stop. You quickly slow down, your feet finally stopping right before the gap.

 

The plane has stopped.

 

You let go and the power dissipates. You turn around and see everyone cheering. You smile, but Hunter can tell by your eyes that you’re about to give in. Your eyes close and you fall forward, off the edge of the Freeway. Hunter jumps down and catches you. He jumps back up to Gaia and his friends, then rests you on the ground. You’re dirty, your clothes are torn, and you’re sleeping.

 

“He did it…” Hunter smirks, pride swelling in him. He looks up at the people who you saved. The ones who know you saved them. “People, I ask one small favour of you. Please, do not tell anyone about us. For him,” Hunter requests.

 

The crowd has a general nod. Hunter looks to his friends.

“Well, we should get going. No doubt the news and police’ll be here any moment. Gaia, take Hiro to Baymax. I’ll bring (Y/N) to your place. He need rest after something like that. Matt, you guys can come with us, or meet us later.”

Gaia and Matt nod.

“Alright, I’ll get out of here. Come little brother.”

 

Hunter leaps off the Freeway and lands on a nearby building, then keeps jumping away. You did it. You’re one step closer to ending this all.

 

 

**Alrighty, we’re done with that one. I’ve had this scene planned for a long time, possibly over a year. I had a lot of fun with this chapter, even if it didn’t progress much. Trust me, this chapter is necessary, else I wouldn’t have written it. I hope you all enjoyed the possible heart pounding action!**

**So this is part of Project’s Past November, but I’m not sure when it will actually be out. Remember, this is the third last chapter of act 2, so that’s awesome. We’re getting close and I’m super excited! I hope you guys are too! Well, maybe you just really want the story to end… which is coming. 2017, I know. Early 2017. Anyway, I don’t have too much to say this time around. I hope you all enjoyed and see you next time.**

**However this is far after November. I still got two chapters and a half done, so that’s something. Those will be coming.**

**Also I’d like to take a moment to thank my editor, Nuclear Deadline. She’s my personal friend and has been helping me with this story since I first started two years ago. But nobody can stay doing one thing forever, and she has to move on. So I thank her very much for all the help in editing and story planning. She’s gotten me this far and I aim to see it through. Since she’s leaving I have another wonderful lady coming in to take her place. The only place I know her is on Twitter, so I’d like to welcome PossessedNightz to the position of Beta Reader. Why am I doing this publically? Well I assume you guys want to know the insight of the writing and stuff. No? Just want me to hurry my ass up and finish the story, huh? Right… well, ignore this, then.**

**PS: Shadow is now confirmed stronger than you at this point. So… you know, have fun with that.**

**Want to keep up with me? Know what chapter’s coming out next and the progress of them? Follow me on Twitter! Twitter . com (slash) Chinsangan**

**Ever want me to write a one-shot for you? Maybe a few? Maybe one every few months? Perhaps get the inside scoop on how I write, ideas for future or current stories, and even help writing your own story? Consider checking out my Patreon page! Pat reon . com (slash) Chinsangan**

**Questions? Comments? Concerns? Advice? Send me a message! See ya!**

**A special thank you to Patreon supporters: GrayJack72**

 

**_Editor’s note: Sorry it took so long, guys. My bad._ **


	45. Alistair Knight

#  **Chapter 45: Alistair Knight**

 

A door slides open, letting a dim light pierce through the darkness of the room. This room has never been occupied by anyone but Alistair, as it does now. Alistair Knight, Monarch of the Hierarchy, enters the room, his hands behind his back. He snaps and lights activate, allowing the room’s contents to be seen. There’s only two notable things in this room. The first is a vinyl player sitting right beside the door to the room. The other comes in a large quantity. There’s pictures all over the room of various people, from adults, elders, and children. Alistair approaches the vinyl player and starts it up. Smooth jazz fills the room, giving Alistair a very calm feeling. He turns around and walks to the very center of the wall opposite to the door.

 

There holds pictures of Alistair, with a small glowing line connecting him to Juno, then breaking off into you and Hunter. Other than Juno, Alistair is connected to two elders, along with a woman. This woman has blonde hair, an average nose, and features that somewhat mimic Alistair and the elderly woman she’s connected to. That woman is also connected with the two others, along with another man, as he and the woman are connected to a little girl. Every person is connected in some way, and it all leads back to Alistair and this mysterious woman. Alistair stares at the woman, smiling at how happy she looks. His eyes glaze down to the little girl. So many fond memories flood his mind, but one ruins it all.

 

Alistair pulls a small rectangle out of his pocket and holds it close to his face.

 

“My name is Alistair Knight, and before I bring revolution to this world… I want some sort of record of why I’ve done all this. Why I’ve spent the majority of my life working to make this moment come true. Perhaps once I’m gone, someone will find this and realize the truth of my words. I know the world won’t accept it at first, but they will learn to accept it.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

_“_ _I had an older sister named Allison. She was_ _…_ _well,_ _”_ _he snickers._ _“_ _An older sister, but I loved her. She is one of the reasons I am the person I am now. She was more of a tomboy than anything, so martial arts interested her. As her younger brother of two years, I wanted to follow her everywhere, so I joined her in the endeavor. She took Karate, Jiu-Jitsu, Boxing, you name it. We went through all forms of fighting during our young lives. She gave up on it before I did_ _…_ _in fact, I never truly gave up on it._

_“_ _We were inseparable, however. We rarely fought, we played together, and there were no secrets between us. She was the one who taught me about_ _…_ _adulthood, and, when I was old enough to understand, I helped her with boys. It_ _’_ _s not unfair to say we were fairly popular siblings in our schools. Well, that_ _’_ _s before we separated to pursue what we were passionate about. I wanted to enter sciences_ _–_ _more specifically the human body. I studied hard and made it to a special program with a famous scientist_ _…_ _Pabbie._ _”_

A young Alistair throws on his lab coat, puts on the glasses and the gloves, and exits the room. He finds Pabbie, the very small man standing on a stool so he can see his work. Alistair rushes to his side and immediately starts talking.

 

“Thank you very much, sir. I’m so lucky to be able to work with a man like you. I ne-”

“Calm down, son,” Pabbie chuckles, waving him off. “I chose you because you were the most suited for the job. Now, please, take a seat. I’d like your opinion on my findings.”

Alistair nods eagerly and quickly finds a chair to pull up beside Pabbie.

 

_“_ _Pabbie was researching the human body for ways to enhance us farther than we currently are. I never really knew if that was his choice, or asked of him, but he was very passionate about it nonetheless. Of course I told my sister about it that night when I returned home._ _”_

Alistair opens the door, locking his car once more before closing the front door behind him. Little pitter patters of feet rush from the living room to the hallway leading to the door. A young girl with Allison’s blonde hair rushes towards Alistair.

 

“Uncle Alistair!” She cheers, leaping at him for a hug.

“Ah, Allie. You’re getting big, huh?” He says, hugging her back.

She backs off and nods.

“Yeah! Mommy says for every inch I grow I get a dollar!”

“Well hey,” Alistair starts whispering to her. “I’ll give you two for each inch you grow.”

Allie smiles, bouncing in excitement.

“Really? You mean it?”

 

Alistair winks, lifting his fist.

“You know it, kid” he winks.

Allie bumps his fist with her small one, bubbling the whole time. The moment their fists connect a man steps around the corner, drying his hands off with a towel. Alistair looks up at the man.

 

_Clark_ _…_ _somehow he captured my sister_ _’_ _s heart. I don_ _’_ _t know why, but she found a charm in his weakness. He was skinny, shallow face, not a terrible looking man, in truth. Though he wasn_ _’_ _t very_ _…_ _forward. He was quite timid, which was the complete opposite of my sister. He was a good man though, and a great father to my niece. He didn_ _’_ _t like me. He wanted to be a scientist too, but_ _…_ _well, he wasn_ _’_ _t that smart. Not as smart as I was, or am now._

“Alistair… how was work?” He asks, kneeling down so Allie can be held by him.

“Oh, you know” Alistair shrugs, standing up. “It was just the first day. We talked theories. He has an idea to make… well, I can’t tell you, but it’s something I’ve always wanted to do!”

“Change the world, right?” A separate voice chimes in, whipping off some white powder from her pants.

 

Alistair’s eyes meet Allison’s which results in them both smiling.

“You could say that. What were you two doing? Getting a little dirty with the kid around, sis?”

She rolls her eyes at his joke, then looks at her daughter.

“Well, this little rascal,” Allison starts, ruffling Allie’s hair, making the little girl giggle. “Wanted to make cookies, but when she heard you coming home she dropped the flour and… well the kitchen’s a bit of a mess now.”

Alistair chuckles.

“Well, that sounds like fun. I’ll be in my room if you need me.”

 

_Allison graciously allowed me to stay with her family during my studies. I didn_ _’_ _t have a steady job, or someone to really rely on, so getting my own place was out of the question. At this time Allison was working her way through the political ladder. She wanted to try and change the world through policies and hope, while I wanted to do it through science. Different methods, but we respected each other for it._

_“_ _For weeks, Pabbie and I worked on this new project. I think he realized both my passion and smarts early on, as he_ _’_ _d ask for my help or my opinion whenever something came up. However there was always one problem_ _…_ _we didn_ _’_ _t have someone to test on. We didn_ _’_ _t want to do human trials until we knew the science was sound, but every brain is different, every person is different. It was hard to find something that could blanket everything. Pabbie once had a saying for it_ _…_ _ah,_ _‘_ _It_ _’_ _s like trying to use the same sized bag for everything. Sometimes it_ _’_ _s more than enough room, sometimes there_ _’_ _s not enough room, but one thing's for sure_ _…_ _you can_ _’_ _t fit everything in it._ _”_ _It_ _’_ _s an odd saying, but Pabbie was not an ordinary man._

_“_ _We were in a rut for over a year. We just didn_ _’_ _t have that breakthrough, until a certain someone came along. Thinking back on it, I_ _’_ _m unsure whether I_ _’_ _m happy that he did_ _…_ _or would have rathered things turn out differently._ _”_

Alistair writes down some notes, attempting to get the formula to work. His thought process is interrupted when Pabbie pats him on the back. Alistair turns around and sees Pabbie ontop of the stool.

 

“Yes?”

“I have someone I’d like you to meet. Please, come.”

Alistair leaves his notes and follows Pabbie, making sure not to accidently kick the small man. They don’t go far, only to the outside of their lab where a man proudly stands. Alistair can tell this man holds himself in the highest regard. He has brown hair, neatly kept, and a suit on. Pabbie stops between them.

 

“Alistair, I introduce you to Balthier Westergaard, a new investor in our project.”

Balthier smiles, extending his hand for Alistair to shake, which he does.

“Pleased to meet you,” Alistair greets.

“Yes, the same goes for me. I hear you two are doing groundbreaking research that I’m honoured to aid with.”

Pabbie nods.

“Yes, though you must know it’s been slow going as of late. We-“

“That will be no problem,” Balthier quickly dismisses. “In fact, I have a volunteer for your research.”

 

Alistair gets excited, but Pabbie hides his expression.

“Really? This is what we needed Pabbie! We might actually do this!”

“Yes… possibly. Thank you, Balthier. We appreciate the support.”

“Of course. He’ll be here within a week. I hope your work comes to fruition. It would be very fortuitous for… the world.”

 

_“_ _I was blinded by excitement at the time, but Pabbie wasn_ _’_ _t. He knew something was off, but the funds and support Balthier was giving us was incomparable. We needed resources, and he could provide. So, we got to work on the volunteer._ _”_

Alistair triple checks his notes, hoping that the procedure will go well. Not only do they have to meddle with the brain, there’s also therapy, meditation, and plenty of other steps to achieve the power they’ve been looking into for so long.

 

“Yes, you’re in good hands,” Pabbie assures, walking into the room with the volunteer. “My partner and I have been working on this for a long time.”

Alistair spins in his chair and gets to his feet, approaching the volunteer.

“Speaking of his partner, hi! I’m Alistair Knight,” he greets, shaking the other man’s hand.

“Erik… Westergaard” he introduces.

 

Alistair raises his brow at Erik’s tone. He… isn’t very enthusiastic. In fact Alistair swears there might be a hint of distain, but he isn’t sure. He’s a scientist, not a therapist. Well, he’s not a professional therapist. Either way, Alistair has a job to do and he aims to complete it.

 

“Well, I’ll make the preparations for the surgery. Pabbie, you wanna prep him?”

Pabbie nods.

 

_“_ _I should have known that Erik wasn_ _’_ _t a true volunteer. Even Pabbie didn_ _’_ _t think of anything. Thus, we continued to test and test on Erik Westergaard. In truth, we would have stopped, but we didn_ _’_ _t know the therapist hired to keep Erik_ _’_ _s mentality afloat was really corrupted by Balthier, thus he never really was taken care of. So, as we tested on his brain, his mentality and personality slowly eroded as the power we granted him grew._ _”_

_“_ _Whether it was good or bad, we did it. After seven months of testing we gave Erik the powers. However, quickly after he went insane. Balthier took him away, promising to take care of him. With the success of our project, we did the procedure on ourselves. Pabbie and I were the first true empowered people. We could move things with our mind, read other_ _’_ _s minds, and protect our own. Pabbie mastered it far faster than I, but I would say at this very moment...I_ _’_ _m the most powerful user alive._ _”_

 

_“_ _It grew after that, though. Balthier wanted more and more, but at least he provided us with more resources. Other than giving him the way to make people like us, he wanted us to create new powers. Fire, water, earth, lightning, air_ _…_ _all these things were demanded by Balthier. Pabbie didn_ _’_ _t accept it, however._ _”_

“Pabbie… are you sure?” Alistair asks, standing straight and tall.

Pabbie nods, setting the rest of his belongings in his briefcase.

“I can no longer pursue this line of work, Alistair. You are just as competent as I am. I’m sure you can handle any research you pursue.”

Alistair snickers, crossing his arms.

“You’re quitting because of Balthier, aren’t you?”

Pabbie closes his briefcase slowly, emphasizing the click. He sighs.

“Alistair, you can feel it too, can you not? Balthier Westergaard is not a man that can be trusted.” Alistair mentally agrees with Pabbie. “Besides, I’m getting old. I don’t need to work anymore. Just… stay safe, Alistair. You have a family, remember?”

 

“Not my own, like yours. Trust me, I can handle myself, Pabbie. We have the same powers, after all.”

“For now,” Pabbie whispers to himself.

 

_“_ _And thus, my true work began. I started researching more things I could unlock in the human body. If I could give us telepathy, telekinesis_ _…_ _surely there_ _’_ _s more. I wasn_ _’_ _t the only one thinking this, but I was the only one who didn_ _’_ _t have sinister intentions._ _”_

 

Allison approaches Alistair’s door with a tray of food – chicken and mashed potatoes. Dinner was three hours ago, but he never came down for it. Allie pestered her mother over and over to bring her “Uncle Alistair” down, but Allison knows it was a bad idea at the time. Alistair has been working overtime for over a month on some project that he won’t tell her about. She can understand the secrecy, but she can’t grasp the obsession.

 

But she isn’t one to beat around the bush. She has food for him. She has questions for him. An exchange between siblings. Answers for nourishment. Allison lightly knocks on the door before opening it. To no surprise, Alistair is working at his desk, papers littered all over the room. Alistair’s looking back and forth between papers, frantically writing on different sheets. Normally he could sense Allison’s presence, but since his mind is working overdrive on his work, he’s not calm enough to truly use his mental powers.

 

“Alistair,” Allison softly says.

Alistair stops and spins his chair around to see his sister. Allison’s face drops when she sees him. There are marks around his eyes from lack of sleep. He hasn’t shaved, so his stubble has grown more than he usually allows it.

“Oh, Allison. Good to see you. Should I start dinner? I promised I’d ma-“

“You promised that last week, Alistair,” Allison caringly says, hoping to snap her brother back into reality.

Alistair pauses for a moment, resting in his chair as he takes in what she said.

“It’s the seventeenth, right?”

“It’s the twenty-second.”

“Oh…”

 

_“_ _For a time, I was so focused on this project, and how to hide it from Balthier. I needed to give him updates, but all of them were false. At the same time, if I didn_ _’_ _t produce any significant results he would cut my funding. It was a tight spot_ _…_ _one that I_ _’_ _m not proud of now; though that_ _’_ _s because I detest the thought of being ordered around by that bastard._ _”_

Alistair gets out of his chair and approaches his sister, who's offering the food she saved for him.

“Allie’s watching her show. I’m sure she’d love it if you sat with her. She missed you.”

Alistair grabs the food, nodding.

“Yeah… I’ll do that.”

 

_“_ _This revelation of time really hit me. I was slaving for this man, not helping anyone but him. So, I made a decision._ _”_

“Alistair?” Balthier announces, walking into Alistair’s laboratory. Nobody else is there, which is odd. There are over thirty people working under Alistair, so… where are they? The only visible person is Alistair, who is doing something out of view.

“Balthier,” Alistair coldly answers as he puts the last paper in the briefcase. “Unfortunately, I have to resign from your project.”

Balthier stops dead in his tracks, his persona flipping instantly.

“What?” He aggressively states. “What do you mean?”

Alistair shrugs.

“I quit. It’s true, I’m extremely close to completing our goal, but… I don’t want to. It’s not for me.”

“But you have an obligati-“

“I don’t have anything, Balthier,” Alistair retorts, standing his ground with no hesitation or fear. “My research, everything… its over. I no longer work for you.”

 

Alistair grabs his briefcase and starts to walk past Balthier. Balthier slams his hand on Alistair’s chest, stopping the man in his tracks. Alistair looks down at the hand, then to Balthier.

“You… are making a mistake, Alistair. If you walk out that door… you will regret it.”

Alistair smirks, doubting Balthier’s words. He walks forward, forcing Balthier’s hand to slide off Alistair’s chest and slap his own leg. He watches the scientist leave, feeling bad for him.

 

“You have no idea what you’ve just done, Alistair.”

 

_“_ _I had no idea what I was doing, in all honesty. What I mean by that is I had no idea how desperate Balthier would be, how sinister the man was, how desperate he was for the power I was researching. Of course I continued to do research at my home, but without any equipment it was all theory. The subject was still interesting to me, but my brain has always been used for the good of mankind. Even now I_ _’_ _m using it for the benefit of everyone. Though_ _…_ _even with all my powers and smarts_ _…_ _there are things even I couldn_ _’_ _t do._ _”_

“Uncle Alistaaaaaaair!” Allie shouts, running through her house to the kitchen where Alistair is.

He turns to his niece, kneeling to her level.

“What’s that, Allie?” He softly asks.

She hands the medium sized box to Alistair.

“It’s for you!”

 

Alistair grabs the box and stands up, Allie watching him the entire time with a smile on her face. Alistair rips off the tape and opens the box. His eyes widen when he sees its contents, which forced him to quickly shut the flaps to the box.

“Uh, A-Allie, g-go watch some TV or something,” Alistair requests.

Allie tilts her head.

“But… we were baking.”

“Allie, do something else! I have to go to my room. Just…” He sighs, trying to calm himself down. “Wait for me to get back.”

 

He quickly rushes upstairs to his room, frantically slamming the door behind him then resting against it. He can’t believe what he saw, but he HAS to look again. Alistair holds the box in front of him, staring at it like it’s the key to his entire life. But it’s not. In fact, he doesn’t know what to make of its contents. Alistair opens the box once more and really looks inside. There’s two hands intertwines, but they’re clearly two different hands. The skin isn’t the same between the two. The only similarity is that there’s rings on both ring fingers.

 

Besides the hands, there's a piece of paper and a DVD inside. Alistair grabs these two things, closes the box, and sets it on the bed. He approaches his TV and enters the disc into his DVD player as he reads the note.

 

This is the start,” Alistair reads. “What's that supposed to mean?”

The DVD starts playing, showing two elders tied up to chairs. Alistair isn’t watching it at first until he hears a scream. His eyes dart to the TV… and his heart sinks. On the TV are two elders, beaten, bloodied… his parents. Alistair watches in awe as his loving parents sit almost lifeless on those chairs. But he catches something… something he wishes he hadn’t. Each of them had a hand missing.

 

Alistair slowly looks back to the box.

“T-T-Those… I… No…”

All of a sudden gunshots erupt from the TV. Alistair looks back and sees his parents with small holes in their heads, blood pooling out of them. And just like that, the video cuts off, restarting to them alive, whimpering, and pleading.

 

Alistair’s fists clench tighter than they ever have before. Rage swells, taking over every cell, every bone, and every inch of his body. He just wants to explode in anger, but he can’t.

 

_“_ _I didn_ _’_ _t know what to do when I saw that video. I took it to the authorities, but it was mailed back to me the next day. I visited their house, and it was clean_ _…_ _too clean. My parents had disappeared entirely. This_ _…_ _wasn_ _’_ _t the first, either. As I struggled to find out who had done this, I kept getting more and more boxes with body parts, notes, and videos. The one odd part at the time was that I didn_ _’_ _t know all the people that were killed. For a month, I only recognized my parents._

_“_ _Either way, I sent my sister_ _’_ _s family on a cruise to get them out of the way. But I soon realized that was a mistake. You see, all those people I didn_ _’_ _t know_ _…_ _they were related to me, in some way. Distant cousins, family related by marriage. They even killed people from Clark_ _’_ _s family_ _”_

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Alistair lowers the recorder as he approaches his own picture. There’s a button right under it which he clicks. The moment he does, every picture in the room spins around, showing a new picture, the only exceptions being Alistair, Juno, Hunter, and you. Every single picture was now one of mutilated bodies.

 

“They killed every. single. person.” Alistair’s eyes trail to his sister, and her picture.

He lightly grazes his hands over it front top to bottom, and then moves them down to Allie’s picture. “And I couldn’t do anything about it.”

 

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_“_ _In less than two weeks I had received more boxes than I could count, and had seen more severed limbs than I ever thought I would. I had no idea what to do, or who to blame for this massacre. I could barely control my powers under the mere stress of the situation. It wasn_ _’_ _t until I got one certain message_ _…_ _that message brought hell._ _”_

Alistair sits in his living room of his apartment. He rented it not long after his second box to try and distance himself from his sister’s home. But still, the messages came to him, meaning whoever was doing this was watching him. One curious thing about his apartment was that it was constantly being… redecorated. With all the stress Alistair is feeling his powers are going haywire, moving all his furniture around his house. And then the knock.

 

Alistair looks to the door, his eyes sharp.

“Hello?”

No answer. Sweat falls down Alistair’s forehead. He scrambles from the floor and approaches the door, throwing the door open and looking for a box. Indeed, there is a box there. Alistair grabs it and uses his powers to close the door, though it results in the door slamming shut. Alistair rips open the box, hoping it’s not his sister’s family. Luckily it’s not. In fact, it’s only a disc, this time. Alistair grabs the disc with no regard for its condition and places it into his DVD player.

 

The TV lights up and a man stands prominent in the shot. Instantly, Alistair’s mind identifies the man. It’s Balthier.

“Alistair, I see you haven’t done anything to stop me, have you? Though I don’t blame you. Why would anyone help you? It was clever going to the police, but I’m afraid I have prevented them from aiding you in anyway,” he smiles, rubbing his hands together as he speaks. “But, I think we’re about done. You remember what I said, Alistair? This is your fault. You walked out the door, and I’m sure you’re regretting it now.” Alistair’s teeth grind as his furniture lifts off the ground. “But I won’t torture you any longer. As you can see,” Balthier steps out of the way, showing Allison, Allie, and Clark. They’re all unconscious. “They’re at their home, the one you left them at. Well, you did try to save them… but you should have known that wouldn’t help them. So now they’re mine. Here like animals.”

 

Though the tape still plays, Alistair is no longer watching. He has left, ran away.

 

_“_ _I thought I could help. I wasn_ _’_ _t thinking straight. That bastard had killed everyone even remotely related to me. He killed my parents. I wasn_ _’_ _t going to let him kill my sister, or my niece. It_ _’_ _s what I thought at the time._ _”_

Alistair breaks through the door to Allison’s house and bolts to the living room where the video was taken. He makes it there and stops dead in his tracks. His jaw drops, his eyes form tears, and his spirit drops. In front of him is his sister and brother-in-law, hung from the ceiling with a bullet in their heads. Under them are pictures of their deaths. Alistair drops to the floor, losing all hope and spirit. Tears flow down his cheeks as he’s finally lost… no…

 

“Allie… ALLIE!” He shouts, but there’s no answer.

 

_“_ _I had hope that she was still alive. Driven to protect the last family I had left, I decided to fight back against my enemy. I knew that Balthier owned W.A Industries, but I had no idea how far his influence truly went at the time._ _”_

Dozens of scientists work in Alistair’s old lab, working on a way to bond elements with humans. None are as skilled or knowledgeable as Alistair or Pabbie, but they’re making progress on their own. Everyone stops, however, when they hear some sort of disturbance outside their lab. Within seconds of recognizing it, a guard bursts through the door, sliding along the ground until he stops. Alistair walks in, menacingly looking at all the scientists.

 

“The three best of you, stay. The rest, leave.”

 

Nobody moves, irritating Alistair. He scans everyone’s mind to find the three heads of the project. Once he does, anyone who’s not the heads he telekinetically grabs and tosses out of the room. Once they all funnel out, he throws unnecessary equipment at the door to seal it. The remaining scientists stand in awe of his powers. Alistair walks to the largest table and slams papers down, then drags the three scientists beside him.

 

“I want you to give me these powers. I don’t care how dangerous it is, and I won’t answer how I did this. Just give me the powers.”

“But… all our research… you-“

“No. Questions,” Alistair repeats.

 

_“_ _They did it. Every element was put within me_ _…_ _and I promptly killed them all. Funny_ _…_ _I think they did something to me. To this day, I can_ _’_ _t remember how I originally got the powers. If I knew, my plans would have succeeded. Huh_ _…”_ _Alistair looks at his feet as he taps the ground._ _“_ _Maybe my mind has deteriorated over time. Or maybe it_ _’_ _s supposed to be this way._

_“_ _But there was something even I didn_ _’_ _t predict. All of the powers together manifested something new. In hindsight, it makes sense. All those elemental energies coming together created something stronger than I ever imagined. With that power, I took to fighting Balthier and his insanity. He still had Allie, and I wasn_ _’_ _t going to let anything happen to her. But Balthier was more conniving than I had originally anticipated. He sent people after me. To be more specific, he sent nearly the entire Hierarchy after me. Using my powers and fighting prowess I demolished through his pathetic forces. He even sent Dukes after me, like Hook. Unfortunately, he wasn_ _’_ _t as good with his sword as I was, and I took his hand as a reminder._

_“_ _As I fought his forces and interrogated his men, I found out how much he really controlled. The bases, the men, the entire foundation of the Hierarchy was revealed to me. How they controlled Governments, how they manipulated world events. I always chuckled when people brought up some sort of Illuminati organization, but this is the closest thing to it. Even still, they couldn_ _’_ _t hide from me. I destroyed everything I could to get back at Balthier_ _…_ _and then I finally visited him in person, at a Hierarchy warehouse._ _”_

Alistair opens the doors without touching them. With all the control and sanity he’s regained over time, he rarely touches anything anymore. Lazy of him, he knows, but he’s in no mood right now. He immediately eyes Balthier in the middle of the room, holding a machete. Allie is beside him sitting on a chair. Alistair’s eyes widen at the sight of his niece, the very thing he’s been fighting for this entire time. Balthier grabs her by the hair and lifts her up, making her yelp in pain.

 

“You… Alistair… you are someone I should have had killed long ago. I suppose I’m regretting something now too, huh?”

“You’ll regret a lot more if you don’t let her go!” Alistair shouts.

Allie opens her eyes to see her uncle. He looks different from what she remembers. His once tidy attire is replaced with a black leather jacket, white dress shirt, and jeans. His hair has grown out longer, as well as his beard. His eyes are different too. They used to be kind, caring, and innocent in a way. Now they’re rough, experienced, and… hurt.

 

“Uncle… Alistair,” she weakly says, though hope is in every syllable.

“Hold on, Allie. I’m coming!” Alistair calls out, his voice soft for her.

Balthier smiles. “I may die… it’s possible. But… I will win.”

“N-No! Nobody beats… Uncle Alistair! He’s the best! He won’t lose to-

“Shut it!”

Balthier swings the machete into Allie’s neck, cleanly cutting through so her body falls to the ground, and her lifeless head swings in his hand. Alistair’s eyes widen beyond belief. He can’t believe what he just saw. It… was different seeing pictures and video of his relatives dying. Now to see Allie, the one person he loved more than anyone, be beheaded in front of his eyes… he can’t believe it. What’s worse, he could have stopped him; used his powers to hit Balthier or… something. Instead he just watched as Balthier Westergaard kill his niece.

 

Alistair clenches his teeth to the verge of shattering them. The very warehouse shakes from his innate power. Balthier looks to Alistair, knowing his end is here… but he still won. Alistair throws his hand forward, pushing Balthier into the far wall, then lifts him into the air, and finally slams him a foot in front of Alistair. Alistair menacingly marches to Balthier, grabs his collar, then begins hammering his face with a flurry of punches as he screams at the top of his lungs. Once he’s fatigued, he stares into Balthier’s eyes, seeing the bloody, broken man before him. Alistair lets him go and stands up.

 

“You… the world will not miss you.”

Alistair opens his hand and points it at Balthier.

“This… is for my family.”

 

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Alistair stares at Allie’s picture, a few tears rolling down his face.

 

“And with that, I ended him. Once I proved my dominance over the Hierarchy, I took control. I needed to change things for the better, and with the Hierarchy’s resources… I could do that. Then I heard about Juno and Erik. Poor girl, she was so broken…”

 

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_“_ _I had heard of the woman who incapsulated insanity. She had killed, maimed, and eaten people alive. I was intrigued at that strength and decided to find her. She was captured, locked away in the highest security prison money could buy._

Alistair walks into the building, hands in his pockets with a casual bounce in his step. There are few people around the waiting area of this prison, and the ones that are here are employees, which makes sense. Only the worst of the worst are put here, and nobody wants to see them. Alistair is likely the first to visit in years, perhaps an entire decade. But there are still staff who are more than willing to help him. Of course this must be an annoying intrusion on what’s undoubtably a very easy job on their part. He can tell just by looking that the people here aren’t here for the right reasons.

 

Luckily for Alistair he already booked his appointment with Ms. Bishop, and thus he can waltz in without any hindrance. By protocol there has to be at least one employee watching him at all times, but what are they going to do compared to him? He’s the strongest man on the planet.

 

Alistair bypasses the security and heads right for his intended room. He ignores the screams, insane laughs, and gibberish of other patients who try to gain his attention. Nobody is interesting to Alistair in this building except Juno. Soon enough, Alistair reaches his goal. Juno’s room is in between various others, but she’s the most unique one in this building. Alistair approaches the door and inputs the code he was given. The door unlocks and Alistair enters the room. It’s completely white, absolutely bland and mundane. Instantly a woman jumps at Alistair. Her arms are tied in a straightjacket, but her mouth is wide open. She attempts to bite into Alistair’s neck, but Alistair easily stopped her in her tracks with one finger against her chin. He can feel her hot breath on his neck.

 

Alistair flicks Juno across the room, hitting the soft wall. She recovers and attempts to rush him again, but she stops instantly. Their eyes meet, Juno’s curious ones stare into Alistair’s powerful ones. She runs towards him, but this time she’s not aiming to attack.

 

“It’s you,” she whispers, rushing beside him and getting extremely close. “You’re the one, aren’t you? Alistair Knight, Monarch, bastard, murderer,” she lists off.

Alistair remains, still watching the deranged woman fawn over him. As she does this, he investigates her mind to find how she knows about him.

“Oh, how silly,” she giggles, stopping in front of him. “Looking through my mind, huh?” She bursts out into laughter. “You know most ask me question after question after question that makes me just wanna,” her arms flex as she slowly rips open the straightjacket. “Kill someone,” she finishes with a deranged smile. “But you just dive right in, just like him, but so different! Oh, how are the cattle outside? Fresh for killing? Ripe for eating?” She laughs again, falling against the wall. “Oh how pitiful their lives are, aren’t they. You have to know too, right? I can feel it. You know!”

 

Alistair gathers all the information he needs from her memory. Erik, the killing, her insanity, and even her life before Erik. She was quite a remarkable woman with a loving boyfriend. He’ll have to look into him later on.

 

“I see,” he calmly says. “I suppose I need to spend some time here, with you. You’ve been expecting me for a long time.”

“Oh, of course I have. Erik knew you, Erik knew me, I know you. It’s how it goes, no?” She laughs, slowly approaching Alistair. “And you’re just as I imagined. It’s all worth it now, though. You’re my key, my future,” she whispers.

 

Alistair watches her pace around him. Whether she’s attempting to be seductive or intimidating is up in the air. She could be doing both, which is a very dangerous and very useful thing to have.

 

“I like you. You’re coming with me.”

Juno claps her hands like a little girl.

“Of course, of course, together we can kill them all,” she ends in a deeper voice.

Alistair shakes his head.

“Not yet. I’ll explain it to you in the car… or maybe after we get you some new clothes.”

 

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“I managed to control my insane wife with my powers. She… willingly allowed this, which made me think she wanted to be sane again. It wasn’t her fault, of course. But we were normal for a time. We bought a house, had two… well… four children. It was amazing seeing a son fulfilling something I couldn’t. (Y/N), damn him. He was born with something I wanted, but assumed I would never see. He… well… I suppose that won’t matter. If I get things my way, he’ll be ruling over whoever is listening to this. Funny coincidence how (Y/N)’s adoptive family lived in our old house. Made spying on him even easier.”

 

Alistair’s holowatch lights up, alerting him to an incoming helicopter. He smiles, knowing the end is coming. He needs to wrap this up.

 

“I grew from nothing, destroyed an empire, controlled it, and will destroy it once more. This world, this structure… it’s wrong. Everything is compromised, controlled. There’s no true law in this world. I will change that. I will be the arbiter of this new world. I won’t allow anything like this to happen to anyone else. No corruption, no bias. I hope that (Y/N) and Hunter will see reason. I want to leave this role to those fitting for it, like them. I want my family back… but I suppose sacrifice is necessary. I will make this world a better place. I will fulfill the old Alistair’s wish… and the Alistair I am now.

 

“Whoever hears this… I hope you understand that everything I’m about to do is necessary for this world. No matter what, it is my responsibility to take this burden. You will all prosper… and the world will be cleansed.” Alistair stares at your picture and… smiles. “Allison would have liked you, (Y/N). Allie, too, I bet. I wish… they could have met you.”

 

 

**Yeah, the chapter is done. One more chapter until Act 2 is done. This chapter is** **…** **different, but it** **’** **s necessary. Alistair** **’** **s backstory needed to be told, and I thought doing it similar to how I did Hunter** **’** **s was fitting. Plus, I think it works in context too, with Alistair recording his story vocally. Well, I like it. I hope there is some hype for the next chapter. It** **’** **s going to be eventful, and I think you** **’** **ll all like it.**

**I say it a lot, but thank you for keeping with me all this time. It** **’** **s been a long ride, but we** **’** **re closing in on the finish line. I think you** **’** **ll all like what** **’** **s going to happen in the end. So thanks for reading, and see you next chapter!**

**Once again I** **’** **d like to thank my new Beta Reader PossessedNightz for her support in editing this chapter, and future chapters, for me.**

**Want to keep up with me? Know what chapter** **’** **s coming out next and the progress of them? Follow me on Twitter! Twitter . com (slash) Chinsangan**

**Ever want me to write a one-shot for you? Maybe a few? Maybe one every few months? Perhaps get the inside scoop on how I write, ideas for future or current stories, and even help writing your own story? Consider checking out my Patreon page! Pat reon . com (slash) Chinsangan**

**Questions? Comments? Concerns? Advice? Send me a message! See ya!**

**A special thank you to Patreon supporters: GrayJack72**


	46. Act 2 Finale: Knightfall

#  **Act 2 Finale** **–** **Chapter 46: Knightfall**

 

Gaia rinses a towel under some warm water. This is the fourth time she’s done this, but there’s no irritation or annoyance at the act. If anything, this is the least she can do considering the purpose. Once it’s at a decent temperature she turns the handle to halt the flow of water. She squeezes the excess water out of the fabric then wraps it into a small rectangle. She leaves her kitchen and makes it to the couch where you lie unconscious and exhausted. She rests the towel on your forehead like she's done before, then takes a seat across from the couch. She’s still amazed at what you’ve accomplished. You managed to save the city of Corona nearly all by yourself. She never imagined that the high school kid she fought so long ago would accomplish something quite like this. Almost makes her wonder what would have happened if she and her allies were victorious in that battle.

 

Gaia shakes her head at the thought. She had too much time to think lately, but given all that’s going on a break isn’t the worst thing to come across. Especially not with the recent arrival of Hunter, and what he conveyed to her. As if she summoned him, her door opens and Hunter walks in. He goes to the living room right away to see how his younger brother is doing.

 

“He hasn’t moved,” Gaia speaks. “He’s recovering, though.”

Hunter merely nods in acknowledgement. He approaches Gaia and kneels beside her chair.

“I know he’ll be fine. I… am just curious how he’ll react.”

“To you, or…”

“Both,” Hunter bluntly answers. “I was an idiot, Gaia. I’m not worth forgiveness. Just look at him. He did the exact opposite of me. He saved a city, I destroyed one.”

 

Gaia rests her hand on Hunter’s snow white hair.

“You already know what you’re going to say to him, don’t you? Besides, he is your brother. There is a bond there.”

Hunter sighs.

“Yeah… but I haven’t really been a brother to him.”

 

Hunter stands up and walks away, heading for Gaia’s room. Gaia watches until he’s out of sight, then sighs. It’s always been complicated with him, but she’s finally seeing a change in him. She once said he was obsessed and losing himself. She wasn’t wrong, as evident by Hunter’s insane choice to blow up a section of San Fransokyo. But when he came to her in her garden… the look of regret and despair in his eyes… for better or for worse, he’s different. The Hunter that tirelessly hunted down Alistair is no longer there. Now there’s a new Hunter. It’s not the one she fell in love with, but there is a potential for change in this new version. She just has to wait and see. But thankfully, for once, he’s seeing you as more than just someone to help him fight Alistair. He’s finally seeing you as a brother once more, a brother that has done everything you can to help Hunter in his efforts. Now, after hearing his confession, his plea for forgiveness, she believes that he’ll be truthful to you. Maybe he’ll stop fighting Alistair, but… if he does that, then what happens to you? The question is: will you stop? You’re now locked in this, evident by Olaf’s death. It wasn’t Alistair’s fault, but he was the one who’s responsible for the plane. Gaia just hopes that you don’t become as obsessed as Hunter once was.

 

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Hiro wheels around his room, repairing the slight damage Baymax’s armour has sustained while attempting to stop the plane. Baymax himself is charging after being picked up by Fred’s family chopper. He has plenty of juice to keep running, but the strain on his systems as he attempted to stop the plane drained him completely and utterly. Hiro’s still amazed that you were able to stop an entire cargo plane basically by yourself. It makes him think harder on Baymax’s earlier analysis of you and your abnormalities. He’s fully aware Hunter’s genetically modified, but the verdict on you is still in the air.

 

Hunter has shown Hiro multiple videos taken of you as a child. Some say you are, but Alistair, in all the notes he’s written about you, say you aren’t. Of course it would be wise to trust the leader of the organization when it comes to things like this, but… something’s missing in this puzzle, and Hiro doesn’t like it. He’s not a geneticist or a real pro on biology, but perhaps Baymax can do more with the scan he took. Of course, he has to wait a few more minutes until Baymax comes back online for him to look deeper into that.

 

Hiro returns to his computer and starts searching through some files. He’s been attempting to contact Hunter with the information he obtained, but there’s been no luck. Hiro finished decoding the chip Hunter gave him, but it’s still confusing. From what Hiro understands, the chip had a completed diagram for a dispersal device and the nanobots. They’re evidently supposed to link somehow, likely to spread the nanobots around the globe, but the reason isn’t clear yet. This is important and yet Hunter’s nowhere to be found. He would attempt to contact you, but you’re out cold. Gaia said she’d inform Hiro when you wake up.

 

Hiro slides across the room once more to check out Baymax’s chest plate. He reaches out to move it, but a sudden beeping distracts him. Hiro looks to his main computer which is displaying a map and a red flashing light. Hiro raises his brow as he pushes off the wall and slides to the computer. He stops right in front of it and starts inputting commands.

 

“A Hierarchy signal? It’s not far from the city, either. Hm…”

 

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Shadow stations himself a few feet away from your unconscious form. He can feel you slowly healing; you’ll be back to 100% in no time. It’s interesting to him that you’re able to unlock your form more and more. Of course you’re nothing compared to him, who can power up whenever he wishes, but this is progress for you. In theory Shadow could explain how to transform on your own, but he has a sneaking suspicion that his transformation is different from yours. Not power-wise, but simply how it was obtained. You two are drastically different people, despite looking the exact same. Thus the method to obtain your power will be different from Shadow’s. Either way, he knows the end is coming soon. He simply hopes the power he has and the planning he made is enough.

 

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Gaia replaces the cloth on your head then decides to check on the other Knight. Hunter hasn’t come out of her room in two hours, leaving Gaia to take care of you this entire time. You haven’t done anything, so it’s still no trouble. Though she fears Hunter needs care more than you at this time. She leaves you and approaches her door, leaning against it and tapping it with her knuckle.

 

“Hunter,” she softly whispers.

But he doesn’t respond. Seeing how it’s her house, she has no qualms with just walking in. She opens the door as gently as possible and peaks in. The room is as tidy as she left it. The only oddity is Hunter staring out the window with his hands in his pockets. She can’t imagine how long he’s been there. Has he just done that the whole time? Has he slept? She doesn’t have a great angle, but his hair isn’t disheveled in the way it would be if he did sleep. Perhaps he did just stand there all this time.

 

Before she can enter the room she hears some moans from the living room. She quickly scurries to the couch to check on you. Your body is aching, almost like you undertook the most intense workout possible and your body is just now feeling the fatigue. Every muscle, every inch of your body aches with even the slightest movement. It doesn’t hurt by any means, but it makes lifting yourself off the couch a chore. You cringe as you lift your back off the couch and into a sitting position.

 

“(Y/N)!” Gaia starts, getting your attention though you don’t look at her. “Don’t stress yourself! You need to relax.”

You chuckle, looking down at your arms as you gently massage them, feeling a somewhat pleasuring pain as you do this.

“Right, but I feel way too stiff to do nothing. I just- ah,” you stop talking as your fingers trail along your chest, shocking you from the same pain.

Gaia sighs.

“Yet you continue to do it anyway, you stubborn fool. Hold on, I’ll get you some ointment,” she says before getting up and heading to the kitchen.

 

You spin yourself to the right so your feet hand off the couch, touching the ground. You roll your shoulders and attempt to stretch as much of your upper body as you can. Memories of what happen slowly come back to you, lost in pure adrenaline and sleep. Stopping the plane, saving Corona – it all comes back to you. That’s another instance where your mysterious power saved your life. If not for that, you, and the thousands of people living in Corona, might not be breathing right now. It kinda urks you that you needed that power. It is yours, but it almost feels like external help. You trained very hard for a very long time and it’s all starting to feel pointless when all that strength you have isn’t enough. What does that say when you plan to go against Alistair? Do you need to find a way to unlock your mode beforehand? Perhaps the combination of you and Shadow can now take him down. You’re not sure, but that shouldn’t matter yet. You still have time, and you know where Alistair is: Arendelle.

 

“Arendelle…” You breathe.

 

It feels like forever since you’ve been back home… because you haven’t been back in a long time. You can still see Anna bubbling around the house, dragging Kristoff around as she speaks faster than Kristoff can comprehend. Elsa would sit on the couch reading a book with a steaming cup of hot chocolate beside her as the majority of her body is covered by a fluffy blanket, save her feet which would be along your pelvis. You start to smile at the thought. It’s calm, it’s peaceful, but right now it’s unrealistic.

 

Your thoughts are interrupted when Gaia returns to you with a plastic container in hand. She opens the lid and scoops out some white ointment.

“Where are you sore?”

“Heh… everywhere,” you respond with a warm smile.

Gaia rolls her eyes.

“Smart ass. Fine, take off your shirt.”

You comply, removing your shirt slower than normal thanks to your weakened muscles. Gaia begins rubbing the ointment along your body, starting at your shoulders, working down your arms, and then to your chest. The ointment it's cool to the touch, cause goosebumps to reveal themselves around your body. Gaia snickers when she notices, but doesn’t give it a remark. She scoops some more into her hand and rubs your chest once more, her fingers trailing along your toned build.

 

“You know, for someone who stopped a plane I thought you’d be bigger,” she wise-cracks.

“Oh ha ha. I don’t need to be big, Gaia. Hell, I never even focused on speci-“

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. I regret trying to rile you up,” she giggles, caressing your chest with the ointment. “Though, in truth, you’re a very muscular young man.”

“Young man?” You chuckle. “I’m not that much younger than you, Gaia.”

“In body, no. In mind, well…”

You roll your eyes but end up smiling. She chuckles at her own joke, making her long green hair flow with each movement.

 

Once she’s done with your chest she stands up and sits on the couch next to you. You’re about to ask what the deal is, but she instantly starts coating your back with the same treatment as your front.

“So you’re somewhat of a hero in these parts, now.”

“What?” You chuckle, disbelief evident in your tone.

Gaia nods.

“People have been asking where you are, wondering who's the mysterious boy who saved the city. Though the people who were there promised not to speak, but there was blurry footage of you at the nose of the plane.”

 

Gaia finishes your back and gets off the couch.

“Huh… weird,” is your only reaction.

“It’s something to be proud of, (Y/N).”

 

She leaves you to think on this as she returns to the kitchen. You stare at the floor, pondering her words as you automatically go for your shirt. Once you grab it you realize that your shoes, pants, and shirt are dirty and ruined. Considering what happened this isn’t a surprise, but now is the time for a quick change of clothes. You activate your holowatch and cycle through some clothing you have saved. As you go through you find the outfit from so long ago. A white t-shirt, a lightweight black jacket with a dragon patch on the upper right sleeve, and a pair of jeans. You remember that was from your little “date” with Anna that… actually lead to you to being drugged and sleeping together.

 

You shake your head to forget that part. Though, in truth, if that didn’t happen then you might not be here right now. You wouldn’t have ran from the house, you wouldn’t have met with Hunter like you did, you might not have gotten the Dragon Sword. Strange how such an unfortunate event translated into this grand adventure. Then again it could be traced back to simply meeting Elsa and Anna when you first started school. But it’s hard to say. Tracking down the catalyst of your journey is nearly impossible. So many factors lead to the situation you’re in now that it’s hard to say what truly is the beginning. You just hope the end isn’t as ambiguous.

 

You finally select your every day attire from your holowatch, deciding to keep that specific outfit saved for another day. Once you’re set to go you attempt to stand up. You struggle, but you do manage do get on your feet. The simple act of standing makes your legs ache. Gaia returns from the kitchen, evidently surprised when she sees you standing.

“Are you okay? Is that uncomfortable?”

You shrug.

“A little bit. But I’m sure as hell not going to be a potato until I feel better.”

“Fair enough. Are you hungry? Everyone… well…” Her mind wanders to Hunter. “Mostly everyone, went out for a bite to eat. I could whip you up something quick.”

“That… sure, Gaia. Thank you. I am pretty hungry,” you chuckle, rubbing your neck.

Gaia nods, smiling.

“Well, let me get on it.”

 

She spins on her heel and heads for the kitchen to prepare you… something. You sit down and start to think on something she said.

 

_The others? Who are the others? Big Hero 6?_

 

You lay back on the couch and sigh. Relaxing comes as such a welcome distraction that you forget it’s something people do every day. You roll your head along the couch and look to the kitchen. Because of the layout you can’t see Gaia, but you can hear her moving pots around and filling something with water. Just before you go to speak to her you hear the door open.

 

“Gaia!” A flamboyant, familiar voice echoes. The very sound of it makes you smile. “I did bring you back something, darling. Though someone ate a little too much,” he teases.

“I… was hungry,” a different voice answers.

This peaks your interest. That voice… It couldn’t be…

 

You get off the couch and take a step towards the kitchen. Two people walk from the entrance to the kitchen, stopping once they see you. As you expected, Matt is standing in front of you with his smile plastered on his face. What you didn’t expect was the blue haired boy beside him. He looks into your eyes with his blue ones, sinking into himself.

 

“H-Hey, (Y/N),” he greets.

“Rain… you’re… you’re alive!” You happily shout, running to him and embracing him with a hug. “I-I thought you were dead? What happened?” You ask, backing off but still having your hands on his arms.

“Well… I mean, you have to give me some credit,” he sheepishly chuckles. “I was under water. That is my specialty. It’s like when Gaia sunk into the ground years ago. We elementals are hard to… kill… in our element,” he timidly explains.

 

While the two of you talk, Matt passes by and enters the kitchen.

“So what happened? How’d you survive?”

You and Rain make your way to the couch and take a seat.

“Well… once you left I released my hold on the base. Instantly, I made a barrier around me and grabbed as many people as I could find. I think I had a couple dozen in my air bubble.”

“So what took you so long to get back to the surface?” You eagerly ask.

Rain huffs.

“Well… I needed to… I suppose recharge would be an adequate word. I used a lot of stamina, so I needed time to recover in the water. So I let the workers stay in the bubble while I meditated in the water. Once I was recuperated I returned to the surface with everyone alive and well. I found Gaia and Matt, and… well… we’re here now,” he smiles.

“I guess I was off to San Fransokyo at that time?” You assume, to which he nods to.

“Yes. I was eager to see you once more, but… w-well I wasn’t expecting it to be like this,” he sheepishly giggles.

 

You lean back on the couch, a wave of relief and warmth running through your body. Rain’s death isn’t a fresh wound, but it still hurt to this point. Now that you know he’s alive it’s like you’re a hundred times lighter. Though, comparatively, one person against thousands isn’t much of a victory, even if it’s someone you know. Still, Rain’s a lot of help and a good friend. You’re happy he’s back, and almost feel stupid for thinking the water elemental could die in a body of water. From what Gaia and Rain have told you, it’s almost like the elements know who the elementals are. Like there’s a truce, and understanding, between the two. They help each other when they can. You’re curious what Pyro, Tempest, and the others were like before they attempted to kill you.

 

Gaia and Matt leave the kitchen and rejoin you and Rain, but someone else joins. Hunter leaves the room and walks into everyone’s sight. The moment you see him you stand up to confront him. Your feelings are completely conflicted. On the one hand he did provide moral support during your struggle against the plane, but that barely makes up for the near million people he killed attempting to kill Alistair. You know that doesn’t make up for it in the least, but… no, Hunter has done something terrible. You could lash out at him, you want to, but with all these people in the room you go against it.

 

Those very people can feel the air drop in the room. It’s almost like the air in their lungs have fled from them just to be away from this confrontation.

“Brother,” Hunter speaks, breaking the silence. “You did well.”

“One of us has to,” you fire back.

Gaia closes her eyes, curling into herself at your comment. Hunter simply takes it, expecting that sort of reaction from you. This is going to be a tough conversation.

 

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Elsa stops a short distance from a warehouse just outside of Arendelle. It’s owned by W.A Industries, and by extension, her, but she was never informed about this place before looking into it and the product they claim to be developing here has already been made. It’s suspicious, and Elsa intends to find out what this building is being used for. She steps out of her car, her heels making a distinct “click” each time they come in contact with the floor. She really hopes that she’s wrong and they’re really just making holowatches, but her gut tells her that’s not the case.

 

She locks her car and leaves her keys in her pocket as she approaches the factory. She noticed there were helicopters flying away from this general location. She keeps her hopes up, but she feels like this may be connected to your endeavors in some way or another. Perhaps she can be of some use to you and get you home sooner. She reaches the door and flashes her card at the card reader. It accepts it, as expected, and she enters the warehouse.

 

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“I’m surprised you haven’t hit me yet,” Hunter comments, remaining calm and collected.

“Oh, I very much want to,” you comment, cracking your knuckles. “Though I’m sure the families of those who were killed would want to more than I.”

Gaia folds into herself. Matt and Rain remain quiet. Hunter sighs.

“I know… and they’re justified. I… heh, well I messed up.”

“Congrats, you have regret!” You snarkily cheer. “At least you’re starting to show some regular emotion besides idiotic anger.”

Hunter shakes his head, disappointed.

“I know. But-“

“But what, Hunter? You want us to keep going? You want to carry on like it normally was? Well that’s not going to happen. I will not work with someone li-“

 

Suddenly your holowatch starts to light up, indicating a call. Though this colour is different. Whoever is calling is doing so through your watch and not your phone. You ignore Hunter and open it up. A hologram of Hiro and Baymax show up for everyone to see. Right away you notice Baymax and Hiro are in their hero clothes, meaning something’s going on.

“(Y/N)! Good to see you’re awake. I was taking a chance contacting you, but Hunter hasn’t been in contact for some time, so…”

“Yeah… well, what’s up? Where are you?”

“Well… I guess you could say I found your pot of gold.”

“What?” You ask, confused.

 

Hiro brings someone into view of the hologram – a short old man with a prominent nose and odd moustache.

“Weselton,” Hunter breathes.

“Who?” You ask, but Weselton speaks anyway.

“Ah… you’re (Y/N). Your father holds you in high regard, I think. He wouldn’t have allowed my capture otherwise.”

You turn your attention back to the hologram.

“What do you mean?”

“This Duke here purposely set off a signal I detected. He wanted to be found. He wants to talk to you,” Hiro explains.

You place your free hand on your hip and lean a bit.

 

“Okay, so what do you want?” You say with a no nonsense attitude.

“Straight to the point? Well, I suppose that is best. Well, um… where to start… Alistair… is done. His goal is about to be realized, and I think he wants you there.”

“Where? Arendelle?” You ask.

Weselton nods.

“Yes. He has his nanobots and the dispersal device that I’ve been working on. Though, there’s one thing that has finally clicked into place for me. You see, there was always a problem with the nanobots and their… compatibility with others. Though that was mostly due to what those nanobots hold.”

 

“Alright Weselton, what do they hold? What’s his grandiose plan?” You inquire.

Weselton smiles, almost like he pities something.

“I think he wants the Hierarchy to be destroyed, but that’s a different goal. The nanobots I designed all hold a different element, like those children you know.” Gaia and Rain both reacted to his words the same way – distressed. “He wants to infect everyone with elemental powers.”

“What? Why? That makes no sense,” you begin, starting to pace around the room as your mind works. “A world full of people with that much power… what’s accomplished there?”

 

“I’m not sure, but it was never possible. You see… well, this wasn’t my field of expertise but I’ll attempt to explain it the best I can. The elemental powers were only compatible when given to subjects at a young age. The only exceptions to this were Alistair himself and Idun Anderson, though Idun was deadly ill from those powers. It was soon discovered that powers harboring in young children grew with them, allowing them to be absolutely in sync with the powers. As you might have guessed, the problem with his plan was that the majority of people would die from incompatibility. That is until I remembered one important detail.”

 

“What? What?” You passionately ask.

Weselton sighs, knowing this won’t get a good reaction.

“The only way to assure that the elements won’t kill their host is to blend them with the most natural elemental on this planet. All elementals were forced their powers except one. One was born with them, the DNA passed down by her mother. The purest elemental.”

 

Your eyes widen, your heart stops, your muscles tense against their will.

“Elsa…”

Weselton bows his head, shutting his eyes.

“She is the final piece to his plan.”

 

You end the call and quickly access your phone in a blind panic. You dial Elsa’s number and pace around the room, hoping, praying she picks up and is okay.

 

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Elsa walks around the empty warehouse. Already she’s confused. This isn’t a laboratory or workshop for design and development. This is a storage facility masquerading as the aforementioned purpose. She approaches one of the boxes lying around and pushes open the lid. She’s surprised it opened so easily, but she’s more surprised of what’s inside. They’re… little metal bugs. She starches her chin, thinking on what this means. Does this have something to do with you and your search? Maybe you know more.

 

Her phone begins to go off, to which she quickly responds to. She smiles when she sees your picture on her phone, and inwardly chuckles at the fact that you called as she thinks of you. She answers your call and holds it to her ear.

 

“Hello-“

“Elsa! Where are you?” You shout.

Elsa’s persona instantly changes.

“What? Why? What’s wrong?”

“Elsa, are you home? You need to go to the basement, now!”

“Why? (Y/N), you sound crazy,” she giggles, though she’s really just hoping for a reason. You wouldn’t say this for no reason.

 

Elsa turns around so she can walk and talk, but she stops when she sees someone ahead of her.

“Juno?” She whispers.

You go dead silent for a moment.

“What did you say?”

“Hm? Juno? My secretary. I don’t know why she-“

“Elsa, get the hell out of there! She’s with them!”

 

Before Elsa can react Juno whips around at a speed she’s never seen before. Juno chops Elsa’s neck, knocking her out instantly. She can hear you shouting from her phone, but ignores you for now. Her skin is so delicate, soft, and tender. She can imagine the taste, but… she can’t kill her now. She’s the reason Juno was stationed here, and now finally she can bring her back to Alistair and be with him again. Though your constantly yelling is ruining her mood. Juno grabs the phone and holds it to her ear.

 

“See you soon,” she eerily speaks before crushing the phone.

 

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Her words slither through your ear and into your brain, surging anger and frustration.

“DAMNIT!” You shout, stomping your foot only to fall to the ground in defeat.

“Did… they…” Rain whispers.

You look up at them with an intense stare, eyes filled with conviction.

“Matt… can you fly me to Arendelle,” you ask in a deep voice.

Matt bobs his head.

“I could get a helicopter, yeah,” he clearly answers.

“Take me to Arendelle,” you demand, standing straight. “They have Elsa, and they’re going to regret it.”

 

“(Y/N)-“

“What, Hunter?” You snap.

Hunter sighs.

“Let me come with you. We’ll stop Alistair, save Elsa… and then I swear to you I’ll surrender myself to whatever punishment you want, as long as it’s not jail.”

“What?”

“It’s all controlled by the Hierarchy. They’ll just kill me because. But you know you’ll need the help against Alistair. Let us end this.”

 

You stare at him, seeing a light that wasn’t there before. He really will submit himself to your punishment. Besides, even if you despise him at the moment you won’t turn down a helping hand with Elsa on the line.

 

“Fine. Matt, take us to Arendelle right now.”

Matt nods as he pulls out his phone.

“R-Right. Just give me a minute to make a call,” he responds.

Matt leaves the room through the shop exit. Rain watches him go, easily identifying his different tone. Almost scared, or perhaps he knows there’s no time for jokes. This Matt reminds him of the one that deals with his father – completely serious. There’s no reason to make jokes now, anyway. Everyone can tell you’re not in the mood, not with the news you just got. The Hierarchy was after Elsa the whole time, and they’ve done a marvelous job keeping you away from her. Perhaps they were always ready and just lead you from place to place, playing with you like you’re some cat chasing a laser pointer.

 

You get to your feet and march past everyone, following Matt’s route.

“If you’re coming then let’s go,” you coldly state, directing it at Hunter.

You exit the room, slamming the door behind you which leaves the room dead silent. Nobody knows what to say, but they all know what to feel. Hunter steps to Gaia and gently places a hand on her shoulder.

“He’s not okay,” she states, looking up at him.

“I know. I guess this time I’ll have to keep him in-line,” Hunter remarks, moving his hands on his sides and sighing. “They played us like fools… I won’t let all my work go to waste. We’ll stop them.”

Gaia nods, looking away from him.

“I know…”

“Make sure Elsa’s safe, above all else,” Rain chimes in, getting Hunter’s attention. “If she dies… I think (Y/N) will die with her. A-At least the person he is will.”

 

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The drive is silent as you, Matt, and Hunter make your way to the airport. Matt is the driver with Hunter in the passenger seat, leaving you alone in the backseat. You requested it to be like this, as you don’t really want to speak with anyone at the moment. Your feet are bouncing faster than your heart is beating, but both pale in comparison to how fast you’re processing thoughts. You’re thinking of where Elsa might be, what Juno might have done to her, what you’ll do to her once you’ve got your hands wrapped around her neck. If there’s even so much as a lost hair on Elsa’s head then you’ll tear them both apart.

 

Your time thinking overshadows how long the drive truly is. Matt pulls into a side entrance to the airport and pulls into one of the private hangers. It wasn’t easy for him to pull it off, but his connections to the military secured him one of the helicopters stationed in Corona. He parks the car beside the hanger and you all get out of the car. A helicopter is stationed just outside, ready to fly. As the three of you approach it Matt surveys the area.

 

“Everything alright?” Hunter asks, noticing Matt’s actions.

“Yeah… I just thought someone would be here to greet us.”

“Doesn’t matter. Let’s go,” you speak, running ahead of the others and hopping into the back of the helicopter.

Hunter and Matt follow, though Matt takes the pilot’s seat. He sets up, putting on the headset and booting up the machine. You don’t sit like Hunter. Instead you stand on the edge whilst holding onto a support rope above you, looking out to Corona as you gain altitude. Matt takes off and sets a course for Arendelle.

 

The speed and wind whips your shirt and hair around, but that means little to you at the moment. The only thing that does get your attention is when you feel a hand on your shoulder. You turn your head to meet with Hunter’s. He takes his hand off your shoulder and starts to speak.

 

“(Y/N), listen to me. We have some time, so I want you to do something.”

“What?”

“Calm down. You’re not going to get anything done with your mind clouded with rage.”

You look away from him, back to the ocean you’re passing over.

“You’re one to talk.”

“Yes, I am, and thus I know what it’s like. You won’t save anyone in the current mindset you’re in. Just take this time to breathe and think. I don’t want anger-bred recklessness to cost you Elsa.”

 

You huff, looking lower so you can see both your feet and the ocean. Hunter, satisfied with his words, sits back down and waits. His stomach is twisting into a knot from anticipation and fear. He has no idea how this end. For so long he’s waited for this final confrontation and for so long he’s had time to prepare, but… after everything that has happened, the changes he undergone recently… he’s not sure how this will go. Is he ready? Are you ready? It’s been a long road but this is the end, for better or for worse.

 

“Hey, (Y/N)!” Matt calls out.

You grab the headset and put it on.

“Yeah, what is it?”

“I got a tip that the airport might not be the safest place to land. Do you know anywhere we can put this baby down?”

You think for a moment, then nod once you come up with a response.

“The backyard of my house. There’s plenty of room for this thing.”

“Right, leave it to me!”

 

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With most of the ride being taken up by thinking on what Hunter said, you seem to reach the Anderson's household in no time at all. It’s been too long since you last saw this place. The street, the trees, even the house itself. Memories and happiness rush back at the mere sight of these things. You hop out of the helicopter, dropping a few feet, and start running to the house. Already Gerda and Kai are at the backdoor watching the helicopter land. Once they see you running towards them a big smile creeps onto their faces.

 

“Gerda! Kai!” You happily shout, chuckling as you open your arms.

The two embrace you in one grand hug.

“(Y/N), you’re alright!” Kai cheers.

“It’s been ages. You’ve grown,” Gerda remarks.

 

You back away from them and place your hands on your hips, smiling. These two took care of you for so long and still they’re ecstatic to see you. These two are your family, and it’s good to see them healthy and well.

 

“I… yeah, I guess I have,” you chuckle. “You too look great! I… I’m sorry I haven’t been here.”

Gerda waves you off.

“Don’t you worry about it. We know you’re doing something important. Ms. Anna is inside, if you wish to see her.”

“She is? Why didn’t she come out?” You ask, finding it hard to believe someone can’t hear the sound of the machine.

“She’s listening to something on her phone. She can’t hear anything with those headphones on,” Kai chuckles.

“She even missed dinner a few times,” Gerda remarks.

 

You snicker.

“That does sound like her. Thank you. Could you two just make sure the boys in the copter are fine?”

They both nod before approaching the calming helicopter. You enter the house, making sure to take off your shoes. You shake your head when you do it. It’s so natural, despite being away for so long. You look around the living room to see a place that hasn’t changed. You can remember this from all the way back in high school when you first showed up to this house. It’s beautiful to the point where you might cry from pure nostalgia. The icing on the cake is Anna laying belly down on the couch with her feet swaying in the air.

 

You sneak up behind her quite easily, considering she wouldn’t even hear an elephant breaking down the wall at this point. You brush your hand along her foot, sending a ticklish sensation through her whole body. She flips over, giggling.

“Kristoff! You’re home ear…” She stops when she sees you smiling at her. “(Y/N)!” She squeals, dropping her phone and leaping onto you.

Her arms wrap around your neck as her feet hook your waist. She’s as light as ever, but her strength is inhuman. She’s hugging you like there’s no tomorrow.

“You’re back! You’re back, you’re back, you’re back!” She happily chants. “I didn’t know you’d be back! I would have made a cake! Well, I would of, but then Gerda would make a better one, but I still would have tried!”

 

You chuckle at Anna’s words as you hug her back.

“I’ve missed this, Anna,” you whisper.

She realizes this means a lot to you too. You’ve been away for a long time without much contact with your oldest and most beloved friends. You hug her even tighter, demonstrating her thought. She smiles as she hugs you back.

“I have too. We all have.”

 

You and Anna break off and sigh. As much as you’re happy to see Anna and the home, you know there’s still something to do. Anna deserves to know about Elsa… and even Olaf. But of course Anna has to bring it up first.

 

“So, what brings you back? Did you stop all the bad guys and save the day,” she jokes.

You shake your head, taking another step back as if you’re running from the news you’re going to give her.

“Anna, I…” You bite your lip and look to the floor. “There’s… Hans, he…”

“Hans? What did that pig do now?” She rolls her eyes.

You clench your teeth and shut your eyes tight.

“He… I tried, but…” You take a deep breath of airborne courage. “Hans had Olaf and… I couldn’t stop him. He killed him… and I…” Tears start streaming down your face as all the emotions hit you harder than the plane ever could.

 

Anna’s lip quivers as tears swell in her eyes as well. The little tyke who always ran through the house trying to learn everything he could, even if he couldn’t truly understand it. Now he’s gone by the hand of Hans, the boy she was once madly in love with.

 

“What… did you do to him?” She whispers, voiced echoing with anger and sadness.

“He’s dead,” you blatantly answer.

She nods, holding in as many tears as she can but unable to hold them all.

“I… thank you. I… he…” Finally Anna’s mental damn collapses and she begins sobbing.

 

You rush to her side, taking a hold of her and setting her down on the couch so she can weep into your shirt. As she sobs Gerda, Kai, Hunter, and Matt walk in. You look over at them and flick your head to the kitchen. They understand your body language and leave you two alone. You move Anna off your shoulder and attain eye contact with her.

 

“That’s… not all.” She wipes her tears at your words in an attempt to focus. “The reason I’m back is to find the ones behind all this. Alistair… he has Elsa. They’re here, in Arendelle, likely at W.A Industries.”

“So you’re gonna get her, right!” Anna shouts, getting fired up. “You can’t let them take her!”

“There’s no way I’m letting that happen,” you confidently say. “That’s why I’m here. I… just wanted to see you before I went. I wanted to ask something of you.”

“What? I’ll do anything!” She says, sitting completely on the couch.

“When the fighting starts, take Kristoff and the rest to the basement. You’ll be safe there.”

 

Anna slowly nods her head.

“I will… but you have to come back with Elsa! Promise me!”

You softly wrap your hands around of hers and hold it between you two.

“I promise, Anna. We’ll both come back.”

 

A few moments of silence take the room before Hunter disturbs it.

“(Y/N)… we should go. We can’t waste any time.”

You turn your head and nod.

“I know… let’s go.”

 

You release Anna’s hand and get off the couch. You and Hunter approach the door, and as you do you check the key rack for your keys. They are indeed still there.

“My car still here?”

Anna nods.

“Yes.”

You grab the keys and open the door.

“I’ll be back.”

 

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You pull into the W.A Industries parking lot under Hunter’s recommendation. There’s no point in hiding your arrival. Hunter has no doubt that Alistair knows they’re coming. You and Hunter exit the door and look up at the building. It’s an insanely tall building which leaves dozens of possibilities on where they’re holding Elsa. It doesn’t matter, though. You’ll tear through every floor until you find her.

 

“Are you ready, (Y/N)?” Hunter asks, knowing the answer.

“More than ready,” you nod.

 

You and Hunter leave your car and head to the front of the building. Of course, the cameras have picked you up the moment you arrived.

 

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Alistair leaves his room with a strange sensation dancing down his spine. As much as that room fills him with memories and conviction, it also reminds him of failure and sorrow. But Alistair has no time to recover.

 

“Monarch, something’s wrong,” a man says over the intercom.

“What?” Alistair speaks, brushing off his suit.

“We have the two rebels approaching the building. Your children.”

Alistair snickers.

“Escort them to the sixteenth floor, and tell Juno to meet me there right now.”

“Y-Yes, sir.”

 

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The moment you and Hunter enter the building you’re approached by three members of security. You and Hunter ready yourselves for whatever conflict may occur, but instead they simply talk.

 

“Monarch would like you to follow us. We’ll bring you to him.”

You and Hunter share a look. He shrugs.

“Fine. Take us there.”

 

You lower your guard and follow Hunter’s lead. It would be a better idea just to get straight to Alistair rather than fighting through an entire building. With any luck, Elsa will be with him and that’ll make this trip a whole lot easier. The three escort you into the elevator and set the appropriate floor. Hunter can tell they’re scared. The majority of the Hierarchy know of the two of you. With your recent antics of fighting Alistair and holding back a plane, you’ve proven yourself a force to be reckoned with. The average person has no chance against you, and these people know it.

 

Though Hunter ponders why Alistair would simply invite you in. Perhaps to minimize collateral damage? Perhaps because it’s a trap? Hunter can’t tell at the moment, but he has a bad feeling about this. He has no doubt you’re suspicious as well. But you’ll manage to win, somehow. With the two of you working together there’s little that can get in your way.

 

Soon enough the elevator comes to a halt and the door opens.

“He’s… ahead,” one speaks.

You and Hunter leave them behind to walk down the narrow hallway. From what you remember this leads into a larger room that splits into more. There should also be a large window looking out on Arendelle, if memory serves you correctly. Once you and Hunter make it through the hallway your memory proves true. There’s a larger room with the window looking out. Alistair and Juno are awaiting you on the other end of the room… with Elsa, unconscious, in a pod.

 

The moment you see her your body tenses. Alistair shakes his head as he waves his fingers.

“Don’t even think about it.”

“You’re not using her for your demented plot, Alistair!”

Alistair almost feel offended at your words.

“Demented? I’m bringing order, (Y/N)! Why can’t you understand that? This world,” he chants, walking towards you both. "Needs guidance. It’s corrupted by the Hierarchy.”

“Corrupted by you,” you counter.

Alistair shrugs, his arrogant smile never leaving his face.

“A means to an end, in truth. Elsa,” he steps back and taps the glass tube holding her. “Is one of those means.”

“She’s a person, not a tool!” You argue. “You can’t use her!”

“But… didn’t Hunter use you as a tool? You happily complied with that.”

Hunter shakes his head at Alistair’s words.

“Maybe… but that was my choice. What you’re doing is against Elsa’s will! Against everyone’s will!”

“Sometimes you need to force children to do things for their own good.”

“Your children? How deluded are you?”

 

Alistair sighs, his eyes drifting to the ground in thought.

“I have given you many chances to join me… to help this world. But you continue to get in my way. I’m sorry… but for this world I’ll have to end you.”

Juno smiles, spreading her legs and letting her arms drop to the side. Alistair puts his foot forward to prepare himself.

 

You and Hunter stand ready for a battle, hoping this will be swift. You launch off your back foot and go for Alistair. Juno, however, steps in your way, grabbing your shoulders and swinging you into a nearby room. She quickly follows, leaving Hunter and Alistair behind. Alistair smirks.

“Hunter… I fear this is when you two will die. I will no longer hold back. You two die here.”

 

Alistair slowly begins to walk towards Hunter with swagger in his step. He has no fear in this encounter. Hunter prepares himself for the fight. Once Alistair moves close enough to Hunter, the young Knight spins and kicks, but only manages to hit the palm of Alistair’s hand. He twists the foot, spinning Hunter in the air and letting him fall on the ground. Hunter bounces off his hands and leaps back to get some space.

 

In a blink of an eye, Alistair appears in front of Hunter and delves his fist into Hunter’s stomach, making spit shoot out from the white haired man’s mouth. Alistair grabs Hunter’s face and throws him against the nearby glass window. He smashes into it, almost breaking through the durable glass. Alistair shakes his head at his son’s performance.

 

“You disappoint me, but I suppose you’re used to me holding back. I’d play with you, but… well, I’m on a tight schedule.”

Alistair lifts his hand towards Hunter, who’s still recovering from Alistair’s attacks. Before Alistair can actually attack, Juno flies through a separate wall. She recovers quickly, just in time to block your punch. She responds with her own, that you duck under and counter with a solid hook to the ribs, then a quick yet powerful punch to the jaw. She slides across the ground, managing to keep her footing. She’s about to attack but Alistair steps in.

 

“Juno, I’ll handle him.”

“But Alistair,” she pouts. “He killed my son.”

“We’ll work on it together, but for now,” he returns his attention to a defeated Hunter. “I’ll show you the power that destroyed the Hierarchy. A power nobody can rival.”

 

You watch in horror as something begins swirling into Alistair’s palm. It’s not water, fire, or any of the elements.

“The purest form of energy. Pure… energy.”

A ball final forms in Alistair’s hand as he smiles.

“And you… will become pure dust.”

 

With little time to think, you run to Hunter and push him out of the way. Alistair unleashes his blast, rivaling the size of a car in an imperfect cylinder form with a rounded front coming right at you. You throw your hands forward in an attempt to catch it, which you do, but it feels different. It’s almost heavier than the plane but so compact and hot. Your skin feels like it’s burning at the touch of this mysterious power. You try to push it but you can’t manage to overpower it. Your feet graze across the floor, inching you closer and closer to the window.

 

Alistair shakes his head.

“You… I didn’t want you to die yet. I was hoping to save a bit of your blood, but it seems like that’s not going to happen. No matter… good bye, my son. This is your end.”

Alistair retracts his arm slightly then pushes forward with a greater intensity. Suddenly the blast becomes infinitely more powerful to the point where you can’t handle it.

 

 _“_ _No_ _…_ _no! I can_ _’_ _t take over! We can_ _’_ _t die now! This isn_ _’_ _t how I planned it!_ _”_  Shadow shouts.

 

It pushes you through the glass and engulfs you as it passes by. You feel everything encompass you with pure pain. Your small bits of blood start flowing into the blast as it tears you apart. All you can do is let out a blood-curling cry as your body seems to disappear in the blast until there’s nothing left.

 

Hunter watches the blast until it stops. There’s nothing left of you. You’re gone. Hunter can’t believe his eyes. You’re gone… you’re dead… Is it over? Has Alistair won? Hunter looks to the two Monarchs standing prevalent.

 

“This is it, Hunter. You’ve interrupted me for the last time,”

 

With no other option, Hunter sprints to the broken window and leaps out. Alistair and Juno simply watch, letting Hunter flee. He free falls towards the next building. He manages to grab hold of a flag pole, but it breaks under the weight of him. He falls right down to the ground, landing decently considering his injured state. People around him scream from the man falling from the sky, but that has little concern for Hunter. He needs a plan. He needs something. There’s nothing left to do but launch a full out assault, and he needs help to fight him. But for now he needs to recover and think.

 

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Hunter limps back to the Anderson's household with his hand gripping his side. He’s defeated, mentally and physically. He didn’t know that he was so weak compared to Alistair. He didn’t even know Alistair could unleash such a devastating power. Hunter has no idea how to win now. You’re gone… you were beaten in one attack because he wasn’t strong enough. It’s his fault you’re gone, and now he has to live with the repercussions.

 

Hunter bangs on the front door until Kai opens it.

“Ah, Mr. Hunter…” He looks over Hunter’s shoulder. “Where’s (Y/N)?”

Hearing your name, Anna, Gerda, Matt, and Kristoff come in from the kitchen. Kristoff returned home soon after you left, and has been eager to see you once more. Everyone’s eyes are on Hunter, the man who holds such critical news in his pocket. Hunter huffs, looking away.

 

“He’s gone… We couldn’t beat them,” Hunter cuts to the chase.

Everyone stops, their jaws dropping.

“He’s… dead?” Anna whimpers, to which Hunter replies with a nod.

Matt clenches his fist in anger whilst Kristoff holds a sobbing Anna.

 

Hunter passes by Kai and approaches Matt.

“Matt… I need your help. We have to get everyone else to help. Gaia, Rain, Hiro and his crew. We need to stop Alistair as quickly as possible. We have no more time.”

Matt nods.

“I’ll fight too. I don’t know how much I can do, but… I have to.”

Hunter smiles, placing a hand on Matt’s shoulder.

“Thank you. I just hope everyone else can cooperate. We need to do this… for (Y/N).”

 

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**One Week Later** **…**

Alistair stands proud on the streets of Arendelle, right in front of W.A Industries. Juno is by his side, eying their beautiful handy work. Anyone who opposed them is now littered around the street at near death. Matt laying on the hood of a car while Gaia is face down beside it. Hiro and Baymax are unconscious in a nearby building. Wasabi and Honey Lemon are scattered in a nearby corner store, covered in various candies and cards. Go Go is hanging from a street lamp, completely out cold. Fred’s face down against the concrete, hit suit mostly torn and destroyed from the battle. Rain and Hunter are side by side, though Hunter is still conscious. He’s holding Rain, both of them bloody and beaten.

 

“You gathered quite a team for your final stand, but it did you no good. Your elementals were completely nullified by me, and those children playing hero were nothing when going against anyone of true importance,” Alistair speaks. “You’ve lost, Hunter. Now to finish you.”

 

Alistair holds his palm up and charges a blast. He suddenly feels a cold wind sweep the area. He pauses, wondering what this sudden chill means… but it’s nothing. Alistair closes his eyes and snickers. For a moment, he thought you might have survived… but you didn’t. You’re gone. Alistair opens his eyes and unleashes his blast at Hunter and Rain. With no strength left, the two are swallowed in the blast, leaving nothing behind.

 

Alistair lowers his hand and huffs. It’s truly over. His plan, his vengeance, his redemption has finally come. The world will know peace with him as the Arbiter.

“Juno, you can finish the scraps however you see fit,” he says as he uses the wind element to fly away.

Juno chuckles, readying herself for the bloodbath that’s about to transpire.

 

Alistair flies to the top of W.A Industries where his dispersal device and Elsa rest. Her blood is connected to the device, feeding it any blood it may need, though he already collected enough serum during the week, so this is just a backup. Alistair approaches his device and hovers his hand over the switch.

 

“Now… is revolution… I did it… I did it…” He says with a genuine smile.

 

Alistair flips the switch which lights up the machine. Within seconds a cloud erupts from the machine that begins to blanket Arendelle and beyond. It will take little more than a few minutes for his plan to be complete. He watches over readings, wondering if Elsa’s blood is necessary for the process. Fortunately for him the machine is working perfectly fine with no anomalies.

 

Alistair leaves his machine and approaches the tube he’s holding Elsa in. He drags his fingers along the glass with a hint of regret.

“I took your love… and I apologize for that. I hope you two find peace in the afterlife.”

He steps back and charges another blast that disintegrates Elsa in seconds. No pain. He lets his hand fall, then bows.

“Thank you… for allowing my dream to become a reality.”

 

It’s over. Alistair’s goal has finally been realized. He won. His long war has finally ended… and he won.

 

 

 

**So** **…** **yeah** **…** **that** **’** **s Act 2 Finale. I** **’** **ve been thinking of this moment for so long, you don** **’** **t even know. I think this has been planned for at least a year. All the build up, events, everything was in place for this. I** **’** **m so excited that Act 2 is completed so we can make way for the final act. I honestly didn** **’** **t expect Act 2 to be thirty chapters, but I couldn** **’** **t think of a way to divide it up other than this current one. Besides, everything is usually broken into three acts anyways.**

**I really have to thank you all for sticking by me through this story. I truly have my spark back for writing this story and can** **’** **t wait to get into Act 3. I think you guys** **’** **ll be really surprised for what I have planned. Thank you all so much for reading and I will see you in Act 3!**

**Want to keep up with me? Know what chapter** **’** **s coming out next and the progress of them? Follow me on Twitter! Twitter . com (slash) Chinsangan**

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**Questions? Comments? Concerns? Advice? Send me a message! See ya!**

**A special thank you to Patreon supporters: GrayJack72**


	47. Act 3: Blood and Family - Chapter 47: Revelations

#  **Act 3: Blood and Family** **–** **Chapter 47: Revelations**

 

 

It’s always a beautiful day when you’re a child. Any time you get to see your friends run around, play tag, and laugh indefinitely means the day has gone well. The same goes for a brother-sister duo playing around the shores of Arendelle. It’s one of their favourites past times that they don’t get to experience very often. Usually the water is frozen over, but there are some moments where the brilliant blue water sparkles for those young and old. Today is that day, and these kids are taking advantage of it.

 

Their laughs are as pure and innocent as their hearts, they hop around the shores, letting the water splash against their rolled up trousers.

“Come on! Faster! Faster!” The boy laughs as he twirls across the cool shores.

“Haha! I’m gonna catch you!” The young girl playfully threatens and she rushes to meet with her brother.

 

The brother continues to run, laughing as he evades his baby sister; that is until he trips over something due to his lack of attention. He falls forward, slamming face first into the damp sand. He pushes himself off the ground, spitting out sand and dirt that got in his mouth.

“Ah… you tripped me!” He accuses, jumping to his feet and pointing at his sister.

He realizes his sister is looking down at something between her and the brother. The boy follows his sister’s gaze to find what truly tripped her: a man. He’s wet, he’s injured, and he’s naked.

 

As reality slowly sets in on what this means, the two children’s face start to swell with tears.

“MOOOOOOOM!” They scream, running away from the body washed up on shore.

 

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Somehow you manage to feel your body again. There’s no pain, there’s no agony, it’s just tightness. Your muscles feel as though they haven’t been used for decades – stiff and rusty, like an unused, unwanted grandfather clock. The very fact that you’re feeling something is progress. You’ve felt nothing for so long, but… it wasn’t nothing. Similar to the feeling of being in Limbo, yet you’re consciousness is blinded.

 

Not anymore, though. Your senses are returning, Limbo is in view, and reality is not far off. First, you awaken in Limbo without the soreness of your physical body. You slowly awaken, pushing your body onto your knees as a foothold for standing. You look around to try and identify Shadow. He’s not far away but he’s sleeping as well. You slowly push yourself onto your feet and stumble towards Shadow, falling back to your knees after the first step. You cringe in what should be pain, but turns into simple exhaustion. You look to Shadow, trying to reach out to him but his body starts to slide away from you. The entirety of Limbo seems to become a narrow hallway with you and Shadow on opposite ends. You pull away from him as the walls close in on you.

 

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Suddenly your eyes burst open and you inhale the most air you ever have. You immediately sit up and look around at your surroundings. Right away a woman approaches you and pushes you back on your bed.

 

“Sir, please, calm down!” She begs, placing the wet rag on your head.

Your breath is heavy, your mind is racing, and your heart is pumping. You have no idea where you are, what’s happening, or who this person is. You attempt to calm down as you analyze the woman. She’s in, what appears to be, olden garbs in almost a maid like fashion.

 

_Did_ _…_ _I guess some rich guy found me_ _…_

You relax once some sense is made. The woman gives you a warm, loving smile.

“Thank you. You need more rest. Can I get you some water?” She calmly asks.

You nod as you fully rest your head into the pillow. The woman bows and leave you to your room. You take a breather to finally calm your mind in this situation. You start to look around the room and your confusion riles once more. The walls and ceiling are made of stone, the room is mostly barren with just your bed and a small dresser. The design is what throws you off. Everything just seems very old.

 

You sit up once more, grabbing the moist cloth so it doesn’t fall on the sheets, and inspect the room some more. There are no windows, which is when you realize the only light source is the sunlight peeking through the hole-ridden door and a few candles set around the room. No electrical lights of any kind. You don’t even see a power outlet or light switch. You decide not to wait around any longer, these new discoveries peaking your curiosity. You throw the sheets off of you and hop out of bed. Your bare feet touched the stone floor, causing your body to feel extremely cool. You look down at yourself and realize your distinct lack of any clothing.

 

The moment this revelation becomes clear the woman enters the room, screaming and dropping the metal cup of water she brought for you. You quickly turn around, grab the sheet, and cover all your vital areas.

 

“I-I’m so sorry!” You quickly say, your face becoming more and more flushed at each passing moment.

She steps out of the room in utter shock and embarrassment. You feel the same as you scurry around the room for any clothes you can find. The only thing of value is your holowatch sitting on the bedside table. You toss the sheets onto the bed and attach the holowatch to your wrist, quickly cycling through to the clothing options. You find an outfit and immediately select it. Your saved outfit of a black jacket over a white t-shirt, blue jeans, white socks, and regular running shoes appear on your body. Satisfied with the look, and secretly giddy to be finally wearing this outfit, you shout out to the woman.

 

“I’m… dressed now.”

Soon enough the door opens and the woman walks in. Her attire start to fit the mold of the house – old looking. She appears to be a middle aged woman, brown hair, and brown eyes, slightly on the thicker side. You can identify the light wrinkles of age coupled with a few grey hairs here and there.

 

She’s slightly taken back by your appearance.

“Ah… you must be from another continent…” She speaks as she steps into the room, gathering the cup that she dropped. “I suppose that means you were shipwrecked?”

There’s an accent to her voice that you can’t identify. It’s almost one you’d hear in a parody movie with kings and knights of old.

“I… why do you think that? And who are you?”

“Oh, my genuine apologies, sir,” she bows with genuine regret. “My name is Evelyn Giff. My children found you on the beach so I had to bring you back. You’ve been sleeping for nearly seven moons.”

 

_Seven moons? A week?_

“Oh… well, thank you very much, Evelyn,” you bow your head. “I very much appreciate you taking care of me.”

She smiles at your words.

“Oh, thank you, sir. I just couldn’t turn down a stranger in need, and an interesting stranger you are, if I may say. What is that… thing on your wrist?” She asks, pointing to your holowatch. “I’ve never seen such a creation.”

“Oh, heh, well…” You display the holowatch, thinking how to answer this. “Let’s say it’s like… a backpack.”

Evelyn raises her brow.

“Hm… you are a strange one. Where are you from, sir?” She inquires as she moves to the bed to do the sheets.

“Oh, let me help you with that,” you say as you rush to the other end of the bed to help. “Well… I guess Arendelle. Wher-“

“Arendelle? Hm… I’ve never seen you here before, believe I’d remember seeing such an interesting young man.”

 

You fix the bed and look to Evelyn.

“Heh… I guess we live in different district, then.” You joke.

Evelyn raises her brow in utter confusion.

“Such a strange young man. Are you hungry? I just made soup for me and my children. You’re welcome to join us.”

You nod, giving her a friendly smile.

“Yeah, I’m starving,” you chuckle, holding your stomach.

 

Evelyn guides you out of the room and into the main room. Your confusion grows as you examine this house. Everything is mostly stone and wood. There seems to be no form of electricity and the kitchen is nothing like the ones you’re familiar with. It almost reminds you of what you heard about Amish living back in school, though you admittedly didn’t pay attention. Still, this whole place just has an odd feeling to it.

 

At the table two children sit ready and eager to eat the soup placed in front of them. They look at their mother and you.

“Hehe, look at how funny he looks,” the boy points out.

“Benjamin!” Evelyn scolds. “Don’t say that about our guest!”

Benjamin shrinks in his chair.

“Yes mommy. I’m sorry.”

You wave it off as you take a seat opposite of the young girl.

“It’s no problem, kid. If anything I owe you both a lot.”

 

You slide onto the chair and sit as properly as you can to be as courteous to these people as you can. Evelyn sits at the head of the table, across from Benjamin, and nods to everyone that they can eat. You immediately grab a spoon and dig in, eating as much as you can as fast as you can. However an eery feeling floods you, so you stop and look around. The three are staring at you in amazement. You sit up straight, away from the food.

 

“I-I’m sorry,” you chuckle, rubbing the back of your head. “I’m just… really hungry.”

Evelyn laughs.

“It’s understandable, sir. But that does not give you permission to do the same, Benjamin,” she quickly scolds.

The young boy frowns, being shot down before he can even fly.

“So, what’s your name? I haven’t got it yet,” you politely ask the girl opposite to you.

“I’m… I’m Mary.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Mary,” you cheerfully say before getting back to eating the soup.

 

In less than a minute you finish the soup and rest in the chair.

“Ah… that was nice. I must say you are one spectacular cook, Evelyn.”

“Oh… thank you, sir. I’m sure that’s simply because you haven’t had anything in your stomach for some time.”

You shrug, happy as ever.

“Maybe, but my compliment still holds. Anyhow,” you stand up, making sure to push the chair back in. “I thank you for your time, but I have somewhere to be. My fiancée’s in danger and… I don’t even know where I am.”

 

Evelyn sets down her spoon as her concern rises for your situation.

“Oh? Your fiancée?”

You nod.

“Yeah, Elsa. You might not ha-“

“Elsa? Wait, she’s to be wed?”

You scratch your head.

“You… know her? Is she okay?” You ask in distress.

 

Evelyn thinks for a moment, making her children worried. She looks to you with eyes of determination.

“Could you stay here for a moment, please?”

You cross your arm and shrug.

“I suppose… why?”

Evelyn quickly gets to her feet and makes way to the door. She quickly exits and closes the door as fast as she can, but even still a very cold wind enters the room and sends shivers up your spine.

 

“Whoo, it's always this cold?”

Benjamin nods.

“She doesn’t like warmth.”

“She?” You repeat.

 

Before either child can answer, Evelyn and four others walk in, letting the cold draft sweep through the room. The sight of these new men make your head spin. They’re donned with strong armour on top of a green outfit. They immediately lock eyes with you with makes you uneasy.

 

“Are you the one who claims to be Queen Elsa’s fiancée?”

 

_Queen Elsa? Queen? What?_

“I… yes, I did.”

The guardsman sizes you up with a hint of disgust.

“Well, we’ll see. All of you, come with me. The Queen will want to speak with you personally.”

The two children reluctantly leave their chairs and join their mother. You can see… almost fear in their eyes. On the other hand, Evelyn looks exhilarated for an unknown reason.

 

_These men don_ _’_ _t seem to harm me_ _…_ _so I guess following them is the best course of action_ _…_

You shrug then cross your arms.

“I guess I have no choice.”

“No… you don’t.”

 

You become part of the group and leave the building in a pack. Instantly you notice that it’s snowing out, and with that realization, an even bigger one smacks you in the face. The environment, the people… everyone looks old… it looks like a kingdom from old times – like something you’d see in old movies or something. The people, the accents, everything is slowly piecing together without the big picture. A fountain, stalls… the final nail in the coffin sinks in when you come into view of your destination: a castle.

 

_Queen Elsa_ _…_ _this place_ _…_ _what_ _…_ _what the fuck happened? Where am I? Evelyn said Arendelle, but_ _…_ _that_ _’_ _s not possible! What the fuck? WHAT THE FUCK?_

During your inner panic you realize you’re already at the castle. A man stands before you, sizing you up. He’s a fair muscular looking man with a funny black moustache. His hair is thin, but not thinning. He dons what seems to be a more improved version of the other guards.

 

“And you are?” You question, standing your ground.

“Hm, talking back to the Captain of the Guard? Well, my name is Captain Durr. You are?”

“(Y/N) Knight,” you blandly answer.

“Hm… a stick. You hardly look worthy for the Queen.”

You chuckle, keeping a darker look.

“I doubt you hold a candle to me.”

 

Durr growls, but he quickly slips away when he decides it’s not worth it. Durr takes the lead, leading you and Evelyn’s family into the massive castle. You’re surprised you managed to have such confidence with Captain Durr, considering your immeasurable fear in this situation. Still, your determination to find answers to what the hell happened to you and why you’re here continues on. Perhaps finding whoever “Queen Elsa” is will be the first step.

 

You’re in a strange place called Arendelle with a woman who claims to be Elsa, though that could just be coincidence but your gut tells you otherwise. On top of that, it looks like you’re far in the past. What happened to you? You were engulfed in Alistair’s attack, whatever it was. You remember flailing your arms as the pain entered every morsel of your body, and then… nothingness.

 

_What kind of power does Alistair have? Did he send me here?_

You take a look around the castle courtyard and what you see doesn’t help. The stone walls are covered in a layer of ice, reinforcing the possibility of this new Elsa being yours. On top of that, and what’s for more disturbing, is what’s along the castle walls. Ice spikes are sticking up with decaying corpses stuck on them, all at varying places down the spike. It makes your stomach churn. This is obviously a warning, and goes to show you what kind of person this “Elsa” is. You just hope it’s not yours. If Alistair did anything to her, he will pay dearly.

 

Durr opens the door for you and the family, then follows behind. Other guards lead you all through the main entrance and to the throne room, which is directly down a hallway. Evelyn keeps her kids close, but not in a protective way. She seems very happy, as if she accomplished something. The small curves at the edge of her indicate this. You look back at her and she responds with a smile. It’s hard to understand why she’s smiling considering the cold temperature and the demented scenery. Is she used to it? Does she enjoy it? You really can’t say, but you hope she knows what she’s doing. She is the reason why you’re here in the first place.

 

The soldiers stop, lining up on either side of a large, decorated door. Captain Durr passes by the four of you and grips the door handle.

“You are about to be in the presence of Queen Elsa. Mind your manners, mind your tongue,” he hisses, looking at you. “And speak only when spoken to.”

“Yes, sir,” you sarcastically answer.

“Act like that,” he breaths, getting right in your ear. “And Queen Elsa will skin you alive. Though, maybe,” he steps back, sizing you up once more. “She’ll be more lenient to her ‘fiancee.’”

 

Captain Durr opens the door and walks through. You follow behind Evelyn and her children, though you’re taller than both so you’re barely hiding. The throne room is filled with ice, both in décor and… you squint as you pass a statue that looks eerily similar to a person. Considering all you’ve seen, you wouldn’t be surprised if that was once a person. You really hope it wasn’t.

 

You focus forward and see something that makes you question yourself even more. On either side of the throne there are five people… and you know all five. Pyro, Tempest, Gaia, and Rain stand at attention, all in armor relating to their element. They look exactly the same as when you last saw them, but… their eyes are dark. It’s not them, but it is. The only person of the five who’s eyes aren’t filled with mal intent are Anna's, but hers are shrouded in sorrow and fear. She’s donning a beautiful blue dress that covers her entire body, with her hair done up. In the middle, on the throne, sits Queen Elsa. Her hair, eyes, skin, everything looks like the Elsa you remember. She’s wearing an ice dress similar to the one she wore so long ago, but instead of a brilliant blue it’s a dark, near purple colour.

 

Captain Durr stands on the right of Elsa, making an even six people around her. She looks down at the four of you, glancing over the family and focusing on you and your dumbstruck face.

“You, woman, you say this is my fiancée?” Elsa speaks in an assertive, dark tone.

“That’s what he claimed, your majesty. He was washed up on shore, w-we nursed him back to health,” she speaks with uncertainty.

“Hm…” She looks back to you. “Interesting.”

Elsa waves her hands graciously in the direction of Evelyn and her children.

“My subjects… should not be so gullible.”

The ice on the walls slither below the three, then spikes shoot up through them and ends them in a second. You look down and see the same ice below you. You leap out of the way just in time to dodge the spike made for you.

 

Elsa raises her brow at this.

“Interesting.”

You slide across the ground and look up at the lifeless bodies. The children, the mother… they took care of you.

“What was that? They did nothing to you!” You shout.

“You dare raise your voice to the Queen?” Pyro shouts, taking a step forward.

Elsa waves her hand, commanding Pyro to calm down.

“Relax Pyro, relax.”

 

Pyro reluctantly steps back. Anna holds her hands, watching you with concern.

“So, Mr…”

“(Y/N) Knight,” you answer.

“Hm…” She stands up and walks towards you, each leg sliding over each other in an alluring manner. She reaches you and traces her freezing fingers across your chest. “Though I wouldn’t mind having you as a statue in my room.”

You notice something interesting around her neck. A necklace that seems odd with her outfit. With a quick peek around the room you note that the other elementals have the same necklace.

 

“Yeah… I think I’ll pass,” you politely say.

Elsa clicks her tongue.

“I don’t know… one doesn’t refuse a Queen.”

She slides her hands on your cheeks and pull you into a kiss. It tastes like Elsa’s kiss used to, but there’s something else about this. You can feel something entering your mouth, something airborne. Elsa breaks off the kiss with a confused face.

 

“Who are you?”

You smile, shrugging.

“(Y/N) Knight.”

Elsa frowns. Anyone who kisses her turns to ice, like the decorations around her throne room. She genuinely wanted you as eye candy in her room, yet somehow you resisted her powers. That is a feat nobody has ever accomplished. This piques her intrigue. You, who claims to love her, and then you’re resistant to her powers. Not to mention your disparate attire and unseen contraption on your wrist. You’re unique and possibly dangerous.

 

“Well… I suppose I’ll let you go,” she smirks, making her way back to the throne. “You’ve provided me some entertainment, but do not mistake my compassion for weakness. If you persist in opposing me, then I shall show you the true power of a Queen. Something those simpletons,” she eyes the dead family. “Got a taste of.”

 

You grind your teeth at her words. This isn’t your Elsa, far from it. Everyone here is different, except for Anna. She has a very scared, reluctant look to her. You want to talk to her, but you need a moment to clear your head and collect your thoughts. You roll your eyes and turn away.

“Can’t wait,” you mumble.

 

You push open the door and let it close behind you. Elsa watches you until the door cuts you off, then smiles.

“Keep an eye on him, Captain. Assure he provides me with no trouble.”

Yes, my Queen,” Durr responds, pounding his chest.

 

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You completely leave the ancient city of Arendelle, holding it together until you reach the dead forest outside. You fall to your knees and pull at your hair.

 

“What the fuck. What the fuck? WHAT THE FUCK?” You shout, standing and throwing your hands towards the city. “What the fucking fuck is that? Where am I? Why is there another goddamn fucking Elsa and Anna and Gaia and… AH!” You throw your hands into the air and start pacing around. “I have no fucking idea where I am or how I got here and there are duplicates of people and Elsa’s a crazy bitch and I’m fucking stuck here and… fucking fuck,” you kick the snow beneath you in a fit of rage. “Where’s Alistair? What did he do to me? What the fuck did he do!?”

 

“I don’t believe he meant to do anything,” a voice answers.

You quickly scan your surroundings and spot another man standing across from you, one hand at his side and the other resting on the pommel of a sword hitched to his belt. First you notice his unique clothing consisting of a long, red trench coat that has dragons slithering down both sleeves. It’s left open, only converging where his belt is, but it opens up after to show his legs. Underneath the jacket is what seems like a black vest made of a material you can’t identify, but it looks scaly. His legs are hidden under loose black trousers that’re stuffed in sturdy black boots.

 

The kicker with this new fellow is what he looks like. You haven’t looked in a mirror lately, but this man very much like you, if a little older. He stands confidently in front of you with a coy smile.

“I don’t think anyone wanted you here, either.”

“Shadow? No, it doesn’t exactly sound like him… who are you?” You ask, sliding your leg back and readying for a fight.

The man chuckles.

“You can call me Ryu, and I suggest you don’t attempt to combat me. I’m sure I have far more experience than you.”

 

You grind your teeth, becoming more tense. You may not be thinking straight, but seeing this imposter of you doesn’t make things any better.

“Shut up!” You launch at him and throw a punch.

Ryu rolls his eyes before catching your punch with his free hand. He doesn’t react to it at all, as if your punch was one of a child’s. He tosses you to the side and you tumble in the snow.

“Look, (Y/N), I don’t really have time for this. I came here to-“ He watches as you begin to run away. He sighs. “Rhaegos, why didn’t you tell me he was deaf?”

 

You sprint as fast as you can away from whoever this “Ryu” character is. He knew your name, he has your face, and he’s not making things any easier for you. Luckily your speed isn’t one to laugh at, so escaping him shouldn’t be much of an issue, even with the snow slightly slowing you down.

 

“Running isn’t going to get you anywhere, contrary to what you believe,” Ryu comments.

You look to Ryu who’s leaping through the trees to keep up with you.

“Leave me alone!” You shout, sliding across the ground then jumping to punch him.

He moves out of the way so fast that by the time he’s behind you, you just noticed he’s gone. Ryu grabs your arm and locks it behind your back then slams you into the ground, plowing through the snow.

 

“Listen, I’m not your enemy. I want to help you get back to your world. If you wish, we can waste time like this, but that’s your choice.”

You stop struggling and try to take a breather. If he truly wanted it he could of kill you right now, but he claims to want to help. That’s more than you got with Elsa.

“Fine… just, get off me.”

Ryu releases you and steps to the side to allow you to get up. You stretch your neck as you stare at him.

 

“Hm… I’m not used to it either,” Ryu speaks.

“What?”

“Looking at myself.”

 

You intently stare at him.

_Who is this guy?_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You and Ryu walk through the tundra of Arendelle towards one of the mountains. He claimed to represent someone who wishes to speak with you, and the mountains is where you’ll find him. You walk side by side in absolute silence. He promised you answers, and now you’re going to collect.

 

“So… why do we look the same? Is your name (Y/N) too?”

Ryu nods.

“To answer your second question, yes, my name is also (Y/N). Your first question is more complicated. Rhaegos, the… person you’ll be meeting with, will know more. It’s complicated, even for me.”

“Hm… so, do you come from Arendelle too?”

Ryu huffs.

“Yes, but not that Arendelle. That’s not the same Elsa I know.”

“Wait,” you leap in front of him. “You know Elsa too?”

 

Ryu walks past you, to which you quickly follow.

“As I said, it’s complicated. My Elsa… well, we’re married with children. She’s nothing like the one in this world.”

“You said that before… this… ‘world,’” you make movements with your hands as you speak. “What does that mean?”

“You keep coming back to the same question,” he chuckles. “I suppose there are some things I can explain, though. For instance, your punching power could use some work. Then again, we’re not in Drakon mode and I doubt you’ve had the training I’ve had.”

 

You stop walking.

“Drakon… mode? What’s that?”

Ryu stops and looks back at you, perplexed.

“You… don’t know?”

You shake your head. Ryu sighs, then chuckles.

“I suppose we have lived different lives… I shouldn’t have assumed you knew.” He inhales then exhales. “Alright, lets keep moving and I’ll explain the best I can.”

 

You catch up to him and continue your journey.

“You, me, any version of (Y/N) is, from what I understand, a Drakon – a child born from man and Dragon.”

“Wait, WHAT?” You shout.

“You, (Y/N) Knight, are a Drakon. A hybrid of human and Dragon.”

You look away, blankly staring ahead of you as you process this information. You’re not human? You’re… half human? WHAT?

“Have you ever noticed that you’re stronger or faster than most? Have you not mastered the elements?” Ryu presses.

“Elements… yeah… sometimes I… change and can use them, but I don’t know how to,” you answer with a timid voice.

Ryu holds his hand up and summons fire.

“It seems all Drakons possess the ability to utilize the elements, but each one also has their own abilities. Your Drakon powers differ from mine, for example.”

 

You stare at his fire until he extinguishes it. You look into his eyes with a question ready.

“Then… what’s your power?”

Ryu huffs.

“I suppose it’s only fair that I show you.”

He slips his hands out of his jacket, letting the upper half fall, caught by the belt. He focuses for a brief moment before draconic wings spread from his back, piercing through his vest. His skin slowly forms scales and his eyes sharpen.

 

“I can take the form of a Dragon, fly, and heal myself.” As quickly as it appeared, he retracts the wings and dismisses the scales. He slips his jacket back on as normal. “This is my power. You… I don’t know what you can do.”

“What… what the fucking fuck was that? I, you… me…”

Ryu covers your mouth and gives you a tired look.

“You have a lot more to learn, so I ask you to not break down until you’ve heard the full story.”

You slowly nod and he takes back his hand.

“We do not belong here, so it’s best we return you to your world with haste. Come on, lets not keep Rhaegos waiting.”

 

Ryu begins to run, to which you quickly follow. It’s hard to see this man who’s so similar to you act and move so differently. His words, tone, movements, everything is different. It’s you, but… not. It’s like he said: you two have lived different lives despite being the same person. How that’s possible is… something you can’t explain, though it sounds similar to you, Shadow, and Carnage. Different people with similar looks. That’s the closest comparison you can draw at the moment, but this is all way out of your league. You’re moderately smart, but this… you doubt even Shadow would have an answer.

 

You both trek your way through the snow at inhuman speeds until you reach the base of a mountain. Before Ryu continues he turns to you, pulling out a small, dark crystal.

“Before we continue, I need you to bleed on this,” he says as he unsheathes his weapon. You stare at it in awe.

“Hey! That’s the-“

“Dragon Sword. You have one?”

You summon the Dragon Sword on your back and unsheathe it. Ryu immediately notices something.

“Your blade… it’s missing the Dragon Tear.”

“The… wait…” You stab the sword into the ground then cycle through your holowatch. You quickly find the Dragon’s Tear and summon it in the palm of your hand. “This?”

Ryu smirks like he’s watching a toddler learn basic math.

“If you attach that to your hilt, the Dragon Sword becomes immensely more powerful. Well, that’s the case with me. You, not having your full Drakon power… well, I’m sure you can infer.”

 

You flip your blade so you’re holding it in reverse-grip style and notice the small opening for the Dragon Tear.

_So Alistair had this? What did he want with it? Does he know about my blood? My_ _…_ _apparent Dragon blood._

 

You fit the tear into the sword. Immediately the sword flourishes with a beautiful glow for just a moment. As quickly as it came, the glow dims to normal. You then hear the cutting of flesh beside you. Turning to the sound you see Ryu dripping blood from his hand onto the crystal. The small gem absorbs the blood but hungers for more. You pout, but comply with Ryu’s request. You hold the blade against your hand and slice, letting blood drip out of your hand. You sheathe your blade and let everything dissipate as you hold your bleeding hand over the crystal. It devours the blood you drip onto it.

 

The moment it takes your blood you start to feel pounding in your head. Ryu shows discomfort as well, confirming it’s not just you.

“So… what’s this suppose to do?” You ask.

“Link us, somehow. Even I don’t have all the answers. I’m just a messenger,” Ryu explains.

“Lovely,” you moan, rubbing your temples. “Well, can we get moving? I’d like to… return… as quickly as possible.”

“As would I.”

 

Ryu approaches the rockwall, feeling it up as he searches for something.

“Hm… It should be here.” Ryu steps back and folds his arms. “No matter, we’ll take another approach.”

Ryu pushes his jacket off and extends his wings. You step back, giving him space for whatever his plan is. Before you can react he grabs your hand and soars into the air. You flail around at the sudden action, but quickly calm knowing that you’re not making his flying any easier. You know how difficult flying can be.

 

Ryu flies you to the top of the mountain where a small area is flattened and molded. From this distance it nearly looks like a shrine or… meeting place. Ryu hovers over the top and lets you go. You land relatively gracefully whilst Ryu simply lands.

“I guess you have some grace. You still need practice.”

“Psh, who are you to judge me?”

Ryu rolls his shoulders, tilts his head, and smirks.

“(Y/N), a man who spent his entire childhood being trained by assassins and ninjas. That’s who.”

You cross your arms and look away.

“(Y/N), a man who spent his entire childhood meh, meh, meh,” you mock.

 

Before Ryu can scold you a terrifying, deafening roar echoes through the mountains. You freeze, looking around frantically for the source.

“What the hell was that?”

“Our… well, my father.”

 

The roar is replaced by a large “thud” that shakes the surface you’re on to the point that you fall on your butt. You look up at the menacing figure in front of you and Ryu. A large, golden, brilliant Dragon that stands as mighty as it would in a picture. It’s shimmering eyes pierce through your soul and erupts fear from your heart.

 

“What the fucking fucking fucking fuck is that?” You scream, backing away frantically.

“You’re not as elegant with your words, it seems,” Ryu chuckles.

“It’s the way of his time,” Rhaegos answers.

“HE SPEAKS? I, oh my god, what in this shit is my LIFE RIGHT NOW?” You panic, holding your head in your hands.

“Knight, I understand your fear and confusion during this time, but if you wish to save your friends I propose you quiet yourself and listen,” Rhaegos speaks.

 

You pause at his words, then slowly look up at the menacing beast.

“My… friends?”

Rhaegos nods his massive head.

“Elsa, Hunter, Gaia, Rain, and all your friends who have perished.”

Your pupils dilate in shock.

“P-P-perished… what are you talking about?” You questions, getting to your feet.

Rhaegos inhales some air then beathes a grey smoke at you. Your world starts turning and the smoke takes form, showing visions. You see Hunter and the gang fighting Alistair and Juno. All of them are being beaten, dying. Soon after Juno is left with them, tearing Gaia, Matt, everyone to small bits as she feeds on some of their flesh. Alistair, on the other hand, murders Elsa in a fatal swoop and activates his device.

 

“I win,” his voice echoes in your mind.

 

“This… happened…” You mutter through your teeth.

“You were gone. Nobody could stop them. They killed everyone,” Rhaegos clarifies.

The image of Elsa being vaporized plays over and over in your mind. You couldn’t protect her. You couldn’t protect any of them. They all died and you saw it. Your muscles begin to tense, your teeth clench to the point of shattering. You’ve never felt such rage, such emotion before. Lightening starts phasing around you, your eyes become completely white, your muscles bulk.

 

“Gi… gigig….” Your voice cracks through your teeth.

 

Soon after you let out a deafening shout, your power surges through you. A beam of elements shoot up from you, causing the clouds to stir and weather to change. Ryu holds his hand in front of his face as snow and rock fly away from your tantrum.

 

“What is this?” He shouts.

Rhaegos, remaining completely still, answers as he always does.

“The first step.”

 

Your lungs never run out of breath, so your scream persist for minutes as your body and mind is pushed to the very limits. Your sanity being crushed after seeing your love ones torn apart and killed, along with the sudden, overwhelming surge of power burning your muscles and bones, boiling your blood and scarring your skin. Lightening starts crashing down around the three of you as fire breaks through the cracks of the mountain. The sea begins breaking through the icy layer blanketing it to erupt a full storm.

 

“Rhaegos, stop him!” Ryu shouts, seeing your body start to crumble from the power.

Rhaegos, this time, does not respond.

“Father!” He shouts, looking at the Dragon.

Rhaegos intently watches your swelling to see what exactly is holding you back. Before you always subconsciously tamed yourself and your powers. Now, with nothing left in a strange world, you’re relasing it to its fullest. That is, until your mind puts it to a halt. Everything immediately stops once this barrier is hit, and your body flops to the ground.

 

Ryu rushes to your side, flipping you onto your back.

“Knight! Knight, wake up,” Ryu shouts, shaking you. “Come on, (Y/N)! Wake up! Rhaegos, what happened?”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

To be weightless is something you’ve never experienced before, and you’re not even sure if this is it. It feels as thought you cannot move because you have no body, yet you can clearly see your arms and legs as you drift through oblivion. You can’t remember anything that happened before. The only thing that echoes in your mind is “completion”. You don’t know why, you don’t know the significance, but that’s what you can hear.

 

“It’s strange, isn’t it?” A voice speaks to you, yet you do not move. “To finally reach the tipping point. To learn that everything you knew was wrong.”

 

You continue to float through oblivion, but now, below you, visions start to appear. The first is of a person that looks like you, in a suit with dark glasses and a cane, talking to a woman that looks to be Anna.

 

“There will always be a (Y/N). There will always be an Elsa, an Anna, a Gaia, these things are constant. (Y/N) will always be a Drakon, a descendent of the Dragon blood, a descendant of me, whether it’s directly from me, like Ryu, or down the line, like you.”

 

The vision changes to one of you in a white hoodie with other teenagers. They’re around a mysterious well that sucks them in.

 

“Some (Y/N)s never learn of their Drakon potential. Some take full use of it.”

 

The vision changes to a man who very much dresses like Ryu. He’s falling towards a giant snake, sword in hand.

 

“You, descendant of the Drakon Blood, have been forced to learn these powers and abilities. I’ve watched as you were tested on, as others attempted to harness the Drakon power for themselves. They failed.”

 

The vision morphs into another lookalike in a dark hood with a demented smile plastered on his face.

 

“Each beast has their own role to maintain. As the Dragon Rhaegos, I am to keep the flow of time in check. It’s unfeasible for this to be disrupted, but your father, Alistair Knight, unintentionally found a way. He has harnessed pure energy, a dangerous ability. Drakon blood mixed with pure energy disrupts the river of time, which is what brought you here.”

 

The vision changes to you fighting Alistair near the sunken temple.

 

“You, (Y/N) Knight, are the first being to have a fate that is unknown to even I. You hold your fate, Elsa’s fate, everyone’s fate in your hands. You even hold Shadow’s fate in your hands, as he holds yours. Two pieces of a whole, ripped apart and constantly at war.”

 

The vision morphs into you and Shadow, standing back to back, looking over your shoulders at each other.

 

“You may speak your mind; any questions you have I shall answer to the best of my knowledge.”

 

You drift in front of a Rhaegos, staring the massive Dragon in the face. You assume a standing form and prepare any questions you have for him. As you stare at him, he stares at all of you. In one eye, he sees (Y/N) Knight. In the other, he sees Shadow. Each have their own questions, and each shall be answered.

 

“If… if they’re dead… how can I save them?” You ask, your voice quivering.

“I am the Guardian of Time. The events where Alistair Knight wins with no retaliation from you is not what should be. In this case, I can manipulate the timeline and erase the old one. You will have your chance to save your friends.”

 

“And right now… I’m… in another world?”

Rhaegos nods in response.

“One of the various other realities that parallel yours. All different, yet all sharing the same traits.”

“I… wait, you said you can send me back! Can’t you do it now?” You plead, stepping closer to the Dragon.

Rhaegos, once again, nods.

“I can, however… if you return to your world now, you will die, and events will play out the same.”

“I… thought you said you couldn’t see my future,” you counter, confused.

“I can’t, but I do know the difference in power between you and your father. You are not ready.”

 

“Then how do I get ready?” You scream. “My friends, my Elsa is in danger and you’re saying I can’t do anything to save them?”

Rhaegos shakes his head, then extends his wings.

“Your Drakon power is locked within you, but so is the key. There is someone with you that can help you find that key. You may remain in this world for a time, under my supervision, and train. Of course, it is your choice. If you wish to return now, I shall allow it.”

 

You turn away from Rhaegos, weighing all the options. The Dragon has proven he knows far more than you, and if he thinks you can’t defeat Alistair then he’s likely right. Even you remember Alistair defeating you with one blast. You can’t save anyone at your current state, not against Alistair. You have no choice. You need to save your friends. You have to save Elsa.

 

“I’ll stay… I want to stay,” you answer, turning back to the Dragon.

 

Rhaegos recognizes the look in your eye. It’s not one of fear or confusion anymore. Now it’s strength, determination, courage. They look so much like Ryu’s, back when Rhaegos guided him.

 

“Very well, Knight. You shall stay. When you are ready, I shall send you back.”

 

You nod. With your conversation done, you dissipate from Rhaegos’ view. Now all that’s left is Shadow, who remains as calm and logical as ever.

 

“Alright, Rhaegos,” Shadow begins, his eyes closed as he thinks on his questions. “Answer me this. The state I have now… the one (Y/N) can’t achieve… it’s not the full Drakon power, is it?”

“No,” he bluntly answers.

“Hmph, as I thought,” Shadow mumbles to himself.

“Very well, Rhaegos. How do I unlock its full power?”

 

 

 

**Hello everyone and welcome to Act 3 of Project** **’** **s Past! YES! We** **’** **re finally here! Is it what you expected? I guarantee you this has all thrown you for a loop. Well, unless you** **’** **ve picked up on the clues I** **’** **ve hidden through Project** **’** **s Past and Vow to Keep. For a year I** **’** **ve left hints of the similarities between the two stories, and now that** **’** **s finally coming into play! Now you** **’** **re thrust into a new reality with new allies, new enemies, and a new Elsa! What could happen here? How are you going to beat Alistair? And how do you unlock the full Drakon power? All this and more, throughout the Act!**

**As silly as that was, I** **’** **ve honestly thought of this act for a very long time. I have a lot planned and I** **’** **m really excited to share it with you all. There will be surprises, romance, and, of course, some signature, badass Chinsangan fight scenes. I really hope this idea doesn** **’** **t turn you guys off. I know the whole** **“** **multiverse, different realities, multiple main characters** **”** **stuff has been done before, but I** **’** **m still really confident in what I have planned. I do hope you all enjoy this journey to return for the final battle!**

**Want to keep up with me? Know what chapter** **’** **s coming out next and the progress of them? Follow me on Twitter! Twitter . com (slash) Chinsangan**

**Ever want me to write a one-shot for you? Maybe a few? Maybe one every few months? Perhaps get the inside scoop on how I write, ideas for future or current stories, and even help writing your own story? Consider checking out my Patreon page! Pat reon . com (slash) Chinsangan**

**Questions? Comments? Concerns? Advice? Send me a message! See ya!**

**A special thank you to Patreon supporters: GrayJack72**

 

 


	48. Priorities

#  **Chapter 48: Priorities**

 

You lie against the hard mountain floor, panting as small particles of snow fall onto your body. You’d move if you could, but it feels like every muscle is on fire each time you breathe in and out. Ryu is leaning against the wall near the door leading to your makeshift living quarters. He’s not nearly as exhausted as you are despite having more to put up with. It’s been three days since you arrived in this “new world,” and Ryu has been training you ever since. Every day consists of training and practice. He takes you for a run, makes you follow along in a torturous body-weight training regiment, and finishes off with combat both using your limbs and your blade.

 

You’ve been doing this twice a day and it’s absolutely exhausting to you. It baffles you how Ryu can shrug it off like nothing. He’s like a machine that never stops, but… it’s you. On your downtime you’ve learned all about what he’s gone through in his world. The Dragon Clan, the Serpent Clan, his Elsa, Anna, and elementals, and everything he’s gone through to become the King of Arendelle. The amount of fighting he’s done far surpasses you and it slowly makes sense why he’s so skilled. Still, you’re both Drakons so obviously he hasn’t gotten any major stamina boost. It just baffles you how he’s doing all this exercise like it’s an everyday thing. You start to wonder if it really is an everyday thing for him.

 

Ryu pushes off the wall and approaches you. He stands over you, staring down at your fatigued state. You chuckle.

“Hehe… you… wanna go another round?”

Ryu smirks, shaking his head.

“Sure, whatever you say Knight,” he says, offering you his hand.

You grab it and pull you onto your feet.

“You’re getting better, but you’re nowhere near on my level. I’m not even going on at full power.”

You stretch your neck, then proceed to your legs.

“Why don’t you fight me at full power? It would be a great test.”

Ryu snickers, looking almost proud of you.

“When you finally can use your full power we’ll fight.”

 

An ear-piercing roar erupts as soon as Ryu stops speaking. You both look to the misty sky and immediately see Rhaegos paving the way through the sky. He lands on the ground, shaking both of you with his power and weight. His very presence makes your heart beat a few ticks faster from fear and awe. This is the second time you’ve seen him so you’re still not used to the behemoth of a creature he is.

 

“You may never fight,” he speaks in a far more serious tone.

Ryu crosses his arms.

“Why not? We’ve been training all this time.”

“Training is different. Two Drakons disrupt the flow of the world. If not for my protection, this world would slowly fall apart. But if you both fought at maximum power… this entire section of time would crumble.”

 

You scratch your cheek nonchalantly.

“Crumble? What do you mean?”

Rhaegos breathes smoke through his nostrils.

“There were two Drakons who met before to resolve a problem a millennia ago. They decided to test their power and fight. Their battle tore that plain to pieces and killed everyone in that world.”

You step back in shock whereas Ryu remains steady.

“What? You mean… everyone?”

“Everything in that timeline was eradicated.”

“How strong were they?” Ryu poses.

“Weaker than both of you. Currently, my son, you are the strongest Drakon through all times. But…” His head shifts towards a freaked out you. “Knight’s current power surpasses yours when we last met.”

 

Ryu raises his brow and looks over at you. He trained for a very long time to attain the power he used to fight Viper, yet your apparent power surpasses even that? Your latent power is curious to him, which makes training you even more exciting. It’s been a long time since he’s trained anyone to this extent and you’re a perfect way to get back into it.

 

“Me? I can’t even activate my form. Maybe if Shadow told me!” You shout.

_“_ _Don_ _’_ _t blame me for your shortcomings._ _”_

“It would help if you at least shared some knowledge on how you unlocked it,” Ryu answers.

You blink at Ryu in complete silence. Even Shadow has nothing to say to this.

“You… heard him?” You stutter.

“Of course. Were you not aware?”

 _“_ _Rhaegos is likely the cause of this,_ _”_ Shadow pipes up.

 

You and Ryu look over to the towering dragon who’s remained silent so far.

“Astute observation Shadow. Can you deduce when it happened?”

“When what happened?”

“You two are linked through blood,” Rhaegos clarifies.

“Through…” Finally it all clicks. “The stone?” You ask, turning to Ryu.

“It linked us. I didn’t know what it was when first given it, but father explained it to me when you were sleeping.” He coughs, preparing to elaborate. “The stone has linked us together through the blood we offered. From what father said, we can hear each other’s thoughts no matter the distance between us. This also includes hearing you, Shadow. Thus, if we need to communicate all you need to do is think.”

 

“And… if I want you to NOT hear my thoughts?”

“Well… I’ll just ignore it,” Ryu smirks. “Just don’t think of anything you wouldn’t want me to hear.”

You slouch forward, pouting.

“Great…”

“Well, with that out of the way we should continue our training. Are you going to observe, father?” Ryu inquires, looking over his shoulder to the dragon.

“I would like to see his progress.”

 

You huff before getting into a fighting stance.

 

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Three guards sit around a fireplace in the barracks – Captain Durr being one of them. He is attempting to light a fire, but the freezing temperature and constant icy winds demolish any hope for that. One of the guards sighs.

“If you ask me, we should have the entire palace be warm. It’s not fair that the Princess is the only one who gets it.”

“I know what you mean. Once a month is too little for my tastes. My kids like swimming, but I can never take them.”

Durr snickers, shaking his head.

“You’d be wise not to disrespect the Queen in front of her Captain. Doubly goes for when you’re in her castle,” he speaks, attempting to light the frosty wood once more.

 

The guards sigh, wrapping themselves in their blankets. Whenever guardsmen have their breaks, nearly all of them attempt to get a fire going and relax with blankets. It’s the one time warmth is possible when in the castle, and even then it’s simply a fleeting dream.

 

“So Captain, what do you think of that kid who claimed to be Elsa’s fiancée?”

Durr clenches his teeth in frustration as his attempts to light the logs once again fails. He places the tools down and rests his arms on his knees.

“The boy seemed like an idiot, but… there was something in his eyes that I don’t like.”

“You think he’s a threat to Arendelle?”

Durr taps his leg armour as he thinks.

“I don’t know. Perhaps, if I spoke to him once more without having the petty façade I must put on in front of some of those guards.”

 

The two guards nod their heads.

“Ah, yes, those creepy cold ones. Their eyes always seem dead and… they just stand there. They never have anything good to say.”

“They never have anything to say. They must have an icicle up the ass.”

The two guards laugh at the petty joke. Durr stares blankly at the wood as he processes those words.

“They’re chosen by the Queen…” He eerily says, stopping the others laughter. “Chosen because their actions displeased the Queen.” He stands up and begins to walk away. “I suggest you two avoid making those same mistakes.”

 

Durr leaves the room and starts walking through the chilly hallway. He can see his breath every time he exhales which is a welcome, if minor, break in the freezing temperature of this palace. He lost men to frostbite just for being on duty, but the Queen doesn’t care. She hasn’t cared for some time.

 

Someone walks into Durr’s view, taking him away from his thoughts. Of course he recognizes the green hair to be one of Queen Elsa’s Elite.

“Captain, her Majesty would like to have a word with you.” A sudden rush of snow finds its way through all the halls of the castle – a clear indication of an upset Queen. “And I suggest you hurry.”

Durr bows his head.

“Of course, Gaia.”

 

Captain Durr passes by the elemental on his way to the throne room. Even in this freezing weather he can feel the heat of her stare as he walks away. The elementals have never been a fan of Durr, a fact he’s well aware of. It’s been increasingly difficult for him to maintain order while also appeasing the Queen, but he made an oath to protect and serve to his dying breath. He will never break that promise.

 

The Captain opens the throne room doors and immediately catches the scent of death that is carried along by the harsh winds. Three new bodies are impaled on the blue spikes. Durr eyes then but quickly looks away when he sees that they’re guardsmen. Captain Durr kneels before his queen as he discreetly shivers at the colder temperature. Whenever Queen Elsa is disappointed, she makes the entire city colder. Of course nobody notices more than the guards inside who have to deal with constant freezing temperatures.

 

“I-I’m s-s-sorry your M-M-Majesty. He w-went to the mountains a-a-a-and we lost track of him,” Durr spits out while his body slowly freezes.

Elsa paces in front of her throne with all eyes on her. The elementals all remain silent as the blizzard tears apart the room. They’re all using their respective elements to protect them from the cold.

“It was a mistake to let him leave. I should have kept him in the dungeon. Perhaps chained him up?” She giggles to herself at the image. She quickly returns to a stern persona and turns to the Captain. “I want all guards on full alert for him. If he’s seen in Arendelle I am the first to know of it.”

“Y-Yes, your Majesty. If he’s s-spotted, you w-w-will be notified.”

 

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“Your grip is wrong.”

You look at your hands that wrap around your blade’s hilt.

“It’s only because you’re making me hold it in such an idiotic fashion.”

Ryu sighs, letting his hands fall to his sides.

“Alright, how do you use your weapon?”

 

You shrug, then get into a stance. You spread your legs, letting one slide back a bit, hold your free hand in front of you, and let your sword dangle to the side. Ryu scoffs at the stance.

“If this is how the swordsman of your time act then the art is truly lost.”

You roll your eyes.

“Please, I fight just fine.”

“For a child attempting to use a blade, sure. Children at the temple could best you with the sword,” Ryu blatantly says.

 

You slowly start yelling, then fall right onto your back.

“This suuuucks!”

“Mature. I’m sure Elsa would love to hear you whining when her life is on the line,” Ryu scolds.

You lift your head and stare him dead in the eye with the most serious look he’s ever seen from you.

“That’s not funny.”

Ryu sheathes his blade as he slowly approaches you. Nobody would even know he’s moving considering his steps are so light that he makes no sound as he treks through the snow. He stops in front of you, resting one hand on his blade’s hilt and the other hitches itself on his belt.

 

“I apologize. I know what it’s like to lose her.”

You nod, your hair pushing through the snow.

“I know… ”

Ryu looks away and ponders your question. Before answering he sits down beside you.

“It was different for me. She was taken, not dead. Though…” Ryu chuckles, looking away. “If she had died, I might have destroyed the continent.”

You notch your elbows on the ground to slightly lift your body up.

“You could do that?”

“Hm, maybe. I’ve never had to exert myself to that level. Honestly I hope I never have to. My life is peaceful now. There’s no need for the use of my Drakon powers for anything aside from transportation. It sounds boring, yes… but I like it. It feels like I deserve it.”

 

You fall back to the ground, exhaling.

“I deserve a plane of heaven for everything I’ve been through.”

Ryu chuckles.

“Then earn it. Come, let’s practice your meditation once more.

“Aaaaaaah, again? I hate that.”

“It’s because you can’t shut up,” Ryu comments, getting up and walking away from you.

You sit up straight and assume your meditation position as Ryu does the same thing. You both close your eyes and exhale at the same time in perfect synchronization. Every movement of your bodies mirror the other as you attempt to become as calm and relaxed as possible.

 

As Ryu explained, it’s supposed to prepare you for the mental strain the form will take. It’s not an easy thing to handle physically or mentally, so his meditation is supposed to help with that. His current theory is you’re physically capable of handling the power, as you’ve shown to be able to handle the power it’s given you, but you can only handle it for so long until your mind can no longer handle it. That’s simply Ryu’s theory, however, and has no real evidence behind it. On the other hand, Shadow is a far more balanced and stable individual when it comes to his body and mind, and he’s mastered the form. As much as you hate the act of meditation.

 

Not once have you ever felt “balanced” or whatever Ryu always goes on about. All you can focus on is the sounds of nature, but that pales in comparison to your own thoughts. Images keep flooding through your head of nearly a hundred different sights come to the forefront of your mind. Of course most of these images are of Elsa, Anna, Kristoff. It’s unsurprising your friends make an appearance… but for some reason the Elsa and Anna from this place is pushing its way to the front. Her demented smile, her walk, the manner in which she mercilessly murdered those people… yet Anna’s scared, timid face appears too. The elementals who you begun to understand and respect, and even those children’s faces that were murdered.

 

Your eyes fly open and you burst from your sitting position. Ryu opens his eyes and watch you walk away, frustrated and mumbling incoherent nonsense. He smirks at one tiny detail that you’re missing out on.

“This is idiotic! There’s no point for this! We sit here for a few minutes for no reason! It doesn’t matter!” You shout, approaching the edge of the mountain.

Ryu gets to his feet and rolls his shoulders. The darkness of the night surrounds you, something that wasn’t present when you both sat down.

 

“How about we take a small break? Let me grab something,” he says as he enters the cave and leaves you to your own frustration.

You huff in an attempt to relieve some of the frustrations you’re having. Why are they in your head? What do they have to do with your current situation, and why the hell are they on your mind? You haven’t even paid any attention to them since you left Arendelle… at least not intentionally. Maybe you need to visit them again… maybe…

 

“Knight, take it”

You turn around and catch some sort of fabric. You look down at it, examining the object to figure out what it is.

“A… cloak?”

“We’re going somewhere. Put it on.”

You slip into the large clothing item, allowing it to cover your entire body then finishing with a hood.

“Great, this is REALLY incognito.”

Ryu puts on his own version of the same garbs, flipping the hood up.

“Maybe where you come from, but many travelers use this. We may get a few looks, but we won’t attract any attention. Now come.”

 

Ryu leaps off the mountain, falling beyond your view. You pout.

“You think I can just do that so easily. Stupid ninja jumping… I’d like to see him parkour along my buildings…” You mumble as you hop off the mountain to follow him.

 

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You and Ryu enter the gates of Arendelle with no problems. If anything the guards pitied you for having to come here. Luckily it’s not snowing too hard, so the few snowflakes that do land on you quickly turn to water. You stay right beside Ryu as to not cause any trouble. You don’t want to be here, and you have no idea why you’re here to begin with. Ryu, with no explanation, lead you here and hasn’t spoken since.

 

He leads you through the snowy walkways of Arendelle to the brightest building on the street. There seems to be a space for a hanging sign, but none is there. It’s just a bright, big building. Ryu approaches it and opens the door for you to enter. You go in first and look around. People are moping at tables with mugs in their hand. Ryu shuts the door behind you and stands by your side.

 

“A pub?”

Ryu nods, removing his hood.

“Indeed. I think you need a little fun; some stress relief. Besides, there’s a saying: ‘Drinking your sorrows away,’ I believe it is?”

You let your hood down and give him an unamused stare. He shrugs.

“Just bear with me. Come on, it’s on me.”

Ryu passes by you and approaches the bar. You slowly follow as you look around the building. Ryu takes a seat on the stool as he grabs a small pouch off his belt then sets it on the bar. The woman approaches him and notices the bag of gold in-between them.

 

“I want everyone to have a good time tonight. A round for everyone, but keep them coming for me and my…” You take a seat next to him and look at the woman. “Brother… here.”

The woman hesitantly grabs the pouch, looking at Ryu with doubt and curiosity. She weighs the pouch in her hand as a smile appears on her face.

“Yeah… okay. Coming right up,” she says, lightly tossing the pouch up and catching it.

 

You look over to the swordsman with a coy smile.

“Brothers?”

“Twins, yes. That is what we’ll say,” he quickly says as he watches the woman walk away. “Now be quiet. I want to see what I can do for this place.”

You cross your arms and dive your head into it.

“Invites me out then tells me to shut up…”

 

The woman starts handing out drinks to everyone in the pub. Each time they receive one she points to Ryu, to which he responds with a smile. Already the customers seem to be getting a little more life in them from Ryu’s generosity. Once drinks are handed out to everyone she returns with a mug for each of you.

 

“Thanks for that stranger. Just for that, I gave you top shelf.” she winks.

Ryu bows his head in return before she walks away, then grabs his drinks and takes a gulp. You do the same with yours.

“So, do we just drink until-“

“Well chaps,” Ryu starts, standing up and walking towards the middle of the pub. “Just because it’s cold outside doesn’t mean this place can’t be heated with passion! Come on, bottoms up!” He shouts, clanging his mug on the nearest table and downing the entire mug in one gulp.

 

The pub starts riling with noise as people follow along with Ryu’s plan. They all down their drinks in one swig, then cheer to the man who bought their drinks. Ryu smiles, looking at all the happy faces around him. He grabs a nearby table and slides it into the middle.

 

“Come now, no need to end it here. Let’s have some friendly competition! Arm wrestling, huh? Whoever wins… I’ll buy’em a round!” He announces.

The crowd becomes even louder as chairs are brought around from all tables to surround the middle one. Two men take position and begin, using all their strength to dominate the other. Ryu takes a few steps back towards the bar and leans back on it. He grabs another pouch and sets it down. The woman swipes it and waits for his order.

 

“Keep them coming for everyone. I want them all to be as happy as they can.”

You grab another mug and approach Ryu.

“What’re you doing?”

Ryu smiles, turning to you.

“I’m letting everyone have a good time. Lighten up, Knight. Get some more drinks in you, then we’ll talk,” he cheers.

 

Ryu leaves you, heading to the middle to cheer on the two competitors. You slowly drink as you watch him go. You always saw Ryu as such a stick in the mud, but now he’s being all charismatic, caring, and compassionate for people he doesn’t even know. Why? What’s gotten into him? He’s smiling, laughing… what kind of world is this? It’s a world that has a Ryu you’ve never seen before. It’s like if Shadow constantly smiled and was actually nice to people. It’s just something you never imagined happening.

 

Suddenly you hear another mug get placed beside you. You turn your head and look at the bartender.

“Brother said to make sure you keep drinking. He’s a pretty good guy for doing this.”

“Yeah, I guess. But isn’t the place somewhat like this sometimes?”

The woman firmly shakes her head.

“No… we haven’t had this much energy in a very long time. It’s good to see our people can still have fun.”

 

With that she leaves you, heading over the crowd of people to hand out more drinks. Ryu is arm wrestling with a man and losing. On purpose, no doubt. Once he loses they all toast and drink up. He sets his drink down and looks over to you, promptly shaking his head. He excuses himself from the table and marches to you.

“What is the purpose of being over here, hm? I pro-“

“Why’re you doing this, huh? Buying drinks for everyone and all that?”

Ryu rolls his eyes as he takes another drink. He sits on a stool and looks to the crowd.

“I’m the King of Arendelle in my time. To me… these people still feel like my people. It’s difficult for me to turn a blind eye to their suffering. If I can cheer them up, give them hope even for a day…”

 

You down your drink and slam in on the table.

“You know what, you’re right. Maybe just drowning myself in alcohol is the answer.” You look away and smile to yourself. “Never thought I’d say that…”

Ryu hands you his drink and pats your back.

“Alright, then come drink with the rest of us!”

You two approach the table and take a seat. There’s a large plate of filled drinks for everyone. Ryu grabs one, clanks his mug against yours, then you both drink the entire cup.

“We’ve drank so much in such a short timespan,” you chuckle.

“It’ll hit us soon. Lets try to remember the most we can!” He cheers, grabbing two more drinks and handing you one.

“So you two are brothers, huh?”

You shrug.

“Yeah, you know… it-“

“Is he the fun one, then?” Another interjects, his voice already slurred.

You huff, letting your eyelids fall halfway.

“Nah, this is probably the most fun he’s had in a while. He’s usually a stick in the mud,” you smirk.

“Well, we’ll wash all that out with drink, eh!” A bearded one shouts, drinking out of his mug.

 

You scratch your head as you think of some way to add to this party. Your mind instantly thinks of something, as your eyes lock-on to your holowatch. A smile creeps onto your face, which doesn’t go unnoticed by Ryu.

“What’re you planning, Knight?”

You flash a smile as you get out of the chair and head towards a more open area of the pub. Ryu watches you, ignoring the loud ruckus of the progressively drunks patrons. You play with your holowatch as you come to a halt and turn towards everyone.

 

“Good thing I added variety.” you say to yourself as you set up the stage.

You hit the button and your technology takes over. A blue hologram takes over this section of the bar. Holograms of you with conga drums, shakers, trumpets, and a variety of other peaceful and upbeat instruments take position. Everyone is marveled at the sight while Ryu is a little more concerned than anything. You just introduced future technology to the past, though this could be played off as some sort of magic.

 

Without any thought they begin playing a very upbeat tune that fits a bar like this one. You start clapping your hands to rile everyone up.

“We need some music for a night like this, huh?” You cheer, winking at Ryu. “Now come on, lets have some fun and drink up!” You grab another mug and take a seat, setting your hand up for a challenge. “So, shall we begin? I’ll drink and win at the same time.”

Someone takes your hand to challenge you. Ryu sits back and smiles at the sight. Finally you’re not brooding or whining or asking questions. You’re having fun like he’s seen in your past. Perhaps its your pleasant nature coming out, or maybe the alcohol is finally taking effect. Either way you’re laughing, unwinding, and unknowingly allowing Ryu’s training to take greater effect.

 

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**The Next Day**

 

“Wah!” You shout, leaping out of the way before Ryu punches the ground where you were, shaking the ground around you two.

You land on the trembling ground and struggle to gain your balance. A punch like that might have shattered the mountain, but, be it lucky or not, Ryu has forced you to retreat from the mountain to the forest below. Of course instead of calling it a timeout Ryu has been pursuing you despite your constant yelling. Seems you have no choice but to retaliate.

 

“Was this your plan? Give me a hangover then make me fight?” You whine, rubbing your head.

 

Ryu pulls back his hand as he assumes a standing position facing you without answering your question. You’re a little more on the frantic side considering everything. He’s even more difficult than the gravity training you did. Then it somewhat dawns on you… considering all the intensive training you’ve done, you should be able to stand up to Ryu in some way or another. But factoring in your bodies current state, that may or may not be affecting your performance.

 

Ryu stretches his neck to the left before seemingly disappearing. Before you can register where he’s gone Ryu appears in front of you, kneeling and thrusting his fist into your stomach. You can feel it twist in your gut as the pain pulses through your entire body. Ryu removes his fist from your stomach only to promptly drive his foot into the same spot. This time you tumble away, the snow chilling your heated skin. You grind to a halt as you lay in the cold snow, pleading in your mind that Ryu won’t attack you until you get back to your feet. Luckily you manage to get to your feet with no issues. Ryu remains still watching your movements and noting any potential attacks.

 

You brush the snow off your jacket and flash a smile to your doppelganger.

“I’m guessing we’re not going back to the mountain top?”

“You can’t predict where you’ll fight. You must adapt to every situation.”

You roll your eyes, resting your hands on your hips.

“I’m well aware of tha-“

Before you finish your sentence Ryu dashes forward and throws a punch. You barely manage to bring your arm up to redirect his punch with your forearm then get some distance between you two. He spins around before his feet touch the ground, and when they do he leaps at you once more. This time you take the initiative to throw a punch at him. Your punches collide, leaving you at a standstill.

 

“I don’t understand,” Ryu begins, absolutely no strain in his voice. “Rhaegos showed me your battles… I assumed you’d be better than this.”

“Well I’m normally not hungover when I fight, you moron!”

Ryu shakes his head.

“No, it’s not that. You’re actually compensating for your balance. You’re simply not focused on the battle. Why is that, I wonder,” he asks himself as he flips his coat back on.

You look him in the eyes and sigh.

“I… maybe. I don’t know. I’m just not used to all this,” you say, throwing your arms around you. “The fact that different timelines and junk was enough, but… last night when I saw all those people… it reminded me that this isn’t just some simulation or…” You look away. “I don’t know how to explain it. I could shrug it off and be apathetic towards this place, but now… I saw those people as real people! People who’re having a rough time, and… Elsa… I-“

“This isn’t your world, Knight. It isn’t your job to change it.”

“I know but that’s not the point. I just…” You take a few steps from Ryu to overlook Arendelle in the far distance. “I always felt like everything was on my shoulders… that I had to solve every problem I came across. I know I have to save my friends and Elsa, but there are also people here that need help too. I just… it’s hard for me to ignore that.”

 

Ryu quietly calculates your words. His question, along with Shadow’s, is slowly becoming clear. Perhaps this might work after all.

 

Ryu slowly approaches you, lifting his coat back to its original position.

“Listen to me. Every world and timeline have to deal with their own problems. The only reason you’re getting any help is because you disrupted the balance Rhaegos protects. If you had simply died, nobody would have helped you. You, me, nobody can dictate what is right or wrong for every time. Situations are different, people are different. Don’t begin thinking you know what’s best for everyone.” he blatantly says.

You look him dead in the eye, seeing his serious expression. You sigh, then smile.

“I guess, despite looking exactly the same, we think very differently.”

 

“We do, and "you’re" is the worse way of thinking,” he says as he takes a few steps ahead of you.

“What’s that suppose to mean?” You defensively ask, taking a single step towards him.

“You’re too used to having someone there to help, whether it’s to help you or someone else. You have to realize that you won’t always have someone there to help you. You’re going to have to deal with whatever problem you find yourself in. This world is the same, and it’s dealing with it. You’ve always had someone guiding you, aiding you. Perhaps you’ve just been pampered for far too long.” Ryu huffs, tired of debating with you. He turns to you with a warmer look. It’s time… “Well, how about we take a break? I believe you deserve one,” Ryu states as he begins to walk away.

 

“What? Where am I supposed to go? We already went to Arendelle yesterday!” You shout.

Ryu shrugs.

“I don’t care. Just don’t get into trouble. If you really want to come back to the mountain you can. If I were you I’d take some time to practice your powers. Without those you’ll never get anywhere.”

You watch Ryu walk until he soars into the air towards the mountain. Your eyes drift to the snow at your feet as you contemplate what to do.

 

 _“_ _I didn_ _’_ _t want to tell you, but_ _…”_ Shadow sighs. _“_ _It seems we have no choice. We_ _’_ _ll both have to be at our best if we want to beat Alistair._ _”_

“Ha, awesome! Thanks Shadow!” You cheer aloud. “So, how do we start?”

_“_ _First, you should come to Limbo. It_ _’_ _s the easiest way to guide you from here._ _”_

You nod.

“Right.”

 

You close your eyes and let yourself go to Limbo. Once you’re about halfway there you can see Shadow standing in the center, donning his usual suit. There’s an odd difference, however. You don’t feel completely in Limbo. You can still feel the cool winds hitting your skin from the real world. This is something you’ve never experienced before.

 

“Shadow, what’s-“

 

Before you can finish, your real body is swiftly taken by the throat and flown into the air. The figure clutches at your throat with enough strength to hold you, but not enough to suffocate you. Before you can realize it you’re tossed higher, only for the figure to fly right over you. The clothing, the wings, everything but the skin looks like Ryu. All his skin is replaced with scales and his overall appearance is far more draconic than it once was. As you start to fall to the ocean below Ryu commences pummeling you down into the water, a flurry of punches sending you faster and faster to the immobile sea. You crash into it, but Ryu doesn’t stop. He continues his flurry of attacks as all the air in your lungs quickly leaves, and water takes its place.

 

You’re swiftly brought back to Limbo, though you can feel all the pain Ryu inflicts as well as the water filling your lungs. You drop to one knee and clutch your chest in some meager way to help yourself.

 _“_ _I unlocked my power through desperation, though a need to be stronger._ _”_ Shadow’s power swells, his eyes turn completely grey, purple lightening swirls around him, and finally he ascends to his Drakon form. _“_ _Now you have to ascend_ _…_ _or we_ _’_ _ll kill you._ _”_

“Wha-“

 

Shadow opens his palm and sends a wave of air towards you, knocking you off your feet and sending you tumbling over yourself. You can’t even recover given the fact you’re still feeling every blow Ryu deals to you and the fleeting air in your lungs. You slowly manage to get to your knees but Shadow instantly slams his on your mouth, picks you up, and slams you back to the ground. Before you can even react, he picks you up by the throat and slowly applies pressure.

 

_“_ _Do you not want to help them? Do you not have the drive to save your Elsa?_ _”_

“Come on! Show me the power that you used on the mountain!” Ryu shouts through the water.

_“_ _We_ _’_ _ll kill you right here, right now. What_ _’_ _s wrong? You_ _’_ _ve always changed when the pressure was on?_ _”_

Your eyes start to lose light, both in Limbo and reality. Shadow’s temper flairs in physical form as flame and lightening erupt from him. He drives his fist into your stomach and squeezes your throat tighter.

_“_ _Come on! Do you want to just lie down and die? Let everyone you care about be erased?_ _”_

Your eyelids flicker as you grab onto the last bit of life you have. Ryu charges his fist with lightning and hits you once more. You sink farther into the sea before exploding in a flash of electricity. He pulls back, watching your body sink farther and farther into the depths.

 

Shadow sees life leave your eyes. He shakes his head then throws you into the air to finally finish you off.

_“_ _And you wanted to save this place? You couldn_ _’_ _t even save the person you love_ _…_ _you can_ _’_ _t save anything in your pathetic state._ _”_

He opens his palm at you and releases a torrent of fire, wind, lightning, and water. Right before the elements can hit you, your body disappears in a flash of light. Shadow’s attack flies off into the distance, leaving Shadow both intrigued and proud. He may not know what has happened, but if his suspicions are correct…

 

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Ryu inwardly begs that you find the strength inside of you. Shadow’s plan is extreme and has a high chance of killing you. If you actually die, Rhaegos will likely rain hell on Ryu for his foolishness. Shadow, however, claimed to have achieved a perfect transformation when he was pushed to the limits by someone stronger than he was. Who that is remains a mystery to the swordsman, but in this desperate moment Shadow attained complete mastery of his Drakon form. By Shadow’s reports, you also transform when under dire straits or if your anger exceeds the norm. Thus both Shadow and Ryu planned to push both to their limits.

 

His thoughts are completely interrupted when a massive flash of light erupts from deep in the ocean. The power and brightness cut through even the darkest depth of the ocean. Ryu remains alert, the only sound around him being the flapping of his wings. His sharp eyes keep locked on the brilliant light becoming brighter and brighter at such speeds than no normal person could keep up with it. In a blink of an eye the light breaks through the black water and meets Ryu. Before he can react, he felt an immovable object pushed at his jaw with such ferocious power that he never felt before. He’s forced into the air higher and higher, breaking through clouds and even the sound barrier itself. The force pushing him stops, but the light goes slightly higher, just at Ryu’s head. Without seeing it, another force sends him flying away.

 

The light fades away, revealing you in your Drakon form in a position like you kicked something. Your eyes are completely white, your muscles are bulked, and lightning persists around you. You pull back and soar ahead, catching up to Ryu in mere seconds. You pass by him, spin around, and drive your foot into his cheek. Ryu spins like a bullet as he’s forced down to the ground below. He slowly manages to gain his bearings before he crashes into the ground. He stops a short distance before, but the force bashes against the snow below to destroy the area below.

 

Ryu rubs his jaw to try and sooth the pain given to him. He never experienced a hit like that before. He’s almost happy that you managed to hit him like this, but now he’s worried about your mental state. He looks up and sees you flying down to fight him some more. Ryu soars far into the air to try and divert you from destroying any nature. He twirls through the air until he breaks through the clouds once more. Quickly after he makes it above the clouds, you break through also. Ryu stares at your new power and new form. He can see the rage in your eyes, almost like you’re not really there.

 

“(Y/N), are you there? Come to your senses. Calm yourself!.”

He can see your chest heaving as you deal with this excess power.

_“_ _Ryu, I_ _’_ _m dealing with (Y/N) inside. He has far more power than he should, and he_ _’_ _s finding hard to deal with that and being on the edge of death. Just talk him down from out there._ _”_

“Right,” he responds in a whisper. “(Y/N)! You’ve gotten really strong, there. Are you okay? Can you hear me?”

You twitch at his words but don’t react any more than that. Ryu huffs, trying to think of something to say.

“I think you can hear me, can’t you? I’m sorry for what I did, but it had to be done. Look at you now! You have the power to protect your Elsa!”

“E… Elsa?” You mumble.

“Yes! Yes, Elsa! The reason you’re fighting and getting stronger for.”

 

You nod, then look down at your hands. The amount of power flowing through your body is astronomical. It’s like this form that hasn’t changed has increased dramatically with such little training. It’s like every vein in your body is pulsing from the amount of power coming from your core. Everything just becomes overwhelming for your senses… and then you feel nothing. Your eyes close, your power fades, and you begin falling to the ground. Ryu acts accordingly, catching you as you fall and fly towards the mountain.

 

“Is he okay?” Ryu mentally asks.

_“_ _He_ _’_ _s unconscious. I_ _’_ _ll take over once we return to the mountain._ _”_

 

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Ryu and Shadow patiently await the wise old Dragon that Ryu has summoned.

“Do you have any idea why (Y/N)’s power jumped so much?” Ryu speaks.

Shadow shakes his head.

“It’s curious why I don’t have that increase either. Perhaps I just have to unlock it…” Shadow thinks harder, resting his hand against his chin. “But my theory is that his power up came from when Rhaegos first talked to him. Remember?”

Ryu nods.

“I remember. He nearly destroyed the mountain. But at least he unlocked his power. Seems my time will be spent aiding him in controlling his Drakon form.”

“That’s if he really unlocked it. It’s always possible that he simply underwent the transformation because of the situation. I would rather that not be the case, but it’s always possible.”

 

Ryu nods, returning to his previous position. Shadow slowly paces around the area with his arms crossed.

“Where is he?” He mumbles.

“Who knows? Rhaegos once claimed he can travel through every timeline. Perhaps he’s simply somewhere else.”

 _“_ _You are correct, my son,_ _”_ a voice echoes in both heads. _“_ _I am unable to meet with you right now, so this must suffice. I predict you to ask about (Y/N) power-up?_ _”_

“How did you-“

_“_ _We all felt it. He unlocked as much power as he can in his current state._ _”_

Shadow decides to speak next.

“An-“

_“_ _Yes, Shadow. The trauma I put him through earlier did augment his powers. Is that all?_ _”_

 

Shadow and Ryu share a glance, leading to Ryu shrugging.

“I… suppose. Thank you, father.”

_“_ _Do not bother me with such trifles again. I have far more to do than answer every trifling question._ _”_

“Yes, father. Thank you for your time.” Ryu respectfully speaks. He turns to Shadow and smirks. “I suppose we have to wait for (Y/N). Is he still resting?”

Shadow closes his eyes for a moment and searches Limbo.

“Yes.” he answers, opening his eyes. “I’ll continue training on my own, if you don’t mind.”

Ryu bows his head.

“Very well, the sun will be setting soon anyway. I’ll prepare some food for us,” Ryu states before jumping high into the air and falls past the mountain.

 

Shadow steps into the middle of the mountain and rests on his knees. He takes a deep breath and comes searches himself for that power. Learning that you have far more potential has secretly devastated him. He was so proud that he unlocked the powers before you, that if anything went wrong he would be the one everyone had to fall back on. He was the last line of defense, the one in control of his power. Now that control is gone from him. He has no reason once more. He has no control.

 

The snow and pebbles begin rising around him as his power swells.

“There’s more potential in this body… I know it. I just have to break through like he did. I have to remember my purpose… and what Rhaegos said.”

 

 

**Alrighty, there** **’** **s that! A little shorter than normal, but, hey, it works! This took a little longer than I wanted it to but** **…** **heh, I hit a little rut this month so I apologize for the long wait. Things are going to start kicking off within the next few chapters so I hope you** **’** **re ready! It** **’** **s going to be a fun ride all the way to the end.**

**Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! I look forward to reading any comments/reviews that are left. It** **’** **s always my favourite part about posting a chapter. So, I** **’** **ll see you all next time!**

 

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	49. Rebel with a Cause

#  **Chapter 49: Rebel with a Cause**

 

You finally start to regain consciousness and are immediately greeted with a pounding headache that makes a collision with a train seem like jumping into a ball pit. Your hand immediately rests on your head in a useless attempt to sooth it.

“Jeez… where…” You look around while you rest your hand on your head.

You’re inside the makeshift home carved into the mountain. You have your own room, luckily, but you have no idea how you got there. Last thing you remember… Ryu was beating you into the ocean and Shadow was attacking you from within. You chuckle, rubbing your stomach as you slide off your bed and onto your feet.

 

You look to the bedside table and see a cooked fish with some vegetables on the side complimented with a note beside it all. You grab the note first and read, “Make sure to eat before any more training. This is when we get serious.” You set the note down and sigh.

“You mean everything was easy before?”

Before another thought can cross your mind your stomach decides to speak up, growling loud enough to fill the room. You rub your stomach and chuckle.

“Guess eating would be a good idea. Wish there were fries, though… well, beggars can’t be choosers.”

 

Though there are utensils left by Ryu, you decide to just grab the cooked fish and take a bite. You’re normally not so barbaric but it’s not like anyone’s around to see you eat this way. Elsa would have scolded you for such silly behavior or maybe even hit you with a small blast of ice. Though she always had a smile when she punished you in that manner, as if she got a twisted joy out of you pouting at her harmless attack.

 

Her smiling face sticks in your mind. The soft, glistening lips, the luscious blonde hair… You slap what’s left of the fish back on the plate as you blankly stare ahead of you with a picture of a happy Elsa in your mind. You unconsciously clench your fist as the fact that she’s dead comes back into your mind. It’s going to be something that’ll loom over you until you fix it… when you fix it. You look back to the fish as you grab it and take another bite. Even with these stressful things on your mind you can still appreciate how well the fish is cooked. You never knew your kingly assassin counterpart would also be a decent cook. Or he could have bought it. You really can’t say.

 

Within a minute you gulp down the fish and all the nutrients from the veggies, despite not liking some of your counterpart’s taste in food. But you’re fed, you’re clothed, and you’re ready for some more training. You make your way out of the room and follow the corridor until you reach a staircase to the left. You jog up the cold stone steps until you reach the thick doorway. You push it open only to be hit with a rush of wind and snow. You power through such minor obstacles and pass the limits of the door, allowing nature to slam it shut for you. You don’t even notice the loud slam of the door. Your mind is completely focused on the man standing before you.

 

“Knight.”

“Ryu.”

“Do you feel it?” Ryu asks with a confident smile as he stares you down, ignoring his whipping cloth. “Do you feel the power flowing through your body?”

“I… I think I do.” You lift both fists in view as you clench and release twice. “I think I can finally do it.”

Ryu nods, taking a few steps back.

“Alright… transform for me, Knight. Take your time, but I want you to do it right now with full control.”

 

You close your eyes and take a deep breath of the freezing fresh air swirling around you.

_“_ _Do I have to babysit you through this?_ _”_

“No… I can do this, Shadow,” you silently respond. “I can do it on my own.”

 

You think back to all the times you’ve transcended your limit before. The first time when you molded with Carnage and watched Elsa die for you. The rage and disparity of the situation made you transform for the first time. All the training you did under the mansion, the battle at the temple, all these times were desperate situations that required you to be better than you currently are.

 

_Shadow can do it_ _…_ _I can do it. I can do this! This is my power, no one else_ _’_ _s! No other Drakon has these powers either! This is what I can do! THIS IS WHO I AM!_

Ryu raises his brow as he sees the wind and snow around you shy away from getting close, leaving you in your own personal bubble. The clouds grow even darker above you both, spawning thunder and lightning for this occasion. The sea rages, the wind howls, and your power skyrockets. Your arms are locked at a ninety degree angle with your fists clenched as tightly as they can be. Lightning starts flickering around your body as the transformation comes to a close.

 

“HYA!”

 

Your eyes blast open as a wave of energy erupts from your body, blowing away all snow in the vicinity. Unfortunately for Ryu, the snow in front of him smacks into his face, filling it completely with the cold power. He heats his body up to melt it all away, and when he does he sees your power in full glory. Your eyes are completely white as you stare at Ryu’s feet. The feeling washing over you is unparalled. Before this felt like a temporary state, something that you couldn’t control. Now it’s like the storm raging inside you has been tamed by your will, able to be called upon whenever you wish. One could say it’s your birthright.

 

“How do you feel?” Ryu confidently asks.

You look up at him, though without pupils it’s hard to tell from Ryu’s perspective.

“I… heh… this might sound weird but I feel really calm. It’s not like the other times I’ve transformed,” you note, looking at your body.

Your muscles are slightly larger and more defined, as per usual. You can tell that all your senses have been greatly enhanced, something you never noticed before due to being consumed by the heat of battle. It’s amazing how much of an upgrade this form really is on your body. It’s like you could take on the entire world right now.

 

“Well, remain in that form for as long as you can while we meditate.”

You let your shoulders drop.

“Seriously? I get all this power and you’re making me meditate? I can’t try it out or anything?”

Ryu crosses his arms and taps his muscle as he thinks.

“I suppose getting you accustomed to your power is also important… very well, let’s see what you can do. Let’s start simple,” he speaks in a commanding tone as he lets his arms fall. “The elements; we’ll start with that. Show me your control over all of them.”

 

You nod before lifting your dominant hand, palm up. First, you conjure a fair amount of fire in your hand. Next, you control the wind to wash away the heat source in your hand. Next, you stretch your arm up as a lightning rod to attract the powerful electricity in the clouds which slams into your hand. You raise your other hand towards the sea to bring a small amount of water to electrify.

 

“Earth and ice isn’t a problem either. I think I have it all,” you smile as you relinquish control of the elements.

“Mm… but can you fly?”

You use the air to hover over the ground, smugly smiling at your counterpart.

“I’d say so.”

You soar into the air, doing a few loopty loops and spins, shouting with pure joy at the rush of flight. Though you have to restrain yourself to not draw attention and not waste Ryu’s time. You quickly make your way back to the mountain and land in front of Ryu.

“Yeah… I’d say so,” you repeat.

 

“Perfect. Are you feeling tired? Drained?”

You shake your head.

“No, I feel fine.”

Ryu takes a seat and enters a meditating position.

“Well, we’ll determine your longevity now. Come, sit.”

You huff.

“You know I hate meditating.”

“Yes, evident by how bad you are at it. Still, this will help you control it and will show how long you can maintain this form. Even I can only hold my full power for a short time.”

You take a seat opposite to him.

“Well I’m not really exerting myself, so… whatever, lets just get this over with.”

 

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Captain Durr shakily stands near the door of Elsa’s throne room. Pyro is kneeling before her with the utmost respect.

“You’ve burned down that filthy tavern?” Elsa disinterestedly asks her subject.

“Of course, my Queen. It was… a beautiful flame.”

Elsa’s eyes drift to Durr.

“Captain! Step forward.”

Following orders Durr approaches the throne and kneels beside Pyro, who gives the Captain a sharp look.

 

“Yes, my Queen?”

“Have your men questioned all those loud peasants?”

“Y-Yes, my Queen. They claimed that two men started the uproar but left shortly before the guards arrived.”

Elsa leans forward with a scowl on her face.

“Was it those filthy rebels?”

Durr shakes his head though continues to look at the ground.

“No, my Queen. The description they gave matched the man who we’ve been searching for.”

 

The icy wind picks up, yet the click of Elsa’s heels pierce through all sound.

“He was in the city and your pathetic men did not notice?” She scolds.

Durr huffs at his failure.

“They did not, my Queen. However they did tell me something interesting.”

“Interesting enough to save their unimportant lives?”

“Both men looked the same, my Queen. They claimed to be twin brothers.”

Elsa’s interest is indeed piqued by this information.

“Hm… two men… Seems your men are in luck,” Elsa says with a seductive yet chilling laugh. She sits back down, resting one leg over the other. “But I think the search for these two should be secondary. The rebels may see this as a time to attack with our forces distracted. Pyro?”

“Yes, my Queen?” He speaks in the utmost respectful tone.

“Take our elite soldiers to the mountains. If Gaia’s information is correct,” she says looking at the green haired woman. “Then they’re still there. Eliminate them, then find these two men. I want them before me within the week.”

 

Pyro stands up and places his fist on his chest.

“It shall be done, my Queen.”

 

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If one travel’s far enough from Arendelle then that person can find water untouched by the Queen’s ice. It’s a genius way to prevent any invasions by sea, but can ruin any wayward boat’s travels. Fortunately, the ice travels so far that anything on the water is beyond the sight of Arendelle, hence why Ryu chose this place to train. However you two are more of a threat to a boat than the ice right now.

 

Then again if a boat were to approach the waters right now they would surely be doomed. Shockwaves are erupting from the water every second that nearly reaches Arendelle. These eruptions are caused by you and Ryu finally duking it out. You’re still in your Drakon form to keep up with Ryu’s power. His wings are sprouted and his skin has become scales. You’re both well aware that you can’t go all out so your power is suppressed, but to get some legitimate training you have to go at this pace. Your speed even surprises you as you both clash over and over within a three kilometer space, able to move from one side to the other in an instant. Thankfully, Ryu has set up small barriers for you both to keep you grounded as your fight progresses.

 

You both collide atop the water, splashing it away from the impact. Your forearms are shaking as they’re pushing against each other. Your eyes are sharp, peering into Ryu’s eyes as he does the same to yours. You both share a smile, however you push off of him, skidding across the water until you can stop yourself. Ryu recovered quickly, flying high in the air to crash his fist down upon you. You soar out of the way, thus his fist hits the water to simulate the exact same eruption that happened dozens of times before.

 

You rush him, throwing a barrage of punches and kicks that Ryu does keep up with, blocking, dodging, and throwing his own attacks in the meantime. You both battle across the water, your legs sometimes dipping into the water just to come back for another hit. Your invisible fight continues over the water until Ryu gets the upper hand, swooping your legs to knock you sideways then proceeds to drive his fist into your stomach to send you to the depths of the sea. Immediately, he flaps his wings to dive into the sea to chase you. You spin through the water intentionally to deceive Ryu into thinking he has the upperhand. When he goes for another attack you slam both heels into his jaw, combining your force with his momentum for maximum damage. His body slaps against your fully extended legs thanks to momentum which is exactly what you want. Before Ryu can be sent shooting through the water you flip yourself backward and quickly grab his foot, pulling him below you, then proceed to throw a flurry of punches into his gut. You both descend deeper and deeper into the dark depths of the sea.

 

Fortunately for Ryu, he can still see the flaws in your technique. The small openings you give yourself without even knowing it. With this knowledge, Ryu grabs your hands by the wrists and thrusts his forehead into yours then quickly follows up by bouncing his hips to create some distance, pulling his legs to his chest, then kicking you away from him. You flip through the water before quickly coming to a halt, staring down your scaly counterpart. You’re both breathing heavily even under the water thanks to your abilities to manipulate water and air.

 

With only two seconds to breathe you both clash once again, sending a shockwave through the water that explodes on the surface. Ryu manages to overpower you as he pushes your arm down and initiates a spinning kick. You duck under it and attempt to deliver a shot to his gut. It does connect, but Ryu gets some payback with a powerful hook to your jaw. Holding those punches for only a moment, you both begin moving at inhuman speeds as you throw a barrage of punches and kicks at one another whilst ascending to the water’s surface. The moment you two break free of the water’s grasp you speed away from each other only to clash again, colliding your knees together. Immediately you split off and collide fists, forearms, elbows, feet. Massive shockwaves erupt from every attack you two dish out. The sheer intensity of your battle would melt any normal person even with you both massively suppressing yourselves.

 

You both soar towards each other for another clash, charging your fists for a massive attack. Right before you two can collide you feel… something. Something sends shivers down your spine and a shock in your brain. You both stop dead in your tracks to look around, and the fact that you both stopped gives the other evidence that something’s amiss.

 

“Do you think that-“

“We were holding back immensely. Perhaps this world can’t handle even that,” Ryu notes. He crosses his arms and sighs. “Well, lets not tempt fate. We’ll return to the mountain.”

“Right,” you nod.

You two speed off, Ryu’s wings flapping while you simply fly. It takes no time at all for you both to fly over the sea, past Arendelle, and back to the mountain. You both land; the moment your feet touch the ground you deactivate your respect Drakon mode. Ryu turns to you with a genuine smile.

 

“Transforming has truly changed you. Your speed, strength, perception, everything is comparable to mine. You could do with some more training to hone your skills though, but I can’t deny your major growth in such a short time.”

You scratch the back of your head and give a childish smile.

“Hehe, thanks. I really do feel different now, even without using my power.”

“I’m the same. Without transforming completely I can summon the strength of the form, the elements, and even my wings. Though our true power is drawn from the form,” he explains as he returns his clothing to its normal look. “Now it’s time for a break.”

“But I’m not tired.”

“But the planet is. We can’t risk the planet just to train. Besides, there’s always a possibility another Drakon exists in this time period. If so this timeline may simply fall apart if we strain it too much.”

 

You huff, crossing your arms and looking up at your older counterpart.

“Fair enough. I suppose I’ll explore a bit.”

“Just don’t cause any trouble. It’s best if we remain a secret whilst we’re here.”

You raise your brow with a chuckle.

“Says the man who bought the bar a round.”

“That had little impact in the grand scheme of things. We’re not killing monarchs or starting wars. We don’t belong in this world, thus our impact should be as miniscule as possible.”

You tiredly wave your hand.

“Yeah, yeah, I got it. I’m going into the woods. I doubt I’ll find anything that interesting.”

 

Ryu nods his head before turning around.

“Then I shall meet you here, come morning. If something does happen, just contact me telepathically.”

Those are his final words before he leaps off the mountain and abandons you to your own actions. You intertwine your fingers and stretch your arms to the sky, letting out a howl as you do so.

“Welp, I guess I’ll make true on my word. There’s gotta be something interesting around these parts to keep me distracted. What do you think, Shadow?” You wait a moment in complete silence. “Shadow?” You repeat. Once again you’re left with silence. You cross your arms and pout. “You’d think he’d at least respond. Well, guess he misses out then.”

 

You shove your hands in your pockets as you approach the edge of the mountain. It’s the same side Ryu departed, yet you don’t see him anywhere nearby. That’s not surprising in the least considering how fast he can move, but you are curious where he’s gone off to. Couldn’t be to see Rhaegos, else he’d stay here. Your only guess is food or supplies, not that it really matters. You have some free time so you might as well explore. You spring forward, getting a nice distance between yourself and the mountain before gravity’s grasp takes a hold of you and you begin to descend. You manage to steer yourself towards a plain that has less trees to crash through. There is a river not far ahead, so you’ll use that as a landmark.

 

You finally hit the ground, skidding across the snow until you come to a halt right in front of that river. The tip of your shoe is just on the edge, at risk of being swallowed by the freezing water.

 

_Huh_ _…_ _one would think this would be frozen over. Are there locals who use this as drinking water?_

You look around the immediate area only to be met with trees, snow, and… tracks. You hop across the river and land just before some of the spotted tracks. They’re definitely foot prints, meaning your guess could have some legitimacy. You put your hands back in your pockets before following the footprints. Sure, you may not know who they belong to but considering this little expedition needs a foundation to grow… this might provide that foundation. So you trek through the tall snow, keeping an eye out for anyone you can, until you come across a small hut. There’s light coming from it along with a hanging sign that’s covered in snow.

 

You approach the shack, stepping up the stairs before tapping the sign to free it from the confining snow.

“Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post… Oaken?” Your mind instantly goes back to the goofy man who took you in all that time ago. “No way… is it possible?” You whisper to yourself as you approach the door.

You open the creaky wooden door and slam in behind you. The store very much looks like an old corner store from Arendelle. Miscellanious items are laid about on shelves and table tops, hanging from the walls and tucked away in corners. Most of it seems to be winter gear: hats, gloves, picks axes, rope, wood.

 

“Hm… yeah, this reminds me of-“

“Hoo hoo!” A pleasant voice erupts from your side. You look towards it to see none other than the same Oaken you once housed with. “Seems to me you could do with some warmer clothes! We have a grand sale!” He declares, wiggling his fingers.

“Heh… Oaken…” You say to yourself. “I need to visit you again in my time, old friend.”

Before you can say anything directly to him, the door behind you opens, letting everyone hear the howling of the storm, though promptly shuts. He walks past you and towards the desk, preventing you from getting a good look at his face.

 

“Ah… I see,” Oaken mumbles when he sees the man. “Your order is in the stables, sir. I hope they’re up to par.”

The man nods, quickly turning around to the door. He sizes you up as he walks. He has a bandana covering his face plus some snow to distort his features. You can’t tell who this man is but you don’t have a good feeling. He looks away from you and to the door, leaving the small establishment. Oaken quickly turns his attention back to you.

 

“I have plenty for you!” His voice bubbly once again, eager to make a sale. “ Take a look around, please!”

You step back, looking towards the door as your mind ponders this new man.

“Yeah… I’ll be back with money,” you whisper before leaving the building.

Oaken pats his fingers together.

“Oh my, this is not good. I should get word to them,” he speaks before standing up and entering his sauna.

 

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You watch the mystery man load up three boxes and four barrels of… something into his reindeer drawn sleigh.

“He’s like Santa Claus,” you remark as you sit on a tree branch.

Finally he finishes after securing the cargo in the sleigh and heading off. You quickly follow, leaping off the branch to land on another tree, then proceed. You’re not quite as graceful as Ryu is, but a flying target would be far easier to see than one scurrying through the trees. Each second does grow your curiosity as this mystery man goes deeper and deeper into the mountains, away from civilization. Perhaps he has a camp? Maybe there’s more than just him? You’re eager to have those answers.

 

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“Hm, seems the patrol patterns are the same in this world too,” Ryu remarks to himself as he watches garbed men and women stationed along specific trees. “That can only mean the same person is giving orders… heh… Idonis,” he smiles to himself at the thought of his old friend.

 

Ryu speeds through the trees at such a pace that even these trained assassins could not follow. He dashes past them and continues this pace until he comes across his destination. A large temple surrounded by tall, powerful walls stands before him.

“It doesn’t look any different,” he humbly says to himself.

Unfortunately there’s an empty gap between the forest and the temple, leaving him wide open if he attempts to enter. Though even this sight brings back a flood of memories. Just ahead in that open field is where he fought his Master during a test he should not have been in. A nine year old fighting alongside graduates, fighting against the masters of the Dragon Clan. He nearly died that day. That’s also where he saw Cassandra cut down before his eyes by the traitors.

 

It’s been too long since Ryu visited the temple of his world. He’s been so busy with his royal duties he hasn’t even checked on the status of his home. Originally he had it sunk below the depths of the earth but the Gaia of his time saw the potential in having a revised Dragon Clan. With his permission she rebuilt the temple and became the Grand Master.  Though Arendelle and the Dragon Clan have a mutual agreement that keeps the peace. Having a King that once worked for one of the Seven Clans of the world helps keep the peace between them. Though after what the Serpent Clan pulled, they’ve been under close observation by Nagas, the Great Serpent. Ryu’s only ever met two of the Seven Mythical Beasts, that being the dragon, Rhaegos, and the serpent, Nagas. Ryu can easily imagine what the beasts are for the other five clans. The Scorpion Clan, Leviathan Clan, Hawk Clan, Phoenix Clan, and Manticore Clan. It’s clear there are ancient and powerful beasts hidden throughout space and time that Ryu may never encounter.

 

But all of that is an afterthought. Ryu simply wants to see the state of the Dragon Clan in this world. He leaps far over the ground spanning far past the gap between the forest and the temple. He lands quietly ontop of a smaller building but quickly leaps to the tallest one to remain out of sight. He turns around and kneels to examine the courtyard. He doesn’t recognize anyone with a simple glance, but the entire set up is very familiar. The exercises, the shouting, the movements, and the feeling brings back a rush of nostalgia. An even bigger one hits him when he hears a voice.

 

“You know, Grand Master Idonis, perhaps contacting the Serpent Clan about these attacks would be better. This could just be a rogue cell,” a female speaks.

Ryu focuses on that conversation to see two people, a man and a woman, walking out of a building. He instantly recognizes them both as Idonis and…

“Cassandra… she’s alive in this time,” he says with a smile.

 

In his time Cassandra was his lover before he met Elsa. She died helping him escape when he was framed. It makes sense she’s alive here without him since the events that happened due to his presence would no longer transpire. He can’t deny it’s good to see Idonis and Cassandra alive and still working with the Dragon Clan, even if he’s not there to share the experience. Honestly, he’s almost disappointed that nobody has noticed his presence yet. He’d think the clan would be more astute to intruders.

 

“Seems the Serpent Clan is trouble here too. I wonder if Viper is alive,” Ryu contemplates to himself. “Well, I shouldn’t stay long… but maybe I’ll watch for a little longer. What trouble could Knight get into, anyhow?”

 

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“Well, this is interesting,” you say to yourself.

 

The sled was taken across a frozen lake to what looks like a very camouflaged base. There’s more than just this mystery man in this place. You spotted at least twelve different people, though all their faces are covered in the same style of bandana as the first guy you saw. Admittedly it’s hard to see them since the blizzard distorts your view and you’re on the other side of the frozen lake.

 

_No doubt they have some sort of lookout. I mean_ _…_ _I guess I could just walk over, but_ _…_

There are inclines along the sides of the lake, but they don’t pose well for infiltration. You could always fly. Or there is one crazier option. With a smile and a nod you stick your hands in your pockets and start walking across the lake. Sure you might be spotted but what are they really going to do to you? Plus the straightforward approach is sometimes the best. Thus you stick to your path until you’re about halfway across the lake. By this time the unidentified group has spotted you and has rolled out the welcome wagon. Four figures approach you all in similar gear, all holding a mix of swords and spears.

 

You raise your hands to quell any signs of hostility.

“I come in peace. Just an innocent explorer.”

One approaches you with his sword still ready to kill.

“Come with us. I don’t advise fighting back,” the muffled voice of a woman states.

“I have no intention to,” you respond as you follow the group.

 

They circle you in a meager attempt to keep you contained. Though it’s not their fault they don’t know your abilities. Still you’d rather just talk than fight these people, especially since you have no idea who they are or what they’re planning. If they’re bandits, however… you might have to do something. You keep with them across the lake until you reach their camp. It’s a dug out portion of the mountain that's covered by falling snow and ice giving it a very covert nature, but something comes into your mind. You don’t see the reindeer that hauled the man and his cargo here. It’s just a fire to keep people warm, some boxes, a few weapons in the corner… it’s very simple and not near as impressive as you first thought. That is until they lead you past that section and reveal an opening through the mountain.

 

You haul your feet through all the snow to get to the other end of this narrow corridor. What’s beyond truly surprises you. It’s a large cave, definitely unnatural, but it houses, from what you can tell, nearly a hundred people. Tents are lined up along with small training, cooking, and recreational areas. It’s like a refuge in the mountain. It is darker than you’d like but considering it’s in a mountain you can’t really blame them.

 

So you’re lead past some other men and women, all dressed similar if a little less weather protected until you reach a larger tent with two guards.

“This man was approaching our perimeter,” the woman reports, pulling down her face mask to speak.

The men size you up.

“Hey, isn’t that the one who was reported?” The left one mentions.

“I think you’re right. Perhaps we should let the boss see him.”

The guards open the entrance to allow you entry. Only you and the woman enter, but the inside has others in it. There’s a large table with a map, lantern, and notes scattered around. There are three barrels in the back two corners and the corner to the left of the entrance covering the crimson fabrics that make up the tent.

 

Two men look up from the table at you and the woman. You’re about to give a sarcastic wave but your body freezes when you recognize the man on the right. The blonde hair, strong face… there’s no doubt about it.

 

“Kristoff?” You whisper in disbelief and joy.

He too recognizes you.

“Hm… I suppose I didn’t do anything to stop you from following me. It’s good that Oaken alerted us or we might have killed you on sight.”

You stay silent, holding a smile.

_I don_ _’_ _t think you guys **could** do that._

“Who are you? Where do you come from to have such… strange clothing?” He asks in a serious, empowering tone.

“I’m (Y/N) Knight. I come from… far away. You’re Kristoff Bjorgman, right?”

 

Everyone around you becomes alert, taking out their weapons and pointing them at you.

“How do you know that? Who sent you?” He demands.

 

_Seems this Kristoff is different from the one I know. I wonder why._

You put your hands in your pocket and let out an accidental yawn.

“Ah, sorry. Anyway, I wasn’t sent by anyone. I just know you. I do have to ask what you and all these people are doing in a mountain, though. Seems less than ideal,” you chuckle.

Kristoff relaxes some but the other two do not. He sheathes his sword and rests his hands on the table in front of him.

“Arendelle hasn’t been an ideal place to live for some time. Ever since…” He closes his eyes and huffs. Suddenly his eyes widen as an idea crosses his mind. “Do… you not know who we are?”

You shake your head.

“Nope. I know you personally but all these people… nada.”

 

Kristoff gives a signal for the others to relax. They do, allowing the hostile tension in the tent slip away. Kristoff walks around the table.

“Would you like to walk with me? Perhaps after hearing you’d be willing to help?”

You shrug.

“Sure. If this has something to do with Elsa then I definitely want to know.”

You and Kristoff leave the tent together, slowly walking through the camp.

“What do you know her?” Kristoff starts.

“Well, she did kill a family who helped me and tried to kill me.”

“You survived an encounter between Elsa and her guard?”

You give him a confident, if innocent, smile.

“I’m not that easy to beat, despite my look. Though I guess I do kinda dress young. Could you guess I’m in my twenties?”

 

Kristoff ignores your jokes as he thinks.

“Hm… well, let me tell you a story. It’s one we all know well and one that’s haunted us for too long.” He leads you to a small campfire with a few children and adults littered around in an attempt to warm up. You both take a seat side by side on a lain down log.

 

“Well, you must know of the first time Arendelle was frozen over when Elsa was crowned as Queen. That’s when I first met her and my…” He clears his throat. “My love, Anna.”

 

_So he and Anna are together in this timeline too? Wait, does that mean the story Ryu told me about Elsa happened here too? With that_ _…_ _bastard Hans?_

“Well, months after that those damned Elementals visited. Elsa took them in immediately when she heard others were like her. As you may have noticed Elsa has the power over ice.”

“Yes, I know that… very well,” you smile, thinking back to when you first met her in high school.

“Yes, so the thought of new Elementals was something she took a liking too. But mere days after that she… changed. She became cruel, replaced the royal guard with those Elementals, and became a tyrant over Arendelle. Many of us couldn’t stand it,” Kristoff recalls as he tosses another log in the fire. “So we came out here and formed the Resistance to fight back against her and the others. It was my family who helped make this hideout, but… they murdered them. All of them. The only magic we had on our side is gone… we’ve only been able to raid caravans, attack roaming patrols but it’s not enough. We need to wage war against Arendelle.”

 

You look around the camp to gauge their combat prowess.

“Well… from what it looks like most of these people aren’t soldiers.”

Kristoff snickers as he shakes his head.

“No, that they aren’t. But that may change soon. We have allies outside of Arendelle willing to help. We just need to get to them!”

“Why haven’t you?” You inquire as you roll your shoulders and straighten your posture.

Kristoff huffs as his eyes gaze at the controlled fire.

“We’re missing someone important. If we don’t get them I fear that will burn the bridges.”

 

You nod at all his words. This definitely isn’t what you were expecting, but seeing Kristoff in this way has changed your view on this timeline. He’s normally such a softy but… events have changed that. His manner of speech, the hopeless tone he speaks… this isn’t the Kristoff you know but one who was molded by this world. Maybe you can get that old Kristoff back. He might not be your Kristoff, you might not have gone through hell with this one, but there’s no way you’re going to sit back and let him suffer.

 

“So… Elsa wasn’t always as she is now?” You speak up.

“No, no she was really good to me and my family. It was difficult to see the change. I can only imagine how Anna is…”

“I saw her. She seemed sad,” you respond in a less than cheery tone.

“She’s okay? She’s not hurt?” Kristoff spastically asks.

You calmly shake your head.

“No, she seemed fine physically. Though who knows about her mental state,” you huff.

“Oh, thank goodness. If something happened to her before I could…” He dons a determined face before looking to you. “How did you survive against Elsa and all the Elementals?”

You shrug, giving him a coy smile.

“I’m a bit better than I look.”

 

You get off the log and look around the camp some more.

“Can we walk around a bit more?” You request.

Kristoff stands beside you and starts leading you away from the fire. The entire layout is basically rows of tents with paths inbetween. Not all are for sleeping or relaxing, it seems. You spot a few “soldiers” speaking around an opened tent. You squint a bit to get a clear view of the insides. It’s stocked with weapons and barrels. Definitely their armoury, or what they consider an armoury. What’s even more surprising to you is the amount of children running around as they play and laugh.

 

“How many families do you have here?”

Kristoff shakes his head.

“The real question is how many have we lost. Those bastards don’t care if they kill men, women, or children. If they’re part of our cause then they’re deemed unworthy of life…”

“Then why do you keep them with you?” You argue.

“We don’t have a choice! This is our last base… we have nothing else,” Kristoff voices changes from frustrated to disappointed. “Some have just given up and returned to Arendelle, pretending to be new. We barely have thirty fighters left.”

“And they’re all scared?” You assume.

He nods, stopping near the entrance.

“Terrified. We just need this one final push to really get our ground, but that push is… difficult.”

 

You cross your arms and rest against the wall, keeping your eyes on Kristoff as he meagerly paces before you.

“What’s this push?”

Kristoff looks to you hopefully, then shakes his head and waves his hand as he dismisses the thought.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“If it didn’t matter I wouldn’t have asked,” you retort.

“You’re an outsider. I can’t tell you our plans.”

“I-“

 

_“_ _Knight, where are you? Come back to the mountain._ _”_

You huff at Ryu’s ability to hound you from so far away. Perhaps you could convince him to come here too. He’d certainly want to see this world’s Kristoff.

 

“Well… I think it’s my time to go. I’ll drop by when I can,” you say as you move off the wall and wave.

Kristoff steps in front of you.

“How do I know you won’t report our position to Elsa?” He says in a threatening manner.

You shrug and give him a comforting smile.

“You’ll just have to trust me. I’d sooner point them towards the ocean than to these innocent people.”

 

Kristoff can see the truth in your eyes. For some reason he trusts you… he shouldn’t but he does. He steps out of the way.

“Very well.”

You bow your head before walking past him and out the chasm. Once you get through the entrance you pass two guards. They keep an eye on you, so you decide to give them a little show to freak them out. You turn around, giving a happy wave before quickly transforming and soaring into the air slow enough for them to see and be confused.

 

With your silly joke out of the way you fly over the snow, animals, and trees of the desolate Arendelle until you reach the mountain. At your speed what would take hours takes under a minute. You approach from the sky and spot Ryu awaiting you in the center of the small field. He looks up at you and keeps his eyes on you as you land in front of him.

 

“Ryu, you have no idea who I found!” You happily speak as you approach the older man.

“Who?”

“Kristoff! He’s leading a resistance against that crazy Elsa!”

Ryu’s eyes become sharp.

“Did you speak to him?”

“Hm? Yeah. I went in their camp and everything.”

Ryu huffs, pinching the bridge of his nose.”

“Did I not explained that revealing ourselves is a poor idea.”

 

You cross your arms.

“Come on! We can help bring Elsa back to normal! We both have a soft spot for her so doesn’t it make sense for us to want to fix this Elsa!”

“This isn’t our Elsa, our Kristoff, our anyone. We shouldn’t interfere in major events!” He snaps. “It changes events!”

You frown at Ryu’s apathy.

“That’s not fair! We’re Drakons or whatever. Shouldn’t we use that power to help wherever we can!”

 

Ryu turns away and heads for the door.

“No. End of discussion.”

“Hey!” You turn around and grab his shoulder. “You can’t just decide what I do!”

Ryu turns around which makes you retract his hand. He’s given a curious smile.

“You’re going to defy Rhaegos? Defy me? If you try anything I will stop you myself.”

“At the risk of destroying this timeline?”

“That… is your decision, Knight.”

 

You can’t believe the absolute disregard for the people of this world. You know they aren’t the same Kristoff and Elsa you knew, but that doesn’t mean you don’t care about them. It’s just being a decent person to help a struggling city! You turn away and huff at Ryu’s idiocy… but that’s when you see smoke rising from far away. It’s coming from a mountain.

 

“A volcano? Are there volcanos around?” You speak aloud.

Ryu diverts his course to see what you’re talking about.

“There are no volcanos around here. What could be…”

Your eyes widen when you realize what mountain that is. You erupt in a flash to transform and burst into the air.

“Wha- Knight!” Ryu shouts, sprouting his wings and chasing after you.

 

“Please don’t be… please!” You pray to yourself as you close in on the mountain. A giant unnatural hole is in the side of the mountain like it was created from the inside. You fly inside, landing ontop of a destroyed tent. You quickly scan the area to get grasp of the situation. There are soldiers similar to the ones you saw in Arendelle but… different. Their armour is darker and their swords seem to be of higher quality. Apart from those standing there are dead bodies everywhere of men women and children who’ve been stabbed and…  burned.

 

Suddenly you hear a scream and see a body fly through the air. Instantly you spot the blonde hair and recognize Kristoff. You jump into the air, catch him, and land smoothly on the ground. On quick inspection he’s only slightly hurt with a few innocent burns. You set him on his feet and keep a hand on him to keep him up. That moment Ryu lands where you did, finds you, and approaches.

 

“Knight, what are you doing? Is that..?”

“Damn… we have to get out of here. That Elemental,” Kristoff huffs, placing a hand on his wounds.

“Fire, huh… Pyro?” You theorize. “Ryu, can you get Kristoff to safety?”

“I…” Ryu cuts himself off with a huff. He eyes you with an intense, disapproving stare. You counter it with your own.

“Ryu…”

“We’ll talk about this later,” he decides, taking Kristoff and flying out of the hole.

 

“So you’ve sided with the rebels? I should have guessed,” a familiar voice speaks as he steps closer to you.

You look over at Pyro with your pure white eyes. His soldiers surround you as well in a fruitless attempt to corner you.

“You killed these people… there were children!”

“Children who would grow into rebels. They would have died eventually.”

You grind your teeth at his words. Even your Pyro wasn’t so evil, despite you not truly knowing him.

 

“I’ll be taking you to the Queen now. Perhaps we can recruit you to our cause too.”

You shake your head.

“I’d rather send your head back for what you’ve done!” You shout, powering up to send dust flying around. The soldiers are pushed off their feet while Pryo has to stabilize himself.

“What is this? Is he using the elements? No…” He whispers to himself. “Perhaps… Soldiers! We’re done here!” Pyro shouts, leaping towards the exit.

The rest of the soldiers crawl to the exit while you continue outputting power. Once they’re gone you relax as much as you can. The sight of innocents around you, all dead… if you had stayed a little long… truly just a minute longer then these people would have been saved.

 

But you can’t dwell on this. Kristoff is still alive and that means you might be able to save this world… whether Ryu wants you to or not.

 

 

**Heya! Well, this was the chapter! Next is gonna be the big fifty which** **…** **Christ, fifty chapters** **…** **Actually I do have some things to say! I** **’** **m going to be focusing on Project** **’** **s Past for the next few months which hopefully results in about two or more chapters a month! With less than fifteen chapters to go I** **’** **m hoping I can try to finish by August. That is a bold goal, but maybe I can finish in the same month I began. Either way, Project** **’** **s Past is finishing this year! Some of the chapters might be a little shorter though. I** **’** **m not really sure until I write them. Still, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and enjoy everything I have planned! After all this time the end is in sight!**

**Anyway, I guess I** **’** **ll see you guys later! I do hope you enjoy what I have planned. Project** **’** **s Past will have an awesome Act 3!**

**Want to keep up with me? Know what chapter** **’** **s coming out next and the progress of them? Follow me on Twitter! Twitter . com (slash) Chinsangan**

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**Questions? Comments? Concerns? Advice? Send me a message! See ya!**

**A special thank you to Patreon supporters: GrayJack72**

 


	50. Friends of Another Realm

#  **Chapter 50: Friends of Another Realm**

 

You return to the mountain to surprisingly see nobody at the very top.

“He must’ve taken Kristoff inside.”

You land one foot at a time, deactivating your powers the moment your first foot touches the ground. You let out a little bit of air before you start walking to the entrance. After escaping the howling wind of Arendelle you immediately hear Kristoff and Ryu talking. They seem to be in the recreational section of this compound. Though in reality it’s just a few chairs, a table, and three corridors that lead to the upper exit, the lower exit, and the living quarters.

 

Your footsteps echo through the corridor signaling Kristoff and Ryu that you’ve returned. The voices stop until you reach the bottom of the stairs and find both men staring at you.

“I was right, you two are identical! Who are you people? What happened to that bastard Elemental?” Kristoff fires off.

You and Ryu share a look, silently deciding who should answer the questions.

“Well, Pryo and those soldiers retreated. I assume they’re still on the route. As for us…”

“We’re brothers, in a sense. Though one of us is going to be in some trouble,” he adds as he stares intently at you. With a huff Ryu’s tension fades. “Kristoff informed me that they've killed everyone but him.”

You nod.

“Yeah, there were bodies everywhere. It was… disgusting.”

 

Kristoff turns his gaze to the ground, clenching his teeth.

“It’s… over. We lost everyone and now we can’t save Anna…”

“Anna? She didn’t seem in danger when I saw her,” you bring up, stepping off the stairs and leaning against the nearby corner.

“She’s the real leader of our Resistance. If we can’t get her I don’t think Corona and their allies will help us.”

You raise your brow as you look at Ryu. He instantly knows what you’re going to say.

“Knight…”

“We have to Ryu! Are you just going to let everyone here suffer? He hasn’t stopped us yet, so it’s not like he’s against it!”

Ryu crosses his arms and closes his eyes. This isn’t what he signed up for, but even he can’t deny the feelings stirring within him. Kristoff is still his friend, Elsa is still his wife. He would do anything to save them… even if they are a different version.

 

“Kristoff… what is this plan?” He asks, finally opening his eyes.

 

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Elsa, Anna, Captain Durr, and the rest of the Elementals stand at attention for the incoming report from Pyro. The grand doors open for Pyro and the Elite Guards to enter the room. All reach the halfway point before kneeling for their Queen.

 

“Your Majesty, I have some interesting news.”

“Report, Pyro. Did you eliminate those pathetic rebels?” Elsa asks with venom on her tongue.

Anna cringes ever so slightly at the remark, but keeps her cool.

“We found their base and killed… almost all of them. Their leader, Kristoff Bjorgman escaped.”

Anna’s mind is set at ease when she hears that Kristoff is okay, but the fact that everyone else is dead makes it hard to appreciate.

“How did a simple man escape you, Pyro?” Tempest snickers.

Pyro gives Tempest a dangerous glare.

“I would hold your tongue, Tempest.” He returns his gaze to Elsa. “The man from a few days ago came and saved the rebel. He… had some sort of power, your Majesty. Something I’ve never felt before.”

 

Elsa’s eyebrow raises in intrigue.

“Does he now? Hm… interesting.” She taps her nails on the throne as she thinks. “Bring the search parties back to Arendelle. Perhaps this young man will pay us another visit. I look forward to it.”

“Yes, your Majesty.” Pyro responds.

“Captain,” she continues, turn her head to Durr. “Please escort my dear sister back to her room.”

“As you command, your Majesty,” Durr bows before taking Anna out of the room.

 

The Captain keeps Anna in front of him as the two walk the chilled halls of the castle. Most of the paintings and décor are nothing more than objects for the snow to cover. Even pictures of their late parents are covered by the foul snow Elsa produces. Up some stairs, down a hall, right, left, and on the right side is Anna’s room. She bows her head to Durr for the escort before quickly entering the room, closing the door and locking it. Durr can’t help but feel bad for the Princess considering all that’s happened. He was around when Kristoff was first brought to the castle. He was around to see the love those two shared. He can’t even imagine how hard it is for her to hear about him almost being killed.

 

Anna sits on her bed, holding a small locket that Kristoff gave her as a gift. She just has to keep holding on, that’s what he told her. He promised he’d get Elsa back to normal, get Arendelle back to normal. But if he was seen with you… she isn’t sure who you are, but maybe you’ll be able to help him.

 

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“You want us to break Anna out of the castle?” You repeat.

Kristoff nods, pacing back and forth.

“We had a plan to do it. A way to make it look like a kidnapping. There’s a passage beneath the castle that-“

“I know the one,” Ryu cuts in. “We could slip in and out virtually undetected.”

“Yes… how do you know?” Kristoff cautiously asks.

“Long story,” Ryu bluntly answers. “But would Elsa not keep an eye on her own sister?”

 

“We planned for that… though it was a suicide mission.”

“Oh, my kind of mission,” you pipe up.

“A team was supposed to distract all the Elementals so I could get Anna. But with only three of us…”

You and Ryu both snicker, unintentionally mirroring each other with delivery and pitch. Kristoff is baffled by this apathy towards the situation. Those Elementals killed hundreds of his people and nearly killed him three times. What makes you two think you can handle those monsters?

 

“So I’ll volunteer to be the distraction. You two know where you’re going anyway,” you plan, stepping away from the wall towards the two of them. “I’m sure I can keep their attention for as long as you need.”

“You two… are really going to help me? We’re gonna do this?” Kristoff asks in disbelief.

Ryu huffs.

“Despite my concerns… yes. We’ll help you. Come, we should get going. Knight, you’ll go to Arendelle while Kristoff and I go to the entrance.”

“Gotcha,” you wink then head for the exit.

 

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Ryu and Kristoff approach a very large rock on the outskirts of the city, just beyond the wall. Just beside the rock is a hatch covered in leaves, branches, and snow. Ryu brushes it off to reveal the hatch then opens it.

 

_“_ _Are you ready, Knight?_ _”_

_“_ _Psh, of course I am! Just leave it to me!_ _”_

Ryu looks back at Kristoff and nods.

“Lets go, quickly.”

Ryu hops into the hole followed by Kristoff. It’s all on you now.

 

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Knowing that Kristoff and Ryu are on their way means you have to start up your distraction. You brush the snow off your jacket and walk to the middle of the courtyard where a large fountain sits. It’d be a nice place if the fountain wasn’t frozen and it wasn’t so depressing. But you’re going to change that up a bit. You move your arm in front of you to select a feature from your holowatch.

 

“Hey Shadow… you there? Are you gonna stop being so silent?”

 

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“Hey! Shaaadooooooooow!”

 

Shadow, standing completely still with his eyes closed, cringes at your annoyance.

“Idiot. He has no idea what’s going to happen. He should be grateful I’m working so hard.”

 

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You shrug.

“Whatever, party pooper. Thought you might want to see this,” you end with a smile as you activate your holowatch. A large stage forms around you, lifting you off the ground and surrounding you with instruments. Anyone who’s walking the streets notices the strange commotion and comes to watch.

 

“Is that magic?”

“He’s standing on it.”

“Is this for the Queen?”

 

You grab the guitar and modify the amp for maximum sound. Next you set up the mic so it’s just right.

“Alright, this should ruffle some feathers.”

You ready a chord and strum your guitar making it echo through all of Arendelle. You follow up by moving towards the mic.

“Your Majesty,” you sing, holding every note you can for maximum sound. “I’d love to talk… your Majesty. Perhaps you could give me an audience,” you sing as you flow through some notes.

 

Of course you make the sound pleasant to the ear but still loud enough to annoy those in the castle. You keep strumming chords and making your way down the neck to please everyone in the town. They’ve never heard something of this magnitude and skill before. Though the citizens aren’t the only one dazzled by this sound. You see the Elementals all taking position along the castle wall. With them in position a door leading to the tallest balcony opens and the honoured guest joins you. Elsa in her dark dress walks to the edge of the balcony and leans to watch your performance. The Elementals turn to her and kneel.

 

“And the Queen Bitch has joined us today, I’m so honoured,” you say with a coy smirk.

It kinda hurts you to call Elsa a bitch but your purpose is to keep their attention and insulting the Queen is the best way… still, it doesn’t sit right with you. “It’s a surprise you even pay attention down here. Wouldn’t you rather just murder all of us like you did with those children. Or, sorry, you sent your lapdogs to do it. Congrats.”

 

Elsa smirks at your bold words. Even her Elementals aren’t this bold, so someone who actually opposes her openly is refreshing… and irritating. She looks to Tempest and gives him a nod to act. Your performance might be amusing but defying her leads to death. All the Elementals turn to face you and watch as Tempest takes you out. You can tell something’s about to happen considering all eyes are on you. It’s still strange to see people like Gaia and Rain have such a threatening persona to them. Rain especially considering he’s the closest thing to a pacifist… other than that one time.

 

You’re alerted when Tempest raises his hand to the sky which immediately begins forming thunder clouds. You keep this noted but act like you haven’t seen it.

“So, you like my rhythm? I’d say it’s pretty good but what would you know?” You chuckle. “Though I have been doing this for a long time. Maybe you want a le-“

Suddenly a large bolt of lightning the size of a small house crashes on your stage to break apart the hologram and burn you to a crisp. The crowd around you gasps in surprise and shock at the sight of an Elementals power.

 

Tempest smiles at his work.

“Fool.”

“You know,” your voice speaks from behind all Elementals. “That wasn’t polite.”

Everyone looks behind the Queen to the top of Arendelle’s castle. You’re effortlessly balancing on a very thin pole there for décor only. Your arms are crossed and your smile wide.

“That was very rude to destroy my stage. All I was doing was entertaining your kingdom!”

 

 You hop off the pole and slide down the inclines of the structure until you flip and land on Elsa’s balcony. The Elementals immediately stiffen at your action. Nobody gets close to the Queen.

 

“And is that how you treat a guest? I mean really…” You shake your head in disgust.

Elsa watches your body language closely. Most people cower in fear when seeing the power of an Elemental but you… you’re brushing it off like it’s nothing. You know something that she doesn’t.

“You’re a very interesting individual. I was wrong to want you dead.” She snaps her fingers. “I want you captured.”

 

Something actually catches you by surprise when you feel a tight grip on your ankle. You look down to see a vine wrapped around your jeans.

“Hm… cheeky.”

The vine throws you over the balcony and attempts to slam you into the ground. You quickly smack your holowatch to summon your blade then cut yourself free. You curl up into a ball as you spin through the air until you land in the middle of the castle courtyard. You sheath your blade and spot each of the Elementals. They’re standing around the four corners of the courtyard. You shrug.

 

“I’ve beaten almost all of you before. I don’t think I have much to fear from you all. Maybe I can show you what happens when you think yourself better than others.”

Tempest raises his hand in the air once more to begin his attack. Lightning strikes start raining down on your location. The first one hits, which you twirl out of the way for, then the next hits which you backflip to avoid, then hop of one leg and spin to avoid the next, front flip, then backflip. Tempest’s rage heightens.

 

“How is he dodging? Tempest’s lightning strikes are virtually unavoidable,” Gaia comments. “Rain, can you see it?”

“I can… I just can’t believe it. No human should move like that.”

“I did say he had a strange power. Perhaps attacking him all at once would be best,” Pyro remarks.

 

After having your fun with Tempest you stop dodging and simply take the attack. Tempest smiles as he rains down three large lightning bolts upon you. The smoke erupts from the location as everyone watches for the lifeless body. Instead you’re standing amidst the smoke untouched.

 

“That’s called tanking an attack,” you smile. “Do you wanna try it?”

 

_God_ _…_ _I hate myself. Who could someone even be this cocky naturally?_

The Elementals all look to each other as some type of signal. You know something’s coming now – and all the while Elsa watches with a smile on her face. This is the most fun she’s had in a while despite only watching. Perhaps she might join the fray if the others are having too much trouble. That is if you survive the Elementals attack. Few have survived an encounter with an Elemental… none have survived when they’re together. An unstoppable force of natures taking form in five men and women. Then there’s you with a forced cocky attitude who embodies the perfect hybrid of a Human and Dragon.

 

You stretch your neck from side to side.

“Alright… lets get this going.”

 

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In the castle a section of the wall opens up for both Ryu and Kristoff. Ryu steps out first to check for any guards. None are present despite this being the hallway leading to Elsa’s room.

“Seems like (Y/N)’s distraction worked.”

“My wha- Ah, yes. Yeah, Knight’s worked,” Ryu quickly corrects. "Is Anna in her usual room?”

Kristoff nods.

“She should be. Follow me!”

 

Kristoff leads the way with Ryu close behind him. Ryu has his hand on his hilt at all times just in case. The two can hear explosions from outside the castle from your distraction. In Ryu’s opinion you’re stirring up a little too much trouble, but he can’t blame you since he’s going along with this crazy scheme. At least no guards are complicating this rescue. Ryu and Kristoff turn the corner and spot Anna’s door down the hall.

 

“There she is! Come on!” Kristoff urges as he rushes towards the room.

“Kristoff, wait!” Ryu shouts as he chases after the eager man.

Kristoff slides to a halt in front of Anna’s door before pounding on her door.

“Anna! It’s Kristoff! Please open the door!”

Following Kristoff’s demand the door opens, but it’s not Anna who opens the door. A sword immediately lifts to Kristoff’s throat to hold the man in place. Ryu stops before reaching the door to keep his element of surprise.

 

“No! Please don’t hurt him!” Anna screams from inside the room.

 

Ryu looks to the far wall before jumping to it then springing off with one leg to spin and kick the one bearing the sword. Ryu holds the man down with his foot until he gets a good look at who he hit.

“Durr?” Ryu whispers to himself, meanwhile Kristoff runs past the two and hugs Anna.

Durr looks up at Ryu with his own confused expression.

“You… you look the same but you’re not the man from before.”

Ryu shakes his head.

“No, he’s outside with your Elemental friends. You… don’t need to worry about that. Anna, Kristoff,” Ryu shouts as he looks to the two. “Head back to the exit. I’ll catch up with you shortly.”

 

“Right,” Kristoff nods. “Come on, Anna. We’re getting out of here.”

“But my sister!” Anna protests as she’s lead out of the room.

“Now’s not the time! Come on!”

 

Ryu waits a moment before focusing on Durr again.

“You weren’t going to kill him, were you?” Ryu questions as he removes his foot from Durr’s chest and offers his hand.

“How could you tell?” He questions, taking Ryu’s hand and getting back to his feet.

“You could have killed him immediately yet you decided to hold him there. If you had gone for the kill… well you’d be the one bleeding on the floor right now.”

 

Before Durr can respond an earthshaking explosion erupts from outside to make the castle tremble. Durr falls to the side, grabbing onto a shelf for support.

“What is out there?”

Ryu, unmoved by the action, sighs.

“It’s those Elementals and Knight. I have to leave, but…” He looks back to Durr, a friend from his time that is no longer with him. “It was nice meeting you. Perhaps we won’t be enemies in the coming days.”

 

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You spin through the air curled up in a ball, releasing yourself right as you land ontop of the castle walls then cross your arms.

“Man, you guys are definitely a lot better than my versions. If I had fought you back then there’s no way I would have survived.”

The Elementals, including Elsa, all hear and are confused by your words. But thinking more on that is useless. They want you dead for their Queen and they won’t fail her.

“My Queen… may we get serious?” Gaia shouts.

Elsa taps her chin as she contemplates what to do. Clearly the Elementals need to put in a little more work in with you but her castle might not take it.

 

_“_ _Knight! Anna and Kristoff are out of the castle we_ _’_ _re on our way back to the hideout._ _”_

_“_ _Right_ _…_ _give me a minute, it_ _’_ _ll take some time to really lose these guys._ _”_

_“_ _Fine. If you need assistance let me know._ _”_

“So, it’s been a blast but I should really get going. I’m sure you’re all quite busy,” you say with hand gestures. “But…” You tap into your speed for a split second as you jump from the castle wall to Elsa. She takes a step back at the sudden new presence and out of surprise from your sudden appearance. “I will see you soon,” you speak in a serious tone.

 

Your eyes take a glance at the necklace around her neck.

 

_Wait_ _…_ _that necklace_ _…_

To test a theory you leap off the balcony and land in the courtyard. Rain and Gaia are both there and they prepare for your arrival. The moment your second foot touches the ground you burst forward, demolishing the ground where you landed, and approach the two Elementals. They can’t even keep up with the pace you’re going at so you have a moment to check their necks. As you blitz in between them you identify the same type of necklace Elsa was wearing is on both of them.

 

Following your momentum you pass through the two Elementals then jump onto the castle wall again.

_They_ _’_ _re the same_ _…_ _could that mean..? I_ _’_ _ll think on it later._

The Elementals lock onto to you once more ready for more fighting.

“As I said, I need to get going, so…”

As you speak you feel something behind you. It’s not a presence… its power. Without looking you leap forward over the courtyard as you manage to dodge a large fireball courtesy of Pyro. However that was all part of the plan. With you now in the air Gaia throws over a dozen vines to trap you in the air so you’re unable to move. You try to break free but the vines are no regular creations of nature. They’re stronger than steel. With you immobilized all the Elementals focus on you, firing their respective Element at you. Even Elsa joins in, though only using one hand. The culmination of Elements cause a beautiful yet deadly scene for the people of Arendelle to watch.

 

The constant bombardment of all the Elementals starts to weigh on you. This is more intense than you’ve ever felt before. You have to break free now! With a surge of power your eyes shift to white and you exert your power with a powerful scream. Your raw power breaks out of their attacks, pushing everything back as you shake the ground around you. The stone of the castle begins to crumble, the ice covering the sea breaks apart, the continent itself shakes at your power. Stalls in town made of simple wood break apart, windows shatter, children scream. Your exertion blows back the Elementals and even slams Elsa into her castle. The pressure coming from you threatens to crush the five where they are. Once you’re free you stop releasing your power and simply hover in the air. You turn to Elsa and give her a fierce look.

 

“I’d advise that we do not fight again. Give up this tyranny for your own good.”

 

With those words spoken you burst through the air and leave the city behind. Elsa picks herself up and holds onto the railing to gain her bearings once more. All the others do the same after such an experience. To feel such crushing pressure by someone’s mere presence is astounding to them all. It’s something the Elementals definitely have an interest in. Tempest and Pyro drop down from the castle walls to regroup with Gaia and Rain.

 

“See, I wasn’t lying,” Pyro comments.

“Now’s not the time, Pyro,” Gaia scolds. “Though I think _he_ would be interested in hearing about this.”

“If he didn’t already feel it,” Tempest adds.

“I feel like drowning someone to relieve myself,” Rain chuckles.

“Come, lets go. That boy might ruin everything,” Gaia commands.

 

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Once you’re sure the Elementals aren’t in pursuit you return to the top of the mountain. Once you land you deactivate your powers, then snicker how much you’ve transformed since you first achieved it. You’re sure that you wouldn’t have been able to take on those Elementals before your transformation. Your body has become stronger just from the ability being unlocked. You definitely would have needed Ryu’s help if you were as you were before. Still, you might have went a little overboard when breaking free of their attack. You didn’t have to release that much power but your control over your newfound power still isn’t perfected. You just hope Ryu doesn’t get on your case about it.

 

Your cross your arms and push through the door with your shoulder and kick it closed behind you. Your mind is now thinking of the necklaces you saw on all five of the Elementals. Your initial thought is that they might be linked. Perhaps like a distress beacon? If so that makes capturing any of them will lead to failure, so trying to separate Elsa from the rest isn’t an option.

 

As you think on these things you make it to the bottom of the stairs where Ryu, Anna, and Kristof reside.

“And there he is, the idiot himself,” Ryu calmly states, drawing attention to you.

You snap out of your thought and look at the people ahead of you.

“You were the one who made the planet shake?” Kristoff asks in awe.

“No, not the planet. But you nearly turned Arendelle to ruble. What happened?” Ryu scolds, his voice extremely serious for this topic.

“Yeah… sorry,” you say with an uncertain tone. “I had to break out of their attack and I’m not as good at controlling my power compared to you.”

Ryu shakes his head.

“No matter. We completed our mission and now… they want to go somewhere else.”

 

Before you can speak Anna rushes up to you.

“You’re the man who saw that family die. You fought the Elementals? Who are you two?”

You and Ryu share a look to decide what exactly to say. You can’t excuse it by saying you’re just regular brothers after everything you’ve shown off.

“We’re…”

“We’re here to help, that’s all that matters,” Ryu answers. “Now what are you going to do?”

Anna side steps to face Ryu.

“We need to get to Corona. My cousin, Rapunzel, is willing to help. The major holds have been planning an assault on Arendelle for some time to bring down… my sister.” Anna clenches her fist. “But it has to happen. I don’t want it to, I don’t want to take Elsa’s place, but I can’t let Arendelle stay like this.”

 

You can hear the distress in Anna’s voice. If it hurts to just see Elsa like this for you it’s hard to imagine how Anna feels as she watched her beloved sister become who she is now. Considering she’s willing to aid an assault on Arendelle shows how different this Anna is compared to yours. Makes you think how many different variations of Elsa, Anna, and everyone else there is. There could be an infinite amount through all of time. The possibilities are endless.

 

“Shall we take them to Corona then? It shouldn’t take long.”

You shrug.

“Sure. Which one do you want to take?”

Anna is completely confused by your conversation.

“How are you going to take us there?”

Kristoff places a hand on her shoulder with a smile.

“You won’t believe what these guys can do. They’ll be the turning point for all this, I can tell.”

You humbly chuckle as you rub under your nose.

“Heh, flatterer.”

Ryu remains unmoved by these words. He takes a step towards the upper exit.

“Come. It’s best if we do this quickly. Knight doesn’t have the time.”

 

Ryu leads the way to the top of the mountain with you behind Kristoff and Anna. Once you reach the mountain top Ryu faces you all.

“Alright, Kristoff you’re coming with me. Anna, go with Knight.”

As Ryu speaks he pushes off the top half of his jacket and sprouts his wings. Anna jumps back out of fear. Ryu suppresses his scales once hearing Anna’s scream so he doesn’t scare the girl any more.

“You see now why I’m taking Kristoff,” Ryu explains.

Anna places a hand on her heart and dons an apologetic look.

“I’m… sorry. That just… I wasn’t expecting it.”

“Nobody does,” he calmly responds. “Come, Kristoff. Lets get going.”

 

Ryu grabs Kristoff’s hand before soaring into the air and flying towards Arendelle. You step past Anna to get some space before transforming, losing all colour in your eyes. You turn back to Anna with a smile.

“It’ll be over before you know it.”

Anna looks over to the sky where Ryu and Kristoff went.

“If Kristoff thinks it’s okay…” She takes a deep breath. “Okay.”

 

You hold out your hand for Anna to take. She slowly grabs it and you’re filled with a rush of emotions and memories. Her touch is exactly the same as your Anna. Perhaps, when you see it, her smile and laugh will be too. You guide her towards your back and allow her to hop on like a piggy back. Once she’s secured you slowly bring yourself off the ground. You can feel Anna’s grip tighten on your skin as the distance from the ground greatens.

 

“It’s alright, Anna. Just relax and trust me. I promise I won’t let you fall,” you say as you gently place your hand on one of hers. Instantly she throws the other ontop which makes you laugh. “Just keep holding that hand.”

 

Once you ascend to just below the clouds you grip Anna’s hand firmly and fly forward. She instantly starts screaming as the wind runs through her hair and smacks her face. Noticing this, you manipulate the wind to create a small, calm bubble around you. After doing this, Anna manages to pry one eye open to see why the wind isn’t hitting her anymore. To her amazement she finally sees the pocket you created for the journey.

 

“How did…”

“We can do a lot of crazy things,” you chuckle. “I’m hoping it can lead to some good for everyone… everyone,” your voice drowns out when thinking of your lost friends.

“We’ve been low on hope for a long time… yet Kristoff seems happier than ever. I hope I can have that same faith in you too.”

“Well, actions speak louder than words. Let’s save all this for when we take Arendelle back!”

Your voice is filled with certainty that it makes even Anna’s dwindled faith increase.

 

With your little talk out of the way you pick up the speed to soar over Arendelle and towards the ocean. You keep your speed up until you spot Ryu flying not far ahead, then slow down to match his pace. You still don’t know where you’re going, after all. 

 

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After flying over the vast ocean your small group comes within sight of the beautiful Corona city.

“That’s Corona?” You ask Anna.

She nods.

“Mhm. My cousin is the princess there.”

 

You look over the massive city of Corona once more, noting all the differences between your version and this old one. The giant bustling city you once knew is… still there, but instead is completely made of stone and actually very beautiful. With the sun seemingly focusing on the city it compliments the colourful rooftops, the various large trees that could be mistaken for buildings at your height, and the majestic palace sitting at the top. In fact, that’s the one thing you do recognize at a first glance. That palace is the exact same one that was preserved and used as a tourist location. Though this version is far more beautiful than yours.

 

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen Corona… I haven’t seen such a sight in so long. It’s… all been ice.”

“At least it was a chill time,” you whisper to yourself then proceed to chuckle at the joke. You speed ahead to match Ryu’s location. “So where are we landing?”

“At the docks under the bridge. We can’t be seen flying.”

 

Acknowledging his words you loop around with Ryu and stop right over the water. You let off Kristoff and Anna respectively before landing yourselves. Ryu fixes his clothes before looking to the princess.

“Lead the way, Anna. You’ll be accepted here.”

Anna nods as she wraps her arm around Kristoff.

“Mhm, lets go right away. But… um…” She eyes your apparel. “Maybe the two of you should stay back. It’ll be easier for us to explain this and… explain you two.”

“Without us there?” Ryu remarks.

“I… Well, the topic is-“

 

“Leave it alone, Ryu,” you wave off. “We can walk around a bit. This place is beautiful! Besides, we can make it to the castle any time.”

Ryu sighs.

“Very well. We’ll be waiting for your call.”

Anna nods.

“Alright, lets go to the castle quickly!” Anna beckons as she drags Kristoff around the corner and up the steps.

 

Ryu crosses his arms.

“Perhaps there’s something we shouldn’t know. Hm…”

You pat his back, knocking him out of thought.

“Come on, lets see the sights. I want to see this place. This is your time, no?” He nods to confirm. “Well I want to see what beauty can be here, and since Arendelle isn’t an option this seems to be the next best thing.” You happily cheer.

“Hm… I suppose there’s nothing we can do in the meantime. Very well, follow me,” he states as he walks past you. “I’ve been to Corona many times for business.”

Ryu leads you up the same stairs Anna and Kristoff used which leads to a path with branching areas, stalls, people, and plenty of colour. Seeing such happy people is the complete polar opposite to what was seen in Arendelle, save for the moment that you and Ryu gave to that pub.

 

“I don’t want to know the ‘business’ side, Ryu,” you whine. “I just wanna see the sights, have fun. Take a load off, you know? Don’t you ever do that?”

“I’m the King of Arendelle and a father. Taking into consideration my training I have little time to ‘take a load off.’”

“Psh, you’re no fun,” you wave off. You place your hands on your hips and scan your surroundings. “So what’re we going to do? To be fair we really don’t know when they’ll call for us.”

Ryu stops in the middle of the bridge as he eyes the castle.

“That’s true…” A smirk slowly creeps onto his face. “You remember what I did when I first went to my Arendelle..?”

 

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Kristoff and Anna approach the doors of Corona’s castle with the company of half a dozen guards. Considering everything the world has heard about Arendelle the fact that Princess Anna has escaped is a very important thing. Even more so since a meeting between various kingdoms is currently taking place.

 

The guards approach a large door before gesturing for the two visitors to pause. The head guard walks in and closes the door behind him. Anna and Kristoff remain quiet as they wait for the news. Suddenly the door bursts open and arms wrap around Anna.

 

“Anna!” Rapunzel shrieks with joy, squeezing her cousin as tight as possible. “You’re okay! I was so worried!”

Anna eagerly hugs back.

“I was too. Elsa… she’s not… I…”

“It’s okay, Anna. We’re going to take care of it,” Rapunzel reassures. “Come in! We’re gathering allies!”

 

Rapunzel brings Anna and Kristoff into the room where over a few dozen men and women sit at a large roundtable. This includes the King and Queen of Corona, Fredric and Arianna, who sit at the head of the table. Rapunzel sit Anna and Kristoff beside Eugene who’s begrudgingly attending this meeting. He’s not a fan of politics and has little to offer in the conversation. Once everyone is reseated the meeting continues… though there are more guests than they know.

 

From high above on the right side a window is very cautiously opened enough to clearly hear what’s going on inside. You and Ryu stand on the roof, leaning against the stone for protection. You don’t want to be seen as you eavesdrop on such an important conversation.

 

“As I was saying,” an older gentleman with a thick moustache and heavy frame speaks. “Arendelle has posed no threat to any other Kingdom since this supposed change in Queen Elsa.”

“Speak for yourself,” another man speaks, this time he has greyer hair than most in the room. “Our trade has decreased dramatically since Arendelle’s isolation.”

“Your Kingdom’s trade does not justify an invasion!”

“We can’t ignore the fact that those… other people are with her. Having so many people with abilities like there’s in one place spells disaster.”

“Did we not already discuss this when those element users were first discovered?”

“They didn’t pose a threat then.”

“And they don’t now! No hostility has come from Arendelle!”

 

The debate continues as nearly every King and Queen chime in to add their thoughts to the matter. This only angers Anna.

 

“You don’t even know the state of Arendelle!” She bursts out. “Our people are sick! The cold never ends! My sister… no, whoever this is isn’t my sister and she needs to be stopped! Shouldn’t we prevent a problem before it has a chance to grow?”

 

“One Kingdom’s affairs does not demand the world’s attention. If Arendelle were to declare war we would be able to stop them.”

“But what about the people of Arendelle? What about the surrounding cities effected like Tocia?” She persists.

“Again, those are under the direction of Arendelle. They do not pose a threat to anyone else.”

“Are you kidding me?” Anna huffs, sitting back down and crossing her arms.

 

This time Kristoff speaks.

“Look, I don’t know much about these politics, but I’ve seen the Arendelle’s guards mercilessly murder innocents. I-“

“As regrettable as that is there’s more to this than just reason. Despite what that tactless one thinks, the elemental users are dangerous foes. If we assault Arendelle with fiv-“

“There’s someone who can fight them!” Kristoff cuts off, which gathers everyone’s attention.

“What do you mean?”

 

“Is he talking about me?” You whisper.

“Us, you narcissist.”

 

“That’s not fair! He hasn’t seen you fight!”

 

“We met people… people who are special,” Anna answers. “I think they can help us deal with them. All we need is your support to take back Arendelle!”

The Kings and Queens all start whispering with each other. King Frederic sighs from all the commotion yet no results.

“We’ll take a short break for everyone’s thoughts to be ironed out. We’ll reconveine in ten minutes.”

“I have a request!” A queen speaks out. “We’d like to see these people Princess Anna spoke of.”

Frederic looks to Anna who nods in response.

“Very well. We will send for them,” Frederic answers.

 

“Hear that?”

“Seems like we should return to the city swiftly,” Ryu decides before leaping off the roof towards another surface.

“Hey! Wait for me!” You shout chasing after him.

 

The large room begins to lose population as more and more royalty pour out. The Coronian royalty stays with Anna and Kristoff. Both Frederic and Arianna give their niece a loving hug after not seeing her for years.

“Oh Anna, I’m so happy to see you,” Arianna coos. “We were worried something had happened to you.”

“Is Arendelle truly as bad as you said?” Frederic asks with the tiniest bit of hope for his other niece.

Anna regretfully nods.

“I wish I could say otherwise… but maybe we can do something about it. If we get aid from everyone else we could capture Elsa and try to… try to do something!” Anna passionately says.

Frederic places a hand on Anna’s shoulder.

“But… Anna you have to understand there’s a possibi-“

“I know,” Anna cuts him off. “If it comes to that… it happens. I’ve made peace with it.”

 

“Good… I wouldn’t want there to be a problem. Corona will help you, Anna, no matter what. The others… I can only think of one other kingdom that will help you with this.”

Both Anna and Kristoff visually show confusion and intrigue at his words.

“The Southern Iles, of course,” Frederic reveals. “They are indebted to Arendelle thanks to Hans’ actions. I’ve already talked with Balthier Westergaard. He’s willing to help. You at least have two allies.”

“But lets not worry about that for now,” Arianna cuts in. “These two look exhausted.”

Anna disagrees but the dirty, battle worn Kristoff likes the idea of some relaxation.

“We’ll speak on your behalf, Anna. I promise,” the King pledges. “We’ll also send for your two friends. They’ll be coming to you for a description.”

“Thank you. Come, Anna. I think it’s best we get some sleep,” Kristoff advises before gently wrapping his hand around hers.

“I… suppose. Thank you so much for your help, I-“

“We’re family, Anna. It’s what we do,” Arianna caringly answers.

 

King Frederic beckons two guards to escort Anna and Kristoff to their quarters. Once they’re gone Arianna wraps her arms around herself as she thinks.

“You know the others are going to refuse to help no matter what we say,” she whispers to her husband.

“That’s true, but we must do what we can. If that comes to pass… I hope these two people they brought along are really worth it. I can’t imagine how two people could make such a difference.”

“Well, five people are making all the difference for Arendelle’s defenses,” Arianna counters, referring to the Elementals.

Frederic snickers at his wife’s logic.

“Very true. We’ll see when they arrive.

 

**And here** **’** **s the big ol** **’** **chapter fifty. What a milestone, huh? Fifty chapters in** **…** **that** **’** **s just insane. Funny to think how we** **’** **ll end on such an odd number like fifty nine or sixty two. I still don** **’** **t know how many chapters there are left but I doubt it will be a nice number like fifty. But, whatever. I hope you all enjoyed and are eager for the next part! As I** **’** **m sure you can guess this small confrontation was only a taste of what** **’** **s to come. It** **’** **s almost nostalgic to write a (Y/N) vs. Elementals since there hasn** **’** **t been one like that since chapter ten. Or** **…** **I guess if you count Adgar and Idun or Alistair then they** **’** **re TECHNICALLY Elementals but you know what I mean. It** **’** **s a throwback that I** **’** **m excited about.**

**So as you all know the next chapter will be out soon! I** **’** **m going to take some time to write one chapter of Crimson Shadow, but then two more chapters of this will come along. I** **’** **m dedicated I tell you! I really want to end it on the day I started, or at least around there. So, if I can do it, the story might be ending around August twenty fifth, more or less. That** **’** **s about four months away! Quite the task, but I** **’** **m up for it! Ending it on the three year anniversary will be awesome.**

**But I** **’** **ve rambled long enough. I hope you all enjoyed and I will see you next time!**

**Want to keep up with me? Know what chapter** **’** **s coming out next and the progress of them? Follow me on Twitter! Twitter . com (slash) Chinsangan**

**Ever want me to write a one-shot for you? Maybe a few? Maybe one every few months? Perhaps get the inside scoop on how I write, ideas for future or current stories, and even help writing your own story? Consider checking out my Patreon page! Pat reon . com (slash) Chinsangan**

**Questions? Comments? Concerns? Advice? Send me a message! See ya!**

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	51. Battle for Arendelle - Part 1

#  **Chapter 51: Battle for Arendelle – Part 1**

 

The council patiently awaits the arrival of the support that Anna had informed them of. It would take someone very impressive to sway the already hesitant Monarchs. Could a duo truly change the course of a battle between legendary Elementals? Then again, those five already make up an entire army. But is the possibility of two people worth risking their kingdoms? All of them already have their minds made up with only a slight chance to have their decisions changed.

 

The door finally creaks open with a small escort of guards leading in two men who have almost picture perfect resemblance.

“I didn’t get to do any sight-seeing because of you!”

“We’ll have time later. Stop complaining.”

You cross your arms and mumble incoherently at your counterpart. After a few steps you turn your attention to the dozens of high ranking people in this room who’ve given their full attention to you and Ryu.

 

Whispers already circulate through the nobility at how you both look and walk. Obviously Ryu walks more to their liking considering he lives in this era and is also a King. You, on the otherhand, are just some young man who’s absolutely out of place here. Thanks to your enhanced hearing you already regret wearing your clothing to this meeting. Nobody on this planet would wear clothing like yours, making you stick out like a sore thumb. Ryu can hear the same whispers though he chooses to ignore them. The opinions of nobility that are not from his world matter little to him.

 

“So you two are the ones Princess Anna believes are capable of ending the Queen’s reign?” Frederic starts, asking the question on everyone’s mind.

“We are,” Ryu answers. “We both have experience dealing with Elementals. These ones should prove little difficulty to the two of us.”

“Yeah, what he said,” you confidently add, only to have Ryu shoot you a look telling you to shut up. “Right, right.”

“If you’ve encountered Elementals in the past, then why are they still alive? How do you know if you can kill them?” Another King inquires, sparking discussion.

“I cannot answer that question. All you need to know is that we can defeat these Elementals.”

 

“If that’s the case then why are we needed at all?”

“You’re not,” Ryu bluntly answers, stirring the crowd even more and shocking Frederic. “I neither have the time nor patience to deal with your petty squabals and irritating egos. If you truly want to show your cowardice to everyone by not lending aid to Arendelle then that is your choice. Simply remember that everyone in this room shall remember that. Everyone here will remember that you were too cowardly to assist another Kingdom when they needed aid. If you wish that title to be given to you then leave right now. Otherwise I suggest you plan for an assault on Arendelle in two days.”

 

You can’t help but smile at Ryu’s demeanor. Not only do you get to see an older you school these Kings and Queens, but you get a glimpse into how he handles politics in his world. He would have more leverage and influence as King, of course, but showing that he’s a no-nonsense person really leaves its mark on you. He has the best intentions, even if he’s not showing the utmost compassion. It’s admirable to you.

 

Ryu turns around and heads for the exit.

“Could you take me to Princess Anna?” He asks the guard at the door.

The guard quickly nods and leads the way for the secret King. You, on the otherhand, are still standing in the middle of the room with all eyes on you. You start nervously chuckling as you point to the door, to your watch, realize they don’t even know what your watch is which makes you look like more of an idiot, then you just stroll out as stiff as possible.

 

They keep their eyes on you until the door closes, then all glance at each other. Frederic clears his throat to attract the attention of the disgruntled Monarchs.

“So, um… we’ve heard from them. They sure have the confidence to back up Anna’s claim. It is up to you, Kings and Queens from Kingdoms across the world to decide if you will aid our recapture of Arendelle. I know Balthier Westergaard has already pledged to aid us, and we thank him for it. So… What is the verdict?”

 

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“Did you just?”

“Yes.”

“Like, with no care!”

“Yes.”

“They could ki- okay they couldn’t but still dude!” You faun over the actions of your Kingly counterpart.

“I said what needed to be said, nothing more. Either way you and I will be the ones doing most of the battling. I trust that’s no issue for you?”

You eagerly shake your head.

“I’m ready to hone my Drakon powers even further! Maybe we could do some more training? We have two more days.”

 

Ryu stops in his tracks, firmly placing a hand on your chest to stop you.

“If you want more training I suggest going to Arendelle once more. Perhaps my father can teach you more about controlling your… unexpected amount of power. I have other things to do. In fact, I implore you to return to Arendelle. I will handle things here.”

 

You take a step back and cross your arms.

“Are you sure?”

Ryu confidently nods.

“Of course. I am well versed in politics and you’re the one that needs training. If you wish you can scout Arendelle as well. If anything urgent comes up you may contact me.”

“I… right… okay, I can do that. I’ll see you soon then, Ryu. Stay safe.”

“Same to you, Knight.”

 

You run off in the other direction towards the entrance while Ryu watches until you leave. Once out the door you immediately flare up in a brilliant power and soar through the air. The guards posted in the courtyard are absolutely blown away by what they just saw. A man younger than all of them just flew right into the air and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

 

“Some weird things, huh Frank?”

“Yeah Bill.”

 

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Ryu firmly knocks on Anna and Kristoff’s door. After just a moment of waiting it opens by the hand of Kristoff.

“Ryu? That was faster than I thought.”

“What did they say?” Anna shouts, pushing her way past Kristoff to face the older man.

Ryu shrugs his shoulder.

“I said what needed to be said. I believe you will have more allies now. I have some insight on how they think.”

Kristoff looks over Ryu’s shoulder with a brow raised.

“Where’s (Y/N)?”

“He decided to scout Arendelle. He’ll be there when we attack.” Ryu looks into the room then back to the Princess. “May I come in?”

“Yes! Of course!” Anna urgently speaks as she opens the door completely and steps out of the way.

 

Ryu enters the room, using some wind to close the door behind him.

“So he’ll be okay?” Kristoff once again asks about you.

“Of course. He’s a powerful individual. I highly doubt the Elementals can do anything serious to him.”

“How…” Anna chokes on her words as she tries to figure out how to say what she wants. “How are you two so strong? How can you fly?”

Ryu chuckles.

“How does your sister have the ability to control ice? Life is full of mysteries and we are two of those mysteries,” Ryu answers with a very confident tone. “But that matters little at the moment. The meeting is wrapping up.”

“How do you know?”

“I can hear it from here,” Ryu calmly responds. “It seems we have the support of… everyone. Two days, Anna. I hope you’re ready.”

 

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Elsa stands above her guards with a spiteful look. Durr is at the head of the guards, unable to move like the rest of them. Their feet and hands are frozen to the ground, each one shivering from the intense cold Elsa is creating. The only thing that’s fortuitous about the situation is that the other Elementals are not present at the moment. They all left minutes after you escaped.

 

“My sister is taken right under your noses! What sort of pathetic men am I keeping around?” She scolds, tightening the icy grip she has on them. “Perhaps I’ll use you all as an example? Some new decorations around the castle,” she devilishly plans. “But that might be too easy for your useless souls.”

 

“It w-was my fault, your Majesty,” Durr manages to say through his shivers. “P-Please punish me and n-n-not my men.”

Elsa turns on her heel and focuses on the Captain of the Guard.

“You want to be punished? You’re willing to sacrifice your dignity for your men,’” Elsa chuckles. She snaps her fingers and the ice that held everyone else melts away. “Very well. You may leave… but…” The ice keeping Durr in place starts to shift towards his left arm, covering it completely. “You will all remember this failure.”

 

With another snap of her fingers the ice covering Durr’s arm shatters, taking the arm with it.

Durr cringes in pain, though it doesn’t hurt as much as he thought it would. The ice is definitely numbing the pain but not completely. Durr holds the open wound at his shoulder before swiftly falling unconscious. Two guards approach the Captain and lead him out of the room to the infirmary. Elsa returns to her throne and watches most of the guards clear out… but one approaches her.

 

“Your Majesty,” he starts, getting on one knee. “The people still protest about the recent… murders in town.”

Elsa scoffs.

“Ah, yes. Well, after this rebellion is squashed and my sister returned I’ll take care of that. After all… their safety is my top priority,” she ends with a devious smile.

 

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The Elementals kneel in a line before a trone that is not their Queen’s. The entire area is entirely dark with only scraps of light coming through the ceiling. The only sound that can be heard is light breathing, the crackling of flames, water dripping from the ceiling, and… eating – the sound of meat being torn off and devoured.

 

“So you believe it to be another Drakon?” The male voice on the trone speaks.

“Yes. From what we’ve seen it seems this new man is another Drakon.”

“There might be another one too. Reports say that two identical men were spotted in Arendelle.” The man leans back and rests his hand on his chin as he enters deep thought.

“Two Drakons? That means three exist…”

“What should we do, sir?”

The man steps off his throne and paces in front of it, still holding his chin.

“Keep them away from Elsa. We need her for now. If they prove too much for you…” He looks to the figure in the corner of the room – the source of the eating sound. “Then we’ll use ours.”

 

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You fly over Arendelle but pause right above the castle. You look down at Elsa’s abode with a melancholy feeling. The woman you love acting like such a tyrannical ruler. You have two days before the battle commences which does give you time to visit Elsa one more time to see if you can talk sense into her. She won’t listen but it’s worth a try. However right now it’s time for more training. You need to learn to control your power during battles so you don’t accidently destroy everything. That does bring up the question of how powerful Ryu is. If you shook so much with what you’ve only recently unlocked, the thought of Ryu unleashing all his power leaves you with only your imagination.

 

You look back to the mountain and burst forward, reaching your destination in seconds. Landing gently on the ground, you look around for some method to call your ancient blood father.

 

“Rha… Rea… Rhaegoose? Oh crap I forgot the name,” you whine, sliding your hands down your face.

Once you drag off a large creature slams down atop the mountain, shaking it to the brim and making you fall onto your butt.

“Rhaegos,” the thundering voice answers.

You look up at the towering, near scary Dragon that’s staring down at you.

“Ah… haha… Rhaegos, yeah, right, never forgetting that again,” you say in a nervous, higher pitched voice. You brush yourself off as you get to your feet and stand confidently infront of the mythical beast. “Rhaegos, I wish to know if there’s a place I can safely train! I want to push my abilities to the max to fight my father but I’m worried about the planet!”

 

Rhaegos, without missing a beat, breathes a beautiful blue flame onto you. You shield your face from the flame and only lower your guard when your body feels… different. You can feel yourself standing yet at the same time it’s like nothing’s below you. Carefully looking at the ground reveals that there is indeed nothing there but ongoing nothingness. You let your arms drop to look all around you and find the exact same thing.

 

“My own realm that I use when I do not wish to occupy a timeline. Nothing you do will escape this place. Do as much training as you wish in the two days you have.” Rhaegos says this with his eyes looking at two different beings. In one realm is Shadow and the other is you. “I’m eager to see how much you master your abilities.”

 

Shadow scoffs at the comment.

“I’m already far beyond (Y/N). Why are you giving me this chance as well?”

“I do not prefer one over the other. All opportunities shall be given to both of you equally.”

Shadow turns away, transforming.

“That’s a first.”

“Do you feel yourself inferior to him?” Rhaegos asks.

 

Shadow hears the question but doesn’t respond. He immediately hovers over the ground and dashes forward, readying a punch.

 

On the other end of the spectrum you stand in front of Rhaegos about to respond to him.

“I am too, honestly. I just hope I can get strong enough to stop Alistair.”

“That will be a task, young Drakon. Alistair has transformed himself into something more powerful than any other human.” Rhaegos looks to the sky as if he can see something. “He’s even stronger than some Drakons.”

You rub the back of your head and nervously laugh.

“Great… no pressure.” You shake your head, slap your cheeks and get determined. “Alright, lets do this! I’m ready!”

 

You cross your arms, gathering power, then releasing them to your side as your eyes become pure white and power rushes over you. Immediately you jump into the air and start shadow sparring with people in the air. This whole sequence is so fast that anyone without special powers wouldn’t be able to keep up with you. Your punching and kicking speed are dozens of times faster than they were when you trained with higher gravity, your reaction time and perception have also multiplied based on your Drakon powers alone. You always wondered how you could pull off such inhuman feats. Now it’s clear that the reason is you aren’t completely human. If someone would have told you that a few years ago you would have laughed it off like nothing. This power, however, this inhuman power is what’s going to save your fiancée and friends. You won’t fail them… and you won’t fail this world’s Elsa either.

 

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Anna, Kristoff, and Ryu sit in the main dining hall along with the royal family of Corona. Ryu has already finished his meal with elegance and speed, something he learned from his time as King. He rarely has the luxury of having a lengthy meal with his family thanks to his duties, but he more than makes up for that to both Elsa and his two children when he can.

 

He doesn’t contribute much via conversation either. As Anna and Rapunzel fill the hall with talk that one wouldn’t think would be coming out of the mouths of two stressed princesses. Eugene and Kristoff are making small talk while the King and Queen proudly watch their family. Though Ryu notices something on Frederic’s face. It’s an odd look, one that only shows itself once every few minutes. It’s doubtful anyone but Ryu has noticed such a thing.

 

Ryu subtly keeps an eye on the King as everyone slowly finishes their meal. Once everyone is done and the castle staff clean off the table, Frederic stands up to make an announcement.

“Well, I’m happy to inform you all that every Kingdom has offered their support to take back Arendelle. Their ships are arriving tonight and early tomorrow, then we will sail the day after. Each has sent a General or Overseer and… well, there’s one I’d like to introduce,” he says hesitantly, eyes on Anna.

 

Frederic looks to the two guards at the door, signaling them to let the guest in. The guards nod and open the door for a single young man that everyone in the room has met or heard of. You have only heard of him from Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff. Suddenly it all makes sense why Frederic was so nervous for this reveal. Prince Hans of the Southern Iles regally walks into the room, his eyes meeting with Anna’s first. Anna and Kristoff both stand, anger swelling within them.

 

“Him!? He tried to kill me! He tried to kill Elsa!” Anna screams.

Hans raises his hands and takes a step forward.

“I know that and-“

“Oh you know? You know, that’s just great!” Anna cuts off. “Are you just waiting for the chance to kill Elsa and then me?”

A hand rests on Anna’s shoulder. She looks back to see her uncle looking at her with caring eyes.

“Please, Anna, let the man explain.”

Anna and Kristoff begrudgingly quiet down to give Hans a chance to speak.

 

“Thank you, your Highness. Anna, Kristoff, I know I have done nothing but wrong by you and your kin. I apologize for that, not that my words alone can make up for my horrendous actions. I begged my father to let me lead our armies to help Arendelle. I want to restore my name and clean off the stain I left on my families’,” Hans pleads with wholeheartedness.

 

“I wouldn’t have let him come if I didn’t believe it, Anna,” Frederic softly speaks. “Every Kingdom knows what he did. He’ll be monitored his entire stay and even during the battle.”

Anna crosses her arms and scoffs.

“Fine, but I don’t want to see him.”

Frederic looks at the young man and politely gestures for him to leave.

“I understand. Thank you for your trust, Princess Anna,” he bows before turning around and heading for the door.

 

Ryu stands up and bows his head towards all royalty in the room.

“I thank you for the meal, it was delicious. I’m taking my leave.”

He makes sure to tuck his chair in before following the trail of the young Westergaard. Hans is a short distance ahead of Ryu, walking with the utmost respect of his surroundings.

 

“I wonder if my Hans of my time feels the same way. Or is it due to the change in Elsa and Arendelle? Perhaps a trip to the Southern Iles would do me some good when this is over.”

 

“Ryu!” A voice shouts from behind.

Ryu turns around to see the King marching towards him.

“Yes, your majesty?”

“So you and the other are capable of dealing with the Elementals, correct?”

“Yes, I will say it as confidently to you as I did at the meeting.”

Frederic sighs with relief.

“Good… I’d like you to lead the charge against the Elementals.”

Ryu raises his brow.

“You want me to lead the entire army we’ve gathered?” He clarifies.

“Correct. The morale will be higher knowing someone like you will be leading the charge. That being said… where’s the other man?”

 

Ryu crosses his arms.

“He returned to Arendelle to make sure there are no surprises. He’ll be there when we battle.”

“Excellent… excellent… well, thank you for your time. I look forward to seeing your abilities.”

Ryu snickers before turning around and walking away.

“You’ll want to keep the soldiers back during the battle. I’m unsure whether or not the Elementals will respect rules of combat. If they attack the ships, everyone better be ready.”

 

“Of course. I pray that the casualties are kept to a minimum.”

“I do too, your Majesty. Knight and I will do our best to answer your prayer.”

 

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**One Day Later**

Your stance alone shows your fatigue from all the training. You don’t know how long it’s been considering time is impossible to judge in this realm but it feels like it’s been an eternity. Despite not knowing the time, which in retrospect doesn’t truly matter, you know that you’ve made a lot of progress in this amount of time. Rhaegos has been coaching you and, without your knowledge, Shadow, to use and perfect your powers. In some ways he’s a better teacher than Ryu but that’s to be expected of the Dragon who you’re descended from. He knows more about all Drakons than Ryu would, who is only a single Drakon.

 

The training you’ve gone through has ranged from basic meditation and control to full blown destruction and battle. Rhaegos is able to summon ethereal beings into the realm for both you and Shadow to spar with. This aided your training immensely as Rhaegos gave these training partners different levels of durability and power to assure your caution when dealing with certain individuals. Thus, when in Drakon Mode, you know how much force to put into both fighting and regular activities. Basic things like how much force to use when not wanting to harm someone. It may not have been the most important thing on your list, but it’s a nice thing to have in your pocket. If anything it’s something you have over Shadow, who didn’t bother to learn something so useless. Shadow, as always, found more ways to perfect the craft and keep a few steps ahead of you. Even Rhaegos sees this difference in your abilities. Shadow is a prodigy, able to adapt and overcome any obstacle or limitation put in his way. His fighting style and techniques are genius along with his overall combat sense. You, on the otherhand, are merely above average. There’s no contest between you two in that regard.

 

Shadow, also fatigued from his training, huffs and puffs as he stares at his palms.

“There’s something I’m missing… something that they have but I don’t. The Drakons… I must find another. I need to fight a new Drakon.”

 

“Is power all that matters to you?” Rhaegos asks both Drakons in his view.

“Heh… no way,” you pant. “But if I can’t protect myself… how can I expect to protect anyone I care about?”

“Hmph, that’s a pointless query. Might controls everything in this world. How can one expect to have the edge, be in control if they aren’t stronger?” Shadow responds, standing up straight and looking over his shoulder at the ancient Dragon.

 

“And what do you hope to accomplish with the power you gain?” Rhaegos inquires.

 

“I just want to make sure everyone is safe,” you smile, thinking of the people you fight for.

“To protect the world,” Shadow blatantly states.

 

“And you feel like you’re at your peak?”

 

You shrug, brushing off your hands on your pants as you get into a more casual stance.

“Maybe… to be honest I’m not really an expert on this sort of thing,” you end with an innocent smile.

“No… there’s one more thing both (Y/N) and I are missing… I just don’t know it yet.”

 

“Interesting. Do you wish to train until your battle? You still have time.”

 

You shake your head.

“No, I have something I want to do before we fight.”

“My opinion matters little. (Y/N) will decide where we go,” Shadow responds with a hint of spite.

“Does that bother you, Shadow?” Rhaegos presses, moving his large head closer to the young man.

Shadow snickers.

“I got used to it. I’m also done here.”

 

The moment the words leave both of your lips the world around you instantly melts away to make way for the real world. You’re left standing on the mountain where you first arrived to train. You still have personal time before the army arrives so you’re going to visit this world’s Elsa. You can handle her and the Elementals after your training so visiting her doesn’t put yourself at risk. You erupt into a flood of power before disappearing into the air and flying to Arendelle. Instead of going right to Elsa’s castle you land just outside of Arendelle’s boundaries and deactivate your Drakon mode.

 

You make your way into Arendelle through the front gates with your hands in your pockets and your eyes open for any guards who attempt to take you in. You wouldn’t fight them, of course, infact it would probably make your journey even easier. But none of them approached you. They almost look dead inside, their eyes unfocused with heavy bags weighing them down.

 

“Welcome to Arendelle. Don’t cause any trouble.” the guard says to you without giving you a look.

“I won’t. I promise,” you respond, eyes on the castle.

 

You enter the market district of Arendelle where it’s a tad bit more lively than you would have thought, though not for the right reasons. People are fixing the damages done by you during your small encounter with the Elementals. The sight of all these people coming together and fixing everything in the marketplace along with the houses damaged brings a bittersweet feeling to your heart. To cope with this you turn right to the castle and ignore everything behind you.

 

If it were only so easy.

 

“Hey… hey you!” A voice shouts from behind.

You slow down but do not stop walking. Turning your head to look over your shoulder brings a young woman into view, standing before everyone with her full attention on you. This has brought the attention of everyone else to you as well, even the few guards stationed in town.

 

“You’re the one who ruined our city! You’re the one who destroyed our homes, our lively hoods!”

“ _Ignore it, (Y/N). There’s nothing we can do about this.”_

“I know, Shadow,” you respond with frustration.

“ _That’s not what your mind’s saying.”_

“I know, Shadow,” you repeat.

“Don’t ignore me! You did this!” She shouts, running up to you and grabbing your arm to stop you.

 

The guards start to gather at the commotion and quickly recognize you. Now they’re deciding whether to even try to apprehend you or not. You’re not really causing any trouble… but Elsa’s very adamant about capturing you once more and willfully ignoring their duty could lose them an arm at best. Then again, considering how she treated their Captain they might look the other way to spite the Queen.

 

The girl’s grip is tight, filled with passion and beliefs.

“I… have nothing to say in my defense. I hope you forgive me and trust that I’ll make Arendelle better for you,” you reply in a very calm and collected manner.

“I… you…” The girl’s grip tightens as her anger rises. Eventually it gets to a point where she stops being angry and simply lets you go. “My sister was hurt thanks to you.”

You turn around with apologetic and sympathetic eyes.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t know. Will she be okay?”

The young woman nods.

“She will be… but she’s all I have left… I just-“

You wrap your arms around her and give her a comforting hug. She immediately hugs back and breaks down into tears. You keep the girl close as she lets out all her frustration, fear, and hatred. The civilians and guards all witness this, giving you a little forgiveness for the destruction you accidently caused. The guards have decided not to report you to Elsa.

 

“ _I applaud you, (Y/N).”_

_Why? What did you think I’d do?_

_“I’m not sure. But you’re acting how a Drakon should. You have power, both in power and in presence. You’re using that to protect and bring peace.”_

_Jeez Shadow, never guessed you as the white knight type._

_“I’m not. I’ve simply accepted the responsibility of our blood.”_

 

“I hope I can help make Arendelle a better place soon. Just hold on, okay?” You whisper into her ear.

She responds by nodding into your chest, soiling it with her tears but you don’t really care. You move her away from you, keeping the same smile. She finally starts to smile back at you.

“There it is. Keep that up, you look prettier smiling.”

She chokes up a bit from the combination of laughter and crying. You pat her shoulder and let her go, turning back to the castle to find the ruler of this city.

 

As you walk you look down at your hands.

_Hm… maybe there is more to being a Drakon than just the power. A responsibility in blood, huh?_

You ponder this as you grow closer and closer to the castle. Soon enough you’re at the castle gates which are sealed. No surprise there. The guards on the stone walls take note of you but aren’t quite sure what to do. Arresting you is a fool’s errand but if they don’t Elsa might kill them. Thankfully the Elementals aren’t here to do it themselves.

 

“What’s your business here?” One on the left side decides to ask.

“Just here to see Elsa. No violence, you have my word.”

The guards look to each other for an answer that none of them have.

“Um… okay. We’ll take you to her then.”

 

The large door creeks open but nobody is there to greet you. Having permission, you decide to let yourself in and wait in the courtyard. You are a guest after all. So you lean against a stone wall which graciously hosted your battle not too long ago. Thankfully you aren’t left waiting for very long as Captain Durr exits the castle to greet you. Immediately your eyes are drawn to the distinct lack of an arm.

 

“What… happened to you?” You ask, gesturing towards his arm.

“Punishment. Now follow me. Queen Elsa is in her quarters.”

You casually follow the Captain into the castle and through the first hallway.

“I wasn’t expecting you to give yourself up,” Durr comments.

“I’m not giving myself up. I’m here to talk to Elsa, then leave.”

“You think the Queen will let you leave?”

“She wouldn’t be able to keep me here if she tried,” you calmly remark.

“Hm… fair enough. Just don’t cause any trouble. Arendelle’s had enough since Princess Anna was taken. Which was your doing, might I add.”

 

Durr leads you up a spiral case of stairs to the next floor.

“I didn’t do anything to Anna. But she’s safe, I know that. Durr, you have to know we have nothing against Arendelle.”

Durr huffs.

“I realize that. But my duty is to the Queen and Arendelle.”

“Even if Arendelle is suffering from the Queen.”

Durr stops and give you a sharp look.

“Do not speak of the Queen like that.”

 

You raise your hands to surrender.

“Alright, my bad. I’ll refrain from speaking of Elsa.”

Durr keeps his eye on you for a few more seconds before resuming his escort. He leads you down a few more hallways until you reach a room at the very end of the hall. You can easily tell it’s Elsa’s by the frost seeping through the cracks of the door. Durr is about to knock but you grab his arm to stop him.

 

“I’ll handle it from here, Captain. Thank you for the escort.”

Durr nods, relinquishing control far easier than he normally would. Though he would defend his Queen to the death, he would rather not be face to face with her so soon after the loss of his appendage. Durr takes a few steps back and waits for you to enter the room. You take a deep breath before knocking on the door. For five seconds there is nothing but silence which only drags out each individual second into what feels like hours for both you and Durr.

 

“Interesting. Guards state their business after the third knock. Elementals knock twice and walk in. This was four knocks,” Elsa’s muffled voice speaks from the other side of the door.

The door soon opens and you stand face to face with Queen Elsa in the flesh. She’s left shocked for a moment which is uncharacteristic of her. She’s never truly surprised by anything except now. You, standing before her, in her own castle, right outside her room.

“Ah… this is unexpected. Have you come to take me like you took my sister?” Elsa scolds.

You shake your head.

“I did nothing to your sister, Elsa. I’m only here to talk.”

 

Elsa smiles seductively at the chance to chat with you. She turns into her room and gestures you to follow. You casually walk into her room, closing the door with your foot. To anyone who isn’t an Elemental or Drakon this room might freeze them instantly. Everything in this room is either made of ice of covered by a layer of ice. It’s truly her room as she has full control over every aspect of it. She could kill anyone she wanted without a second thought, or lock someone in ice for however long she deemed necessary. You’ll have to play it safe here. You don’t want to hurt her but you can’t afford anything happening.

 

“Well, feel free to stay as long as you like. It’s a rare thing for me to want a man in my room.”

You snicker, finding a seat at a small table with some tea and hot chocolate on it.

“Well, I appreciate it considering you tried to kill me three times.”

Elsa lets out a single laugh, one full of confidence and pride.

“Well, you know what they say, third time’s the charm. If I couldn’t get you that time then why bother? Besides, I’d get much more use out of you alive than dead.”

“I would too,” you cheekily answer back.  Elsa smiles at your little remark as she takes a seat opposite of you. “That’s a nice necklace you got there,” you say, trying to casually bring up the thing that interests you the most. “Where’d you got it?”

 

Elsa caresses her hand down her neck and over the necklace resting on her chest, just before her cleavage starts. You know what she’s doing and are slightly amused, and flattered, by it.

 

“Oh this? It’s a gift. All Elementals bear one to show our status.”

“You’ve had it since birth?” You continue, taking the cup of hot chocolate for your leisure.

Elsa takes the tea.

“No, I didn’t know of it until the others showed me. But enough about me. You’re the intriguing one, handsome man,” she winks.

“Oh really? A commoner versus a Queen? I would think you’re the one with more stories.”

 

Elsa’s nails tap a short rhythm on the iced table you’re both occupying. Her mind is coming up with ways to make this more interesting than it already is. You, her enemy, the one person she actually admires, is sitting before her attempting to be social. It’s not every day that Elsa gets an opportunity like this, mostly because nobody excites her enough. Despite this probably being a one-time thing, she’s going to make full use of it.

 

“Well, how about this?” Elsa slips out of her chair in a smooth, alluring manner as she subtly shows off her body to you. She waves her hand to open a small cupboard at the other side of the room, then grabs whats inside with her ice. Soon enough a bottle with two glasses slides onto the table, and Elsa sits back down. “A drink?”

 

_“Is she trying to seduce you?”_

_I don’t know. Though it wouldn’t be hard considering who she is._

_“You wouldn’t-“_

_Of course not. She’s not my Elsa, and even then she’s a malicious version. I won’t become her puppet, but I need a way to get that necklace off her._

_“What do you have in mind?”_

_Improvising._

_“What does that…”_ Shadow takes a moment to shift through your thoughts. _“Oh… I see. I didn’t expect that from you.”_

You give the Queen a sly smirk.

“If you insist. I am a guest, after all. It would be rude of me to turn down the host.”

Elsa laughs at this.

“Ah, strong, handsome, and polite. You’re quite the package,” she strokes your ego as the drinks are poured for you both.

“So, how do we do this?” You ask, taking a cup for yourself.

“Lets say each question is a drink, hm? I get one. You get one. We both drink.”

“Fair enough. You may go first, your majesty.”

 

Elsa takes her drink, crossing her legs and getting into a more comfortable position.

“Why thank you. So, where are you from?”

“Arendelle,” you simplistically answer. “How do you bathe?”

Elsa slightly closes one eye at you, a tad bit confused at such a question. But she will answer.

“On my own, in a bath made by my servants.”

“Naked?”

“Ah, ah, ah,” she wags her finger between you both. “That’s a separate question. Let us drink.”

 

You both down your drink, what little there is in it. You wince at the taste. A sort of alcohol that you can’t quite identify. You want to say Vodka, but it’s not the same as what you know. That could be thanks to the era you’re from, but something is off about this drink. Or perhaps you simply don’t know exactly what it is.

 

“Strong, hm? It’s a personal brew. It could kill regular people,” she says, drawing out every word whilst pouring another round for you both. “But seeing that you’re far from regular I thought you could withstand it. Now, onto my question.” You bow your head to give her permission. “Why did you claim to be my fiancée?”

“Ah… hm… well, believe it or not, I know another woman named Elsa. You both are… eerily similar in appearance.”

“Interesting. I would love to meet this woman.”

“She’s… not with us,” you bend the truth.

“How unfortunate. But onto brighter things, you wished to know if I bathed naked?” You nod in response, swinging your drink in your hand as a mild distraction. “Almost. I keep my precious symbol with me at all times,” she responds, stroking the necklace.

 

_At all times..? Sleeping included, it seems. So how can I get it off of her…_

“Time for our drink,” you smile, giving a small toast before chugging down the liquid.

Elsa does the same, albeit with more grace. This time you pour the drinks as she thinks of a question.

“Why are you so curious about my naked body?” She asks with a provocative look.

You stand your ground as this woman hits you with her seduction. Normally someone doing this wouldn’t work, but the fact that she looks and sounds exactly like the woman you love makes her advances all the more powerful.

 

“I… hm… well, you are a very beautiful woman. Who wouldn’t be curious?” You carefully respond, attempting to generalize the situation.

“My sister. Now drink up,” she smirks.

“I… ah, crap,” you huff, realizing you asked the question.

 

You both take your drink, refill, and start again.

“So where’s your brother?”

You have to remind yourself to not speak about Hunter or your timeline. His name was on the tip of your tongue but locked behind your prison known as teeth.

“He’s… not far.”

“Very well. The secretive type,” she giggles.

You chuckle, shrugging.

“You know, it’s how it goes. Anyway, my question. Hm…” You rub your chin. “Alright, do you have any actual décor in this room, or is it all ice?”

 

Elsa giggles at your question.

“That’s such a ridiculous use of a question. But, well, no. It’s fairly bare,” she answers, still giggling.

“Ha, man, that’s quite the set-up you got then,” you remark, looking around the room. “Well, drink up.”

You both take another round, pour more, stare into each other’s eyes for a few seconds, then just down another cup. You know it. She knows it. The alcohol is quickly getting to you both. Whatever drink this is, it’s stronger than your average alcoholic beverage. But that doesn’t matter. You have a plan to take a look at that necklace.

 

“So… your turn?” You say with a goofy smile.

“Yes, yes, okay… do you like ice?” She giggles.

“Well, I don’t hate it. Though I can only imagine how uncomfortable that bed is,” you snicker.

“Oh, no, it’s much more comfortable than you think,” she shakes her head before getting out of the chair and walking towards the icy furniture. “It molds to the body. Truly… magical,” she smiles at the words she used.

“I can only imagine,” you nod, grabbing two filled cups and walking towards Elsa. You stand in front of her at the foot of her bed and hand her the drink. You toast each other before drinking all its contents, which is more than what was previously there thanks to you. You wipe your mouth and return your attention to Elsa who’s also done.

 

The silence grows louder. The tension grows higher. It’s all the same, it’s all for fun.

 

You both throw the cups away and wrap your arms around each other, your mouths connecting in a haze of pure lust. You both know this isn’t only because of the alcohol. Elsa finally found a man interesting enough to possibly become her King, or at least her pet. Strong, powerful, competent, and able to drink something that was laced with Elsa’s ice. Much like the kiss she gave you the first time you meant, this ice infiltrated your body and spread… but did nothing to you. Not to mention is had a few drop of an aphrodisiac to get everything started.

 

With a heightened libido, alcohol flowing through you, and an end goal in mind, you’re totally into this lust filled act. Elsa lets her dress flake off her like a beautiful snow storm off her body, leaving her in simple lingerie that’s… also made of ice. She jumps up, wrapping her legs around your stomach as the kissing continues. No attempt for dominance yet you’re being as rough as possibly. Heavy breathing, husky and sexy moans, all this coming from you two. She breaks off from your mouth which gives you a chance to nibble at her neck, placing kisses as if you were aiming to claim every inch of her skin. Elsa holds your head into her neck, moaning and rubbing up against you as much as possible.

 

As you kiss her you turn to face the bed and rest Elsa on it, sliding your head just above the underwear to then slowly kiss your way up her stomach. Your eyes are locked onto hers as you make a line up her stomach with your kisses. To add to everything, you subtly activate your holowatch and store the clothing in it, thus stripping you butt naked in an instant. You slowly climb ontop of the bed, keeping the kisses slow and sensual until you get to Elsa’s head, pressing your forehead against hers.

 

“Don’t you dare be gentle,” she whispers.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

 

 

**As you saw, this is just part one of this chapter. I don’t want to overload you guys with information and action so I thought of making this a two parter. I’m not going to do this again until the last two chapters of Project’s Past… if you don’t count the Epilogue. Either way, the next chapter will be out in the next couple of days. I have a lot planned for June (mostly because it’s my birthday on the 30 th) so I want to do as much as possible. There will be this two part chapter and then another one coming out this month, plus two other RWBY related things but I doubt you guys care about that. But I am focusing a lot of time on Project’s Past, as I’ve said, so you gotta let me give some love to my other readers. Project’s Past, I hope, will be done in two months! It’s insane, but I’m going to make it reality. I hope you all keep reading until the end! **

**Want to keep up with me? Know what chapter’s coming out next and the progress of them? Follow me on Twitter! Twitter . com (slash) Chinsangan**

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	52. Battle for Arendelle - Part 2

#  **Chapter 52: Battle of Arendelle - Part 2**

 

Ryu leans at the head of the table, pointing to various positions on the large map of Arendelle. Around him are the Generals of all Kingdoms who are lending aid to the liberation of Arendelle. They all keep quiet and listen to every word Ryu says. Normally they’d do things their way, but the manner in which Ryu speaks, the confidence, the posture, all of it makes it clear for all Generals that Ryu knows exactly what he’s talking about and is worthy of following.

 

“We’ll be leaving tonight as a unit. I’ll manipulate the waves to get us there by tomorrow’s dawn. There will be no need to worry about the traveling conditions. Now, when we get there,” Ryu’s hand slides over the map to their frontal assault. “We’ll be stopped by a large sheet of ice. We’ll use this to cross into Arendelle.”

 

“What about the Elementals?” One speaks up.

 

“My partner, Knight, will engage them before we arrive to attract their attention. Now, we’ll have two major problems when arriving and both stem from Elementals. First is Rain. His control of water could sink our ships and end this attack before it even begins. Knight will take him down first, but, by some chance he’s still meddling with us, I’ll keep the water stable enough for the soldiers to reach Arendelle and the ships to pull back. The other problem,” Ryu leans back from the table and stares at where the sheet of ice will be. “Is the Queen herself. Again, I’m counting on her being distracted but if she’s not it could pose as a threat to our soldiers. Of course every Elemental is a threat, but once we cross the stretch of ice we’ll have the largest advantage we can get.”

 

“What about Arendelle’s forces?”

 

Ryu huffs.

“Princess Anna told me they will likely surrender at the sight of such a large army. They aren’t fond of the oppression either. If your men must fight, then attempt not to kill unless absolutely necessary. Once the Elementals are defeated, morale will crumble and any soldiers who did fight will most certainly surrender.” Ryu looks up at all the Generals. “Any questions? Everything clear?” There’s no response to the secret King. “Then get to your ships. We’ll be leaving in a few hours.”

 

“Yes, sir!” They all salute.

 

“Good. Remember to leave the Elementals to Knight and myself. Your men will be torn apart. Good luck to you all.”

 

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Darkness has taken over your side of the planet, though beauty is still present without the light. The shine of the moon reflects off the ice covering Arendelle’s water, giving you something pleasing to look at as your heart is twisted in a knot.

 

_“I must admit, I didn’t think you’d be one to use sex as a tool.”_

“Tsk, shut…” You sigh. “Me neither. But it was the only way. Besides-“

_“I know, there were more factors than just your desire. Still, it’s unexpected.”_

“Shadow… did I cheat?” You ask aloud, looking back at the sleeping, naked form of Elsa. “I mean… everything was just so… can I cheat on Elsa with Elsa? She was the exact same! The feeling of her lips, the smooth skin, even… inside… she felt the exact same everywhere.”

 

Shadow can sense the overwhelming guilt and inner conflict in your mind. It’s like a gaping hole that’s now occupying too much space.

 

_“No, you didn’t. You know you didn’t have sex with her out of love. You and Elsa were always passionate in your lovemaking. This was pure lust on both parties. But if your theory is correct and that necklace is controlling her then I think this small infraction is worth the safety and security of the people here.”_

“Heh… I guess that’s true. Well, lets not waste any time. We could save the army a trip.”

 

You approach the bed Elsa’s currently resting on and lean over to get closer to the woman. Her necklace is resting on her chest, moving up and down with each breath. You squeeze your eyes shut and attempt to drive back the frustration of this situation long enough for you to see this through. You slowly reach towards the necklace, every inch feeling like a mile. Once your hand is close enough you quickly grip the necklace and attempt to rip it off. However, the moment your hand wraps around the necklace a flood of fear washes over you. You can hear screaming, crying, death, and in the end, for a split second, you see a face.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

The Elementals all prepare for their short journey home as they take some extra energy from their master. The man responsible for this sits on his throne, happily watching as his power is taken. That happiness is quickly washed away when a magical alarm explodes in his head.

 

“Elsa. Someone’s with Elsa!” He desperately shouts to the Elementals. “Get to her now! NOBODY TAKES HER!”

 

“Yes!” Gaia nods before summoning a plant to swallow the Elementals and take them to Arendelle.

 

The man holds his chest as he pants at such a shock. He looks over to the corner where another man smiles at him, blood dripping off his tainted teeth.

 

“Can I play? I want to play, play, play,” he maniacally laughs.

“Soon… soon… We just need a little more.”

 

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The necklace sends out a shockwave of energy to knock you into the nearby wall and throw all loose objects in the room to the floor. Your breath is heavy at the overwhelming experience you just had, and Shadow is no different.

 

“Shadow, did you-“

_“Yeah. What the hell was that?”_

“There’s someone else. That was some sort of presence, you felt it too!” You urgently say as you get back onto your feet.

_“You’re right. That necklace is connected to someone. It’s possibly all the Elementals are under this being’s control.”_

“I have to tell Ryu! No, I have to get Elsa out of here!”

_“No! (Y/N) we have to leave. I doubt that rejection was just for show. We need to leave, regroup with Ryu, and follow the plan!”_

 

You take a step towards the bed, heart melting at the thought of leaving this Elsa, or any Elsa, in danger on purpose.

 

“But… Shadow…”

_“We’ll save her. We know she isn’t herself but we can’t do anything right now. We need to leave, now!”_

“I… damn, fine!”

 

You run towards the balcony, power up, and break through the door and into the sky. Going no specific direction, you fly a good distance away from Arendelle before stopping. You hover in midair as your mind races with possibilities. Someone controlling Elsa means there’s a larger threat than just a dictator. Someone here is powerful enough to enthrall the Elementals and use them like puppets. Now the question of why takes the forefront. What’s their goal, their endgame? Why take the Elementals and why Arendelle specifically? Perhaps the Elementals know, which makes the assault on Arendelle even more important. You almost want to find the Elementals right now and beat the truth out of them, but that’s a rash action. You have a plan. You need to follow that plan.

 

_I need a place to lay low, to think this through._

You turn around and zoom back to the Drakon hideout within seconds. The moment you touch down you dial down your power and let your body relax.

“I need to sleep… eat… something,” you mumble as you walk into the entrance.

 

_“Knight, can you hear me? It’s Ryu.”_

_“Ryu?”_ You stop on the stairs for just a moment before continuing. _“Yeah, I can hear you.”_

_“Perfect. I’m on my way to Arendelle with a fleet. We should arrive by dawn. I’ll need you to start the fight beforehand. If you can, try to take down Rain first.”_

You reach the bottom of the stairs and head towards your makeshift bedroom.

_“Yeah, sure. Ryu, I learned something while you were away. Something about Elsa.”_

There’s a brief pause, no less than five seconds.

_“What is it?”_

“ _Someone is controlling her through the necklace. It might be the same for all Elementals. There’s… a presence within them, or at least Elsa’s. If we can just get the necklaces off the Elementals we might not have to kill them, or, again, at least Elsa.”_

_“Interesting. That’s fantastic news. How did you figure that out?”_

 

You stop in the corridor and rub the back of your head.

_“Uh… you know, detective work.”_

_“Hm… very well, as long as you’re correct. Rest up, Knight. You’ll need it.”_

 

You approach one of the beds and quickly slide into it, changing into your sleeping attire with the holowatch.

 

_“Right, I’ll be ready. We’re not failing Elsa.”_

_“No, we won’t.”_

You rest your hands behind your head and stare up at the ceiling.

“Ever wonder how we got roped into all this?” You chuckle.

_“You wanted to be friendly with Elsa in high school. That’s how.”_

“Heh… who knew that could turn into all this. But hey, at least we’ve managed to not kill each other.”

_“Are you speaking figuratively or literally?”_

Once again, you laugh.

“No… just… I don’t know, I guess it’s always cool to know I have SOMEONE on my side when shit hits the fan. We’re like brothers.”

_“Is that why you annoy me so much?”_

“Hehe… maybe. You should get some sleep too, Shadow.”

_“I’m always ready. Don’t worry about me.”_

“I have to. Who else will?” You snicker.

 

With the conversation done you roll onto your side, adjust the pillow, and quickly fall asleep. Shadow remains “awake” just in case. He has his own questions to ponder.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Ryu stands at the helm of the flag ship. An entire army follows behind that any opposing force would be scared of. Especially considering a Drakon is leading the charge. Dawn isn’t far off, meaning this force is close to reaching the icy barriers Elsa has put up. Everyone knows their roles, everyone has their plans. It’s time to take back Arendelle and set this timeline straight.

 

“Is everything ready, Hans?” Ryu asks the man standing diagonal to him.

“Yes. The men have rested up and are eager to battle. I too am eager to aid in this rescue operation. Though I never thought I’d be saving a city.”

“We’ll save everyone,” Ryu bluntly retorts. “Knight thinks he has a way to return Elsa to normal. I just hope he’s right.”

Hans scratches his neck.

“I just hope I won’t be executed on the spot,” he nervously chuckles.

Ryu turns around with a warm smile. He approaches the young Westergaard and places a hand on his shoulder.

“The fact that you’re coming here to help proves your intentions… just don’t do anything foolish.” Ryu turns away from Hans and back to what lies ahead. “I should contact Knight. He’ll need to get the part started.”

 

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You’re standing atop the mountain, gently rubbing your wrist as a meager way to pass the time. You’re rested, you’re at full power, and you’re ready to battle. That goes doubly for Shadow who’s been waiting for some time.

 

“If anything goes wrong we’ll tag in and out, right? Preserve our stamina as long as possible?”

_“Yes. We’ll need to create openings, but that shouldn’t be a problem.”_

“And we’ll try to remove the necklaces of all Elementals. If we can spare them, we will, but we WON’T kill Elsa.”

_“You don’t have to state something I already know.”_

“Right, right…” You hop up and down, shaking your hands. “Okay, I’m ready. I’ll contact Ryu to see where he’s at.”

 

You close your eyes for a moment and try to tap into the mental channel you’re both part of.

_“Ryu, you there?”_

_“Ah, yes. Are you okay, Knight?”_

_“Yeah, don’t worry about me. I just wanted to know how much longer I have to wait?”_

_“Hm… If you’re prepared I’ll speed up our approach. Go ahead, Knight. If you need back up then let me know. Don’t do anything foolish.”_

_“Right.”_

With clearance now given you allow the power in your blood to surge and explode in a beautiful manner, within your eyes and enhancing your senses and abilities. You bend your knees and spring forward, dashing through the air at incredible speed until you slide to a halt right in the middle of the castle’s courtyard. You brush off your pants and look around the courtyard. Some guards are staring at you, shocked at your sudden entrance. You give them a friendly wave.

 

“Heya, just here for an audience with the Elementals and your lovely Queen. You know, if they’re not busy,” you shrug, ignoring your physical change and immense pressure the soldiers around you feel.

 

“We’ve been waiting for you, Drakon,” a woman’s voice calls out to you.

You turn towards one of the castle walls. You know that voice belongs to a certain green haired woman.

“We know how you defiled our Queen,” Tempest speaks, revealing himself on the opposite wall to Gaia.

“How you tried to change her,” Pyro pipes up, showing himself to be on the front wall to the left of the gates.

“How you abused her,” Rain adds, standing to the right of the gates.

 

You look around at all Elementals, making sure you take note of where each of them are.

 

_“They’re trying to surround us.”_

_It won’t make a difference._

“And that won’t happen again,” Elsa’s voice echoes from her balcony.

You immediately look to the malicious version of your fiancée to find that she’s changed from when you last saw her no more than twenty four hours ago. The colour of her dress has become completely black going along with her newer, darker make up. Above all, her eyes are what’s most different. They’re darker, filled with spite and anger. It’s not a normal sort of anger too. It’s almost like she’s a different version from what she was previously. Your eyes sharpen as they lock onto the Queen.

 

_“Be on your guard, (Y/N). See her necklace? It’s glowing.”_

_Yeah, I saw that. We have to get it off her._

_“We have to deal with Rain, first.”_

_I know._

“I suggest your soldiers clear out. I don’t want you to be hurt just because you wanted to stick around,” you shout, eyes still locked on Elsa.

The soldiers look at each other, nod, and follow your advice. The guards frantically run towards any castle entrance they can get to. This doesn’t go unnoticed by the Queen. Without even moving her hand a small patch of ice appears mere meters in front of each guards. Ice spikes shoot up from those patches, puncturing their armour and making a whole in their chest. Their hearts are on the tip, as if it’s a small gift or sacrifice. Their bodies go limp, falling forward onto the spikes as life quickly leaves their body.

 

“No!” You shout, looking to all the dead guards. “They couldn’t even fight back, Elsa!” You angrily yell at the woman standing prominently above all.

She has a sadistic smile on her face as she sees the dead man on her spikes. The look… it’s even more dreadful than when you first met her. The Elementals definitely did something to her. She was becoming warmer, less violent, at least with you. The most logical conclusion is that the Elementals saw her change and decided to remedy that. You’ll have to consider her as much of a threat as the other ones.

 

“Now, lets capture this insolent wretch. We’ll keep him alive, but on the edge of death is the same,” she proudly laughs.

The Elementals share the same dastardly smile as they stare at their prey. You slide your leg back and bring your hands up, your eyes keeping tabs on the three in your view while your ears are focused on the ones behind you.

 

 _“It’s unlikely they’ll attack you with any physical strikes,”_ Shadow remarks. _“Thus if you keep up close it should-“_

The Elementals, aside from Elsa, all leap from their respective locations and crash down upon you with their fists. The pure power of their punches destroy the area around them. You barely manage to slide through two of them and reach the corner of the courtyard.

“Oh, oh really? Any more advice?” You angrily whisper.

_“That’s strange. They’re all emitting some sort of energy… can you feel it too?”_

“Yeah…” They all stand up straight and turn towards you. “They feel different from before. It’s almost like…”

 

Not caring for your conversation, the Elementals all rush you in unison. Rain and Gaia come from the front whilst Pyro and Tempest comes from the left and right. Pyro and Tempest leap even farther to your sides before springing towards you. Meanwhile Rain sprints at your front and Gaia jumps over you, landing at your backside. They all converge on you, throwing various attacks at you at once. You duck under Rain’s punch and catch Tempests attempted knee. Using that as a platform, you lift your body off the ground, pull your feet in, and snap your heels into Pyro’s stomach. This knocks the fire elemental back, but there’s still Gaia to deal with. You tightening your grip on Tempest’s knee and flip yourself back, bringing your elbow onto Gaia’s head. You follow up by grapping onto the back of Gaia’s armour with the same arm you hit her with to pull yourself out of the danger zone.

 

You spin through the air and slide across the ground, facing all the Elementals. Once they recover from your attacks they speed towards you once more. This time you fly straight up to get the advantage over them. Only Tempest would be able to fly. The others would be at a distance, giving you the chance to take down Tempest, then go for Rain.

 

Elsa smirks at your little plan. Right on cue, each of the Elementals stop dead in their tracks and fly up at you. You stumble back, surprised that all of them can fly. You don’t allow this to ruin your concentration. You just have to deal with these surprises as they come. Perhaps Tempest is just making them all fly, thus taking down Tempest would ground everyone else. So, to change things up, you fly directly at them, amping your speed to its max. You fly right past everyone and reach Tempest, delivering a practically fatal elbow to his stomach. His pupils lose colour and saliva comes out in drops, staining your black jacket. Elsa can tell by the look in your eyes that you’re serious now.

 

The rest of the Elementals stop when the realize you’re no longer in front of them, then turn around when they hear the thundering kick that sends Tempest back to the ground. The Elementals turn around to face their threat, but you’re already rushing them.

 

_“Good thinking, (Y/N). They might have become stronger, somehow, but you outclass them in speed.”_

_Exactly. I’ll just blitz them!_

You fly towards Gaia, readying your fist as you speed towards the woman.

“Hyaaaaaa!” You shout, throwing your fist forward.

Gaia closes her eyes throws her hands in front of her to block your attack… but nothing hits. She slowly opens one eye after a moment, confused as to why your attack didn’t connect. Instead, behind her to the right, Rain has unexpectedly taken the full force of your attack. Neither he nor Pyro saw you pass by Gaia and hit him, yet there you were. After holding the attack for a few seconds, staring into Rain’s eyes with an intense stare that could put down any regular human, you tighten your other fist and drive it under his jaw, then swiftly spin around him and bury your knee into the back of his head, sending him down with Tempest.

 

You let your body relax, hovering straight in the air until you turn around and face the other two Elementals. They’re frustrated, it’s written all over their face. You easily dispatched two of them despite their sudden boost in physical power. You treat them with a confident smirk.

 

“Are you going to give up?” You offer. “I’m clearly more powerful than you, and I’d rather not have to fight.”

 

Pyro and Gaia both know they’re in trouble. Their bodies are tight, sweat is slowly pooling out of their skin. Yet… after a moment they start smiling. You raise your brow at their action and decide to not wait around for them to pull some sort of trick. Enhancing your speed once more, which now you know doesn’t have to be one hundred percent, you swiftly appear behind Gaia and kick her right by her allies, then speed to Pyro, grabbing the back of his head and bringing him all the way to the ground, landing before even Gaia.

 

You release Pyro’s head and take a few steps away from the defeated Elementals to look up at Elsa. You move your hands to the side, displaying your victory.

“Well, what now, Elsa? Can we stop fighting, or-“

Sensing trouble nearby, you push off your left leg and slide to the side, dodging an attack by Pyro.

 

_Hey Shadow… notice something weird._

_“The fact that the Elementals aren’t using their elements? Yes, it is odd.”_

Elsa begins laughing hysterically, her voice travelling far past the city walls. Something is different in her voice, yet the oddity is so miniscule that only someone with your level of senses could detect it. Her voice… there’s a second, extremely quiet layer to it - a man’s voice. This draws your attention to the Queen once more and what you see is unexpected. The necklace she wears is glowing an ominous, grey colour. The same colour has taken over her eyes, completely changing Elsa’s presence.

 

“As I suspected… a Drakon is here. Quite surprising, truly. I thought there wouldn’t be any in this era. But if you think you can ruin my plans, you are mistaken!”

 

A wave of dark energy surrounds the area, dulling your senses at the sheer amount of activity around you. This is purposefully done so you don’t anticipate the sudden punch to your right temple. The hit is far more powerful than you could imagine. It’s not just because your guard was down, but the force rivals that of even Ryu. The impact sends you barreling through the courtyard and right to another enemy who spins and kicks you in the back with just as much, if not more, force than the first hit. Twirling uncontrollably through the air, you barely manage to recover, but you quickly place a hand on your temple and back as you take in some deep breaths.

 

Your eyes find the attackers standing in the courtyard. Saying they’re the same Elementals you just took down would be foolish. Their own amulets are glowing the same grey colour as Elsa’s, but there’s something more about them. A black goo has been released from the amulets and has seeped over their clothes, covering their torso and arms. The final touch is their eyes, which are completely black, an opposite to your pure white eyes.

 

“That’s… different.”

_“(Y/N), tag out. Let yourself recover from those blows.”_

“Right,” you nod before closing your eyes and relaxing.

 

Shadow quickly takes control of the situation and promptly feels disgusted. He looks at his attire and shivers.

“I forgot, our clothing doesn’t switch.”

Shadow takes the time to activate the holowatch and change your clothes to his comfortable and signature suit. With that on his body, he relaxes and comes far more intune with himself. Ready for battle, he gently floats back to the courtyard and stares down the Elementals.

 

“It doesn’t matter what power you’ve attained. I’ll crush you right here,” he promises, raising his left hand extended before him while his right remains closer to his body. The Elementals don’t bother taking stances. They’re going to rush Shadow in an attempt to blitz him. However they’re unaware that you and Shadow have switched, an advantage Shadow knows. He’ll be able to get the drop on them with his own style of combat. It’s been some time since he’s had to deal with multiple opponents, but it’ll give him a gauge of how his training has worked.

 

To Shadow’s surprise they don’t attack right away. Instead they watch, almost inspecting him. Shadow keeps his guard up incase this is a trick.

_Elsa is at the balcony, these four are in front of me. There are no others, none to get the drop on me… so what are they waiting for?_

“Shadow,” they all speak in unison. “Is that you?”

Shadow’s eyes widen for a split second. A surprise that made him lose him composure, it won’t happen again.

“It is you. Your aura is different, grey. It’s just like it was when I found you,” the layered voice all speak.

He can hear the same man’s voice hidden in everyone’s vocal chords. These aren’t the Elementals anymore, which would explain their inability to use any elements.

“Seems another Drakon has risen. I will give you no mercy, no pause,” they all chant.

 

Just a second later the Elementals eyes shrink and their muscles tense. Save Elsa, all of them grab their head and scream in pain as more of the black substance pools onto their body, covering everything except their head. A wave pushes against Shadow but he refuses to move. The castle walls, on the other hand, start to crack under the pressure.

 

“Drakon power..? Impossible,” he whispers to himself.

_“Does that mean they have a Drakon on their side?”_

“No… that can’t be. Rhaegos stated that having us and Ryu in one timeline was already having negative effects. If there truly were three… this timeline could collapse. So how does he have Drakon power?”

 

Before he can think on this anymore the Elementals rush Shadow. Still prepared, Shadow awaits their arrival, ready to counter them.

 

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Captain Durr rushes through the castle as fast as he can to the guards quarters where all the soldiers reside inside the castle. The shockwaves from the battle outside are causing everything to fall over, including Durr himself a few times. Still, Durr has a responsibility for this city and he needs to regroup the guards. He bursts through the door and gets the attention of all men in the room.

 

“Sir! It’s-“ Another shockwave shakes the entire building, forcing everyone to stabilize himself.

“I know. Listen, we have to bring the citizens in the castle. We’ll bring them in through the secret exit that leads outside of Arendelle! We’ll bring them into the cellar. It’s the safest place.”

“Yes, sir!” They all nod.

“Ten of us will go out there, the rest of you head to the tunnels and make sure everything is clear for the citizens.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Right, lets move out! Civilians are the priority! Remember that!”

 

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Large shockwaves erupt every few seconds in the air. Elsa has her arms crossed as she watches the battle. Though it’s not truly her watching. She’s a means to an end.

 

Shadow’s eyes are constantly switching between each of his opponents. He catches that Pyro is on his own a bit higher up and secluded from the rest of his allies. That’s a perfect chance for Shadow to speed past his opponents and single out the fire user. Doing this he catches Pyro off guard, leaving him open for a destructive knee to his nose. The hit forces Pyro to recoil back just as Shadow planned. He follows through with the motion, landing behind Pryo, letting him bump into him. Shadow quickly turns around and hits Pyro right in the center of his skull with his elbow, then flips backwards to bicycle kick his shoulder and send the Elemental into the ground.

 

The other three follow Shadow soon after, coming from his sides and front. Shadow catches a knee from one side and a punch from the other, getting a hold of Gaia’s wrist in the process. As Tempest speeds towards him, Shadow times it just right so that he swings Gaia into Tempest, and then both of them into Rain. He flies behind the three, gathering a combination of fire and lightning in his hands then unleashes the combination into Gaia’s back, sending the three crashing into the ground in an eruption of electricity and flames.

 

Shadow hovers in the air, waiting for all four to get up. He knows for a fact that attacks like that wouldn’t keep them down, but he has to gauge how potent these new enemies are. Of course, they all stand up and stare at their Drakon opponent. They don’t even need to say a word and their off, coming at him at a speed Shadow wasn’t expecting. As he thought, they’ve been holding back. To be fair, he has too. Shadow twists his body to the right, dodging an incoming hammer kick from Gaia, then spins the opposite way to catch both of Rain’s hands. Shadow lets his body fall back, shoving his foot into the blue haired boy’s stomach and throwing him into the incoming attack from Tempest. Tempest dodges the body and charges a punch for Shadow’s head. Shadow, once again, waits for the perfect moment to dodge. Of course for anyone watching this fight would all be happening faster than they could see, but these fighters have a different perception of speed and time. The moment Tempest’s hand is about to hit Shadow’s face he pushes off the hand, getting slightly above his attacker. Shadow charges his knees and, when he’s above Tempest’s back, crushes it with the full force of his blow.

 

Shadow bounces up a bit after hitting Tempest and straightens his legs out, readying his body for the other two Elementals coming straight for him. This time they seem more coordinated than their initial attack. Pyro and Gaia are zooming towards him, but they continuously move in front of one another as if they’re performing an illusion to throw Shadow off. It doesn’t. He’s completely aware of what order they are in and which will attack first. As expected, Pyro soars around Gaia, coming from Shadow’s upper left whilst Gaia persists in coming right in front of him. Shadow dashes a short distance back to avoid a powerful drop kick from the fire Elemental, then catches Gaia’s loaded punch. His ears pick up movement from the side so he pushes back on Gaia’s hand and blocks another punch with his forearm, his defense barely faltering from the pressure of Tempest’s blow. Gaia attacks once more, spinning around and attempting to kick Shadow, but he halts her attack with his own shin. Rain and Pyro return to the battle, coming from behind your alter ego.

 

Shadow pushes back both Gaia and Tempest but doesn’t have time to escape the circle they’ve set around him. The Elementals all attack in unison, their punches complimenting each others. Shadow utilizes all his senses to get a read on each punch coming at him. He ducks under Gaia’s, catches Tempest’s, twists his body to knock away Pyro’s with his forearm, spins back to catch Gaia’s, twists around, barely avoiding Rain’s, and slams his fist into the man’s stomach, flicking his leg to knock away an incoming kick, catch two punches from both Tempest and Pyro, then knocking them down and slamming his fist into both of their chests. Their motions continue to be a blur to all the guards and citizens evacuating the city. It’s a spectacle to… not see, but for Elsa and the secret watcher it’s an entertaining show. Shadow’s constantly moving to compensate for the barrage of attacks coming from all sides. No part of his body is ever in the same place the next second.

 

Shadow knows he can’t stay in this situation forever. He’s more powerful and far outclasses the Elementals, but constant pressure can make anyone slip up. Shadow blocks an attack and conjures up flames in his hands to erupt around his body and push back his opponents. Shadow returns to the ground and gets some distance from the group of Elementals. He’s panting, tired from the exertion. Sure, he has yet to be hit, but doing that is tiring against these Drakon-level opponents.

 

_“You’re holding up okay?” You ask with concern._

_I’m fine… but perhaps switching would be best. Give me a moment to regain my stamina._

_“Right.”_

Shadow takes a moment to rest his mind and switch out with you, but the Elementals have other ideas. Hearing a figure zooming towards him, Shadow opens his eyes and jumps backwards onto the castle walls. The moment his feet land on the stone his ears once again pick up someone coming after him. He jumps forward this time, spinning around to witness the green haired girl demolish the protective wall. This time Shadow isn’t quick enough to counter Pyro delivering a powerful hammerfist to his ribs, sending the suited man crashing into the stone floor. Shadow pushes his body up a bit, shaking his head at the rough landing. It’s not so much what he slammed into, but how hard he was initially hit and how fast he was sent. The Drakon power enhancing these people have put them on a whole other level. Before either you, Shadow, or Ryu could have defeated them with ease. Now…

 

“Your Drakon power is impressive, Shadow. I look forward to extracting it from your corpse,” all five Elementals speak, each at different pitches at volumes. “So I think it best if we don’t let you switch out.”

 

“How do they know?” Shadow breathes through his teeth.

“ _Shadow! Maybe-“_

“If we get an opening then we take it,” Shadow gets on his feet, powering up. “Until then… I’ll deal with them.”

 _“At least they don’t have their Elements!”_ You say in an attempt to keep positive.

 

The four Elementals in the battle all raise their hands towards Shadow in a similar manner that they did when you were the victim of their combination attack.

“I no longer believe that is accurate.”

The elements begin raging from each of their hands, save Gaia who is simply summoning an overwhelming amount of flora. Shadow prepares himself for a more difficult fight than before, subtly conjuring some fire in his left hand.

 

To his surprise, Gaia is swiftly pulled away from her flora and into the frozen sea outside Arendelle. Both Shadow and the Elementals look to her previous location with confused and curious faces. Nothing is there, but something does appear beside Shadow.

 

“This is not what I had in mind,” Ryu speaks, looking at this opposition.

“Ryu? Is the fleet here?”

“No, should be here in a few minutes. You kept Rain busy, thankfully, but when I felt Drakon power that wasn’t yours I had to join the battle early. What’s the situation?”

Shadow and Ryu push their backs together, eying everyone around them.

“Those medallions are what’s giving them this power. Someone else is controlling all the Elementals, including the Queen. We break those necklaces, we break the control. Though that’s simply a hypothesis.”

“Better than nothing. Lets deal with these ones before moving onto the Queen.”

 

Shadow and Ryu bolt off one another, going after different opponents. Ryu’s wings extend, his skin going scaly as his Drakon form comes into effect. He’s aiming for Pyro, the Elemental who’s readied deadly fire balls to throw at Ryu. Ryu twirls through the air, skillfully dodging each of Pyro’s long range attacks. He places a hand on his hilt to ready a quick attack. In a flash his blade is unleashed upon the Elemental. He cuts through his ribs, sliding behind him until hitting the edge of the walkway. Ryu instantly sees that the black goo absorbed the otherwise lethal attack. Pyro slowly turns around to stare down his opponent.

 

“You’re holding back. That’ll get you killed!”

 

The goo around his hand sharpens into a blade, magma forming around it to amplify the lethality. Pyro brings his blade down on Ryu, who quickly blocks with the Dragon sword. Ryu slides to the side, getting away from the edge, and leaps forward for a powerful slice. The two collide once more, Pyro is pushed back, then Ryu.

 

 _“Father, I need you to answer a question for me right now!”_ Ryu silently shouts, dodging Pyro’s blade then blocking a vertical slice.

_“I already have your answer, son. The situation came to my attention the moment I felt Drakon power. Don’t hold back. The only one under mind-control is Elsa. The rest are doing this voluntarily.”_

 

Ryu smirks as he pushes his blade against Pyro’s improvised one.

“That’s all I needed to hear. Shadow, Knight, you hear that?” He shouts.

“We did! Now (Y/N) can stop trying to distract me,” Shadow responds, catching Gaia’s punch only to give her a more powerful one back, then turning around to block Tempest and Rain’s attacks.

 

Ryu turns his full attention to the man in front of him. The Dragon Sword begins to glow, reacting to the enhanced power within the Dragon Tear.

“So you’re using stolen Drakon power… I’ll have to show you how useless your leftovers are!”

Ryu’s eyes sharpen, showing more of his Draconic side. It’s been a long time since he’s had to use more than a fraction of his Drakon power, save for his training with you. Luckily he didn’t allow himself to become rusty as King.

 

The now powered up Dragon Sword begins singeing the goo protecting Pyro. Pyro can feel that burning on his body and quickly pushes back to get away from him. Ryu smirks.

“Something wrong?”

Ryu rushes the fire Elemental, cutting down his chest and holding that stance. Pyro’s eyes widen at the burning pain he just received. He’s the being of fire, yet this type of pain is something more than even he can handle. The man behind him is even more nervous, though he won’t say a word about it.

 

Shadow, on the otherhand, is having a harder time than Ryu. While Ryu’s only dealing with one Elemental, Shadow is fighting three at once. He's happy he's fighting less people, but it’s still not easy with their amped power and the use of their powers. Apart from constant punches and kicks, lightning strikes are constantly dropping on Shadow’s position, destroying the courtyard below. Gaia’s vines continuously try to slow Shadow down but so far he managed to utilize fire to heat his body up to a point that the vines burn on contact, plus it adds punching power. Still, Shadow is holding his ground against the three, giving far more than he’s getting.

 

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Durr waves his hand towards the secret entrance to the castle, directing the large line of people to safety. Though his body is directing them, his eyes are locked on the two battles above him. The prowess of everyone there far exceeds that of any soldiers he ever seen, be it from Arendelle or not. This doesn’t feel like a battle of simple Elementals. Something larger is going on that’s way over his head, and all these people are being caught in the crossfire.

 

Durr feels someone shaking his shoulder, which instantly snaps him out of the show above. He looks to the source, that being a rather fearful looking soldier.

“Sir, I… well…”

“Spit it out! We don’t have time!” Durr shouts, both to get his soldier in line and to have his voice heard over the loud battle above.

“There are boats coming, sir! An army!”

Durr looks to the line then back to the soldier.

“Keep everyone moving, I need to see this.”

 

Durr sprints away from his post and past the lines of people, most of them giving him a look as he passes. The Captain speeds through the town, knowing the ins and outs of the city like the back of his… remaining hand. He comes to a halt at the docks to witness the large army he was told about. It’s closer than he thought it would be. The ice general kept everything at a distance, but thanks to Ryu and the battle going on the ice has broken apart or melted. The ships will be able to easily surround Arendelle.

 

From the few vessels he can see, all of them are from different Kingdoms.

“They’re declaring war on Arendelle… I’m not surprised. Damnit,” he squeezes his hand as tight as he can. “We’re in no condition to fight back. As I thought, this is above us regular folk.” Durr turns around and starts running back to the secret entrance. “I have to secure everyone and alert them on our current situation. We’re not fighting any war.”

 

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Shadow knocks back Gaia only to have Rain drive his fist into Shadow’s cheek. Shadow tumbles through the air as he gets closer and closer to the ground. At the same time Ryu overwhelms Pyro, knocking him off balance and kicking him far into the air with the rest of his allies. Noting where Shadow now is, Ryu jumps down and lands right as Shadow recovers and smashes into the ground.

 

The two Drakons look up at their enemies, both overflowing with Drakon essence. Having a mental link, the two rush the four Elementals with an entire plan in mind.

 

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The Mastermind paces back and forth as he watches the battle through Elsa’s eyes. His forces are failing despite the Drakon power he’s given them. He has no choice now. If he loses Elsa, he loses the foothold on the world. He looks over to his associate who’s chained up to a stone, flailing around and erupting in screams as a stream flows out of his body.

 

“We need more. They are nothing to us!” He firmly steps towards the chained man and rips more from him, increasing the screams and bringing some laughter. “A trump card. We won’t lose.”

 

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As Shadow and Ryu close in on the Elementals, a sudden development makes them stop. The goo occupying their outerlayer begins to tighten, as if its sucking the life out of them. This is supported by the fact that the Elementals, save for Elsa, all begin to scream in pain as their skin loses colour and their muscles weaken immensely.

 

_“Shadow, we have a chance! Switch with me!”_

 

Without responding Shadow closes his eyes and releases control, allowing you to take over. You look down at your attire and quickly switch it back to your white t-shirt, black jacket, and jeans. It boggles your mind how Shadow can fight with a suit, but that’s not what’s important at the moment.

 

“Knight… I think we better ready ourselves.”

 

The Elementals all become like mummies, lifeless and drained. The goo breaks off from their body and hovers in the air in place of the Elementals. Their bodies all crumble to the floor, breaking apart on impact. Being so focused on that, you both fail to notice Elsa walking along an icy platform towards the ball.

 

“You two are dangerous. This world might have fallen apart if not for my influence over the area,” Elsa speaks, obviously relaying the Mastermind’s words. “But it’s over now,” she smiles, her own medallion glowing with even more power.

 

She extends her hand towards the ball which attracts it to her. The black essence is absorbed into her medallion, then spreads across her entire body to become a slick, skintight black suit. Feeling the raw power flowing through her, Elsa begins laughing maniacally.

“All this power! All the Elements, the Drakon energy! Soon all this will be mine! All I need is for you to die! Maybe I’ll add your power to it!” She laughs even harder. “So lets test this out on those fools you brought,” she states, turning around and aiming her hand towards the fleet.

 

“No!” You both shout, speeding past Elsa to put yourselves between her and the ships. “They aren’t your opponents, Elsa! We are!” You declare.

Elsa chuckles.

“Then by all means, show me.”

 

You grind your teeth at her words. Whoever is behind this knows you’re going to hold back on Elsa. It’s likely the reason he’s putting all the focus on her rather than the others. But if you have no choice but to hurt her then you’ll have to get over it. You look back to the ships, now docking with the ice and shuttling soldiers out to take Arendelle. Ryu sheathes his blade to hold back on the Queen. Even for him, fighting his wife isn’t the easiest thing to swallow, but he made peace with it. Though seeing such a twisted form of his wife pulls at his heart strings.

 

Taking initiative, you explode with power and rush Elsa. Ryu follows you soon after, being only seconds behind. Elsa’s smile grows wider as you approach. You throw your punch at her face but hit nothing. Suddenly she’s behind you, her hand charges with electricity. Before she attacks you she opens her other palm to Ryu and pushes him back with an overwhelming amount of wind, layered with very durable, very small ice spikes. With Ryu dealt with, Elsa slams her hand down on your neck. However you slip your hand over your shoulder and catches that hand, nullifying her power. You swing your arm under hers, grasp her attacking hand, and flip her over your shoulder and to the castle. She crashes through the building, going through a few flights until landing in the throne room.

 

You fly through the hole and land in the middle. Elsa’s in the open, meaning she’s waiting to ambush you. Considering her new speed thanks to this major surge in Drakon power… she’s a force to be reckoned with. You keep your eyes peeled, always moving to keep your blindspots at a minimum. It’s eerily quiet, only the muffled sound from outside occupying the room. You can’t even hear her breathing, placing doubt that she’s still in the room. Something does catch your ears after a moment, that being Ryu flying into the room. He spins around, building momentum, and throws a kick at Elsa as she attempts to attack you from behind. She blocks most of the impact but still slides along the icy floor, her heels making fine lines through the ice.

 

“Thanks,” you nod at your counterpart before focusing everything on Elsa.

“We have to be careful. There’s… a lot of Drakon power flowing through her. More than both of us.”

“Great, I guess we’ll have to improvise… but we should get this battle back in the air.”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

 

You both turn away and soar into the air, flying through the hole and stopping a decent distance above Arendelle.

“Interesting,” Elsa’s voice goads from behind.

You both turn around and are near stunned by the fact she’s behind you, arms crossed as if she’s amused by your efforts.

“Let me show you true Drakon power,” she smirks as she lifts her hand into the air.

 

The entire plane of earth starts to rumble as pieces of earth and stone raise into the air. Waters swirls into the same point, fire mustering and lightning crashing into one massive point into the air. All the elements form into one gigantic ball, further powered by Elsa’s Drakon power. The large attack continues to grow, pushing its way past the clouds as it expands to new heights.

 

“Ryu… that’s… is that bigger than the moon?”

Ryu doesn’t answer. All he can do is look at this attack with astonishment.

 

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“Hahahaha, more! More power!” The Mastermind maniacally laughs, absorbing more from the chained man and channeling it into the medallion.

 

The pressure is so immense that the chained man breaks free, clawing at the ground with a mixture of pain and laughter.

 

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Everyone outside of the castle are in awe at this attack. It casts a shadow over all of Arendelle as if it was a new ruler establishing command. Kings and Queens, Commanders, and regular soldiers are baffled by this power. Some soldiers drop their weapons and fall to their knees, quickly preying to their gods for safety and protection.

 

You and Ryu, on the otherhand, try to figure out how to deal with this attack. If it hit, it would destroy the planet. The sheer power behind all this is astonishing. You never thought anyone could have so much Drakon power.

 

“Shadow… Ryu… any ideas…”

“How could she handle that much?”

You turn your attention to Ryu.

“What?”

“The amount of Drakon power… it’s worth three individual ones. It’s almost like…” His voice trails off to the point of being inaudible.

“Like what? What can we do?”

“I don’t know…”

 

Elsa laughs maniacally as her attacks grow bigger and bigger, becoming even more difficult to handle. The power flowing through her body is almost impossible to handle. Despite the laughter, her body is slowly falling apart. The weight of it all is weighing down on both the medallion and her body to the point of collapse. Something that was not taken into consideration. The frail piece of jewelry violently shakes as the power funnels through it. Slowly, the main jewel begins to harbor cracks that spread throughout the entire piece. Second by second they grow and grow until it shatters, a massive wave of energy pushing everything back. The black goo surrounding Elsa loosens, letting the blonde woman fall to the planet below.

 

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The connection cuts, the power stops flowing from the once chained man. The Mastermind is silent, cursing himself for being to power hungry. Seeing a frail body like Elsa’s harbor so much power was beautiful to watch that he wanted to see how far it could go. He was too carried away. Using his magic he casts a spell around the leftover Drakon power that’s taken the form of a black ball of goo and speeds it away from Arendelle.

 

“Recover the bodies of the Elementals. They’re yours,” he says while panting on the ground.

“Heh… hehe… hahahahahaha,” the mad man slowly builds is laughter, eager to devour the bodies and merge them into himself.

 

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“Elsa!” You scream, rushing to the young woman’s side and catching her bridal style.

You slowly float down to the castle walls, what’s left of them, and set her down. Ryu quickly joins you, standing on the other side of Elsa as you lay her down. Her hair, clothing, and eyes return to their original colours. She’s back.

 

You and Ryu eye each other, unsure of what to think. You got out of that because of a fluke. If she had thrown the… Both your eyes widen when you realize her power ball is still there, now falling to the planet below.

 

“Rhaegos!” Ryu shouts, bursting off the castle wall and flying a mile under the makeshift moon. “We need help!”

 

Ryu becomes fully intune with his Drakon power, his body now only resembling a humanoid rather than fully human. He waves his arms around him, controlling the water and wind to push the ships away from the impact area. Next, he takes those very same elements and pushes them against the large ball. It slows down slightly, but not enough to make a significant difference.

 

“Father! We can’t hold this!”

 

You leave Elsa to help, flying atop the ball to try and pull it up. You bury your hands into the ball, using nature elements to get the best grip you can. A large aura pours out of you as you lift with all your might, using natural flight and wind elements to pull yourself up. All veins in your body are showing, your teeth clenching harder than ever before, then given a break as you scream.

 

Ryu rushes into his water and wind, using his own strength to push it towards you.

 

“Come on! Pull harder!”

“I CAN’T PULL ANY HARDER, RYU!” You furiously yell.

“I DON’T CARE! PULL HARDER!”

“PUSH HARDER!”

 

You can feel your hands becoming stuck in place from the amount of strength you’re putting into your grip. In the back of your mind you know that you can’t hold it. It’s going to hit the planet in less than a minute and everything will be gone.

 

“SHADOW! CAN YOU GIVE ME ANY POWER? ANYTHING?”

“No… there’s nothing I can give you. I might have a trick up my sleeve, but-“

“YOU STILL HAVE SECRETS? USE IT!”

“It’s not perfected… I don’t even know if it would work. I’m sorry, I have nothing for you.”

“DAMNIT!”

 

You try to pass your limits and pull even more, but you can’t manage to do anything more than you’re already doing.

“COME ON! COME OOON!”

 

With your eyes shut tightly and your focus on this task, you somehow manage to miss the clouds slowly building around you and the earth-destroying attack. Everyone watching is now confused that such a large object has become shrouded by the thunderclouds. They can’t even watch as their lifespans are visually shown ticking down. You give another tug… and it starts working. The ball is slowing down, almost feeling like it’s coming your way. Becoming less tense, your senses pick up sounds and a presence you didn’t notice before. To your left and right are two talons firmly tucked into the compounds that make up the object. Finally looking up you bear witness to what seems to be a Hawk, majestic and beautiful. This one has a cobalt tone to its feathers and deadly white talons that would easily stain with blood. There’s no doubt in your mind that this is one of the Mythical Creatures, akin to Rhaegos.

 

The beat of its wings threatens to crush you, yet its strength is immensely needed. Almost singlehandedly its lifting this condensed ball of elements and Drakon power, a fact its no doubt aware of.

 

“You caused this mess, Drakon,” it’s deep voice echoes in your mind. “And I’m the one who must fix it. You disturbed my realm of living, and that I will scold you for.”

“It’s not my-“

“I’m aware of the puppeteer pulling the strings, Drakon. Rhaegos and I have exchanged knowledge. For my help in disposing of this, you will deal with him. It’s the only way you can return home.”

 

A sudden gust of wind comes from within the ball, pushing you off and out of the immense storm surrounding it. The gust stops right beside Ryu, who’s flapping his own wings as he watches the fast-moving storm.

 

“Uzult… the Hawk…” Ryu whispers under his breath. “Amazing.”

“He saved our asses,” you chuckle, pushing your fingers together to stretch them.

“I’ve never heard a truer statement,” he chuckles. “But we should return to Elsa. Our forces have taken the city and Elsa, with luck, is normal.”

“Heh… we won…”

“Yeah… we did,” Ryu places a hand on your shoulder, bearing a smile on his face. “You did well, Knight.”

“If Elsa’s back to normal. then I’ll happily take that compliment.”

 

**And that’s part two! If you wondered why I split these two up it’s because they’re fourty pages put together. You know, I don’t want to blast you guys with too much. I believe I said that last time. Anyway, I’ll be doing another chapter of Project’s Past and some RWBY stuff this month. Though I only have two more months to keep with my word and finish by august. It’ll happen. There’s only 6-8 more chapters left. If I dedicate both July and August to Project’s Past I think I’ll finish it. Who knows.**

**Anyway, that’s a wrap for me. I hope you enjoyed and I’ll see you next time!**

**Want to keep up with me? Know what chapter’s coming out next and the progress of them? Follow me on Twitter! Twitter . com (slash) Chinsangan**

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**A special thank you to Patreon supporters: GrayJack72**


	53. A Need to Relax, A Desire for Home

#  **Chapter 53: A Need to Relax, A Desire for Home**

 

It’s been twenty-four hours since the battle for Arendelle. Elsa has been asleep the entire time while the invading forces have protected the weakened Arendelle. Minutes after the planet was saved from total destruction, the ice and snow that once held Arendelle in its grasp dissipated to allow the warm sun to blanket Arendelle once more. Soldiers began aiding in the reconstruction of all that was damaged and, finally, genuine smiles were everywhere in Arendelle. All this thanks to you and Ryu, the saviors, the ones who freed Elsa from dark magic and “killed” the Elementals.

 

Unfortunately it isn’t that easy for the two of you. You’re in a meeting with two majestic beings whose mere presence threatens to break you both. Your eyes dart from the ground to Ryu, who’s standing beside you. The Dragon, Rhaegos, and the Hawk, Uzult. These beautiful, powerful beasts stand before you like judges. They requested your presence shortly after the battle. This takes you away from watching over Elsa’s progress, but you don’t say no to these beings.

 

“Seeing you here was unexpected, Uzult. You don’t interfere with mortal toils,” Rhaegos begins.

“I was more interested to hear from you, Rhaegos. You don’t waste time on us.”

Tension immediately sets in that both you and Ryu can feel. Uzult wasn’t the nicest when you first met him and it seems that personality trait is a constant.

“I don’t interfere in other worlds. In fact, you should have dealt with young (Y/N) first. An anomaly like this affects us all,” Rhaegos lectures.

“Then Vespera should have contacted me. He’s from her world.”

“Vespera?” You whisper.

“The Leviathan,” Ryu quietly responds.

“Oh…”

 

“Vespera is preparing his arrival through the rift. However you know what’s blocking the rift from this side, do you not?” Rhaegos inquires.

“I do. The same mortal that took control of the one they call “Elsa” is releasing magical energy over the world. It’s more prominent here, but that energy is closing all rifts. I know not where he’s located, but I’m sure your Drakons can figure it out.”

“We will. Thank you, Uzult,” Ryu bows his head.

“Uh, yeah, mr, sir Hawk… Sir,” you follow, bowing your head.

 

Uzult takes off, disappearing into the clouds. Rhaegos sighs, steam coming out of his nostrils.

“He is the most difficult to work with. But you have your leads. Ryu, search for the source of this energy. Knight, I want you to watch over the Queen. We cannot allow whoever this puppeteer is to regain control of Arendelle.”

“It shall be done, father.”

“I’ll protect her, no problem.”

 

You turn to the exit while Ryu remains still, his mind stuck on something. He looks back at you for a mere moment before turning his attention to the Dragon.

“Rhaegos… that man gave Elsa Drakon power. There’s another Drakon in this timeline, isn’t there?”

Rhaegos’ eyes drift to the door as it closes, cutting you off from the conversation. He lowers his head slightly.

“There is, I feel it. But… it’s a special Drakon.”

“Special? How so?” Ryu persists.

“It’s plausible to state that this Drakon is the strongest. But… Knight shares similar traits.”

Ryu crosses his arms.

“What do you mean, father?”

 

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After reaching the bottom of the mountain you take your time and walk through the now cleared forest. The trees are still barren since the snow was just taken away but you’re imagining how wondrous this place would be. With the snow and ice gone Arendelle has definitely become a more beautiful place. Corona might be a little better though, but then that place had a better first impression. Still, it’s nicer on your skin now that it’s not so cold.

 

With Arendelle clearly ahead you start sprinting down the path that leads to Arendelle. Once in a while you pass a caravan from Tocia City carrying supplies for rebuilding, but those are coming at specific times and don’t need to be carried by you. You give the drivers a quick wave as you pass by. Your face, well yours and Ryu’s, have become well known in the past twenty-four hours through the Kingdoms. This… upsets Ryu, he constantly rambles on about this not being your timeline and how you should have no effect on it, but considering you’ve improved this place for the better it seems like your intervention was worth it.

 

Being leagues above the average person, you reach Arendelle within minutes by just running. You slide to a halt just before the entry gate that’s wide open for anyone to enter. The guards bow their heads at you out of respect for aiding their home. You smile back, giving a quick wave as you walk by. With the sun shining bright the city is busy with repairs, bartering, and children running through the streets. Some run by your legs playing tag, shouting nonsense that makes you smile. Your eyes are attracted to a nearby building which is being worked on. Some soldiers are carrying bricks and wood to repair the walls and floors for houses along this row. More soldiers are farther down, bringing the same materials for other homes and businesses.

 

After mindless gazing at the busy work in the town you eventually wind up at the gates of the castle, also wide open for all to enter.

“Ah, sir,” a guard greets you. “You’re here to see the Queen?”

You nod, stopping just inside the castle walls.

“Yeah, just wanna see her progress.”

“We’re told she’s doing well. It’s all thanks to you, sir. I’ve never seen the town so lively.”

You shrug.

“It wasn’t all me. But hey, I’m happy to help,” you bow your head.

 

With that conversation done you proceed to the middle of the courtyard. You look up to the balcony leading to Elsa’s room while you bend your knees. After a moment of charging you spring yourself high into the air and land perfectly on the balcony. Being a glass door, you see Anna and Rapunzel sitting on either side of Elsa’s bed as the once possessed woman rests. You quietly open the door and close it behind you, then approach the edge of the bed.

 

“Is she okay?” You calmly question.

“(Y/N)?” Anna shivers, slightly scared at your sudden arrival. “She’s okay. Pabbie says her body needs to recover from… some outside thingy that I didn’t understand.”

You chuckle, crossing your arms.

“Yeah, I think I know what it is. I thought she’d be awake by now.”

“Everyone did. All we can do is wait until she wakes up,” Rapunzel responds.

“Well, I’ll be here too. You never know who could take advantage of a sickly queen.”

“But there are hundreds of soldiers?” Anna quickly retorts.

“True… but depending on the person a hundred might not be an issue. Take me, for instance,” you shrug.

“How is it that you’re so strong anyways? You look… I mean…” Rapunzel drifts off with her train of thought.

“Average? Yeah, I know. But I guess that shows never to judge a book by its cover,” you comment, finding a nearby wall to lean against. “Besides protection, I want to be here when she wakes up, just in case.”

“In case of what?” Anna tilts her head a tad.

You close your eyes.

“In case what was controlling her isn’t entirely gone.”

 

You keep your breathing as quiet as possible while waiting alongside the other princesses. They haven’t spoken, possibly because of your presence. The loudest thing in the room is Elsa’s breathing, mainly because you’re focused on that. The rise and fall of her chest with each breath, the slight irregularities coming from her nose and mouth. Small things that normal people wouldn’t catch thanks to their duller senses.

 

“H-Hey, (Y/N)?” Anna starts. You open one eye, seeing Rapunzel and Anna facing you.

“I have to thank you for saving my sister. I… don’t think we could have done it without you. I might never have seen my normal sister again…”

You wink at her.

“Well, she’s not up yet. Might want to save those thanks until she’s conscious. I just hope she’s normal.”

Anna and Rapunzel raise their brow, looking at each other then to you.

“You knew her before?” Rapunzel raises the point.

“You did say you were engaged,” Anna brings up.

 

Your eyes open wide as you’re caught in your own trap.

“I… it’s a long story,” you brush off, nervously closing your eyes in hopes that they’ll go with it.

“We’re not doing anything,” Anna presses. “Does it have something to do with your powers?”

You sigh.

“Sort of. Ryu wouldn’t like me spilling the beans, honestly. Just… I know Elsa. You have to trust me on that one. But perhaps this one is different.”

“This one? What does that mean?” Rapunzel presses, hands on her hips.

You have a slight freak out before lifting your shoulders to bury your head.

“Nothing…” You whisper.

 

As if a divine being is watching over you, Elsa begins stirring in her sleep. Her eyes slightly flutter open, her arms stretch. All this attracts all of your attention.

“Elsa!” Anna happily shrieks, running to her side. “Elsa, are you okay? Can you hear me?”

You approach Anna’s back and rest a hand on her shoulder.

“Give her some space. Let her breathe.”

The door behind you bursts open thanks to Captain Durr.

“Princess Anna, I heard screaming.”

Anna turns to the captain with a warm smile.

“My apologies, Captain. My sister was moving and I got excited.”

 

Durr lets out a sigh of relief.

“Thank goodness. With everything going on… well…”

You raise your brow at those words. Knowing Elsa may be waking, you decide to inquire further outside of the room. You leave the bedside and pass the Captain.

“May I speak with you outside?”

Durr nods. He has his own reason to speak with you.

You and Durr leave the ladies alone, shutting the door behind you.

“You had more of fear than you should have,” you note, becoming more serious than usual. “Why?”

Durr smirks.

“Funny, I wanted to ask you about this. Come with me,” Durr motions for you to follow. The two of you walk through the hallway while Durr talks. “There have been an increased amount of murders in Arendelle.”

“You thought the murderer was in the room?” You assume.

Durr nods.

“A murder just happened within the last hour. Same as every other one,” he shakes his head, visually disturbed whilst thinking back on it.

“Every other one?”

Durr stops at the door. He looks into your eyes, saying nothing.

“I… you’ll see when we get there.”

 

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Durr brings you to a back alley near the edge of the city. There are guards blocking off access from the civilian populace. As you and Durr approach they step out of the way for you both then return to their previous station once you pass. Immediately you can smell the rotting body and soon after you see it. Your eyes widen in shock at what you see, recognizing why Durr was disturbed. You leave Durr behind and examine the body more closely. It’s… defiled, is what regular people would say. A more blunt individual would just say it’s been the main course of a feast. On closer inspection you note that not everything has been eaten. Most of the internal organs are gone; the eyeballs, tongue, ears, bone snapped for the marrow and some bones just gone. Chunks of legs and arms are missing as well.

 

“I can see why this is a worry. How long has this been going on?”

Durr thinks a moment.

“I believe… two months after our Queen’s… less than pleasant rule. She never addressed the issue during that time.”

“You never had a curfew?” You ask with surprise, looking up at the Captain.

“The Queen never ordered it. I didn’t have the authority to make that decision.”

“Hm…”

 

You look at the two walls and note the collision points. This man was thrown against both walls likely before death. No point in throwing a dead man around unless it was out of personal anger, which isn’t the case here. The impact seems rather powerful. You stand up and slowly drag your fingers down the broken wall. Perplexed, you walk further down to an undisturbed part of the wall. Durr raises his brow at your intentions until you suddenly slam your fist into the wall, cracking it.

 

“What are you doing?” He shouts.

You don’t say a word, instead beckoning him to join you. He mumbles incoherent nonsense as he regroups with you and takes a gander at the wall you ruined.

“Notice the force? Both my hit and those are relatively the same.”

Durr rubs his chin as he thinks.

“You’re saying this person is as strong as you?”

 

You shrug.

“I could be wrong, but…  I suggest putting on a curfew. Guards patrolling the city, yada yada,” you lazily wave your hand, still examining the two impact areas. “I’ll spend whatever time I have watching over the city and Elsa.”

“Whatever time you have left?” Durr repeats for clarification.

You snicker.

“You know… I have something important to me… I need to get there soon or I can’t at all.”

“Where? Seeing you in action I’m sure-“

“No, it’s…” You sigh, shaking your head with a smile then turning to face Durr. “It’s complicated.”

 

Durr nods.

“I see… very well. If you need my assistance do let me know. I shall return to overlooking the city. The Princes of the Southern isles are slow at rebuilding. Perhaps a little encouragement is in order,” he chuckles, finding satisfaction at ordering around royalty for what little time he can.

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Ryu hovers over the plains outside Arendelle, both looking into the magic’s source and thinking on what Rhaegos had told him. He hadn’t realized that there are Drakons who far surpass other Drakons. Ryu assumed they were all relative, but no. You and this one who inhabits this world are far different than he, and far more powerful. The very concept revealed to him continues to boggle him, but also brings up a question… how do you not know? Considering all you’ve gone through it only seems fair to know. Rhaegos informed in that you, in your world, were misinformed about the matter.

 

“If Knight’s incomplete and still this powerful… I can only imagine how powerful this one is. But…” Ryu moves his hand to his chin, resting his index finger on his skin. “If two Drakons this powerful exist in one timeline then there should be more problems. Rhaegos is making our presence yet we’re still causing minor incidents… that means this other Drakon has someone masking their presence… but hiding a Drakon constantly would be tiring for a being who isn’t a Mythical Beast… Maybe…” He taps his chin, eyes scanning the ground below. “They’re somewhere that has a natural suppression. I should look for places both overflowing and devoid of magic that’s within the vicinity of Arendelle.”

 

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You carry four loads of wood and three of stone in both hands. How you went from investigating a murder to helping with the recovery effort is beyond you. Not that you detest helping the city, but finding a murderer is a little more important. But you have to remember that the other Kingdoms are departing today once all the supplies are unloaded. You drop the materials beside the designated house.

 

“Thank you, sir. You’re worth a dozen soldiers,” a civilian praises.

You shrug.

“Probably worth more than that, but it’s no problem. I-“

“Sir (Y/N)!” A soldier shouts, jogging to meet with you.

Both you and the average joe look to the soldier as he approaches.

“You’ve been summoned by the Queen.”

“The Queen? She’s awake?” You ask with both surprise and joy.

“She is! She awaits your presence.”

You nod before running past the solider and towards the palace.

“So... are you going to help?” He asks the soldier.

 

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You run through the castle halls to Elsa’s room, all guards knowing why you’re in such a rush. The news that their Queen is awake and back to normal is a relief over every man and woman in the castle. She hasn’t left her room yet, but everyone heard Anna’s screams of joy. You slow to a stop before the door and rapidly knock. After a moment, Anna opens the door, smiling at your presence.

“(Y/N)! You’re here! Come in!” She grabs your hand and yanks you into the room.

You shakily gain your balance and are positioned by Anna to face her sister. She’s in a beautiful ice dress that reminds you of the one your Elsa wore during prom. Now… Elsa… she’s beautiful. Her entire persona resembles the one you’re used to and it makes your heart skip a beat. Elsa smiles at you, hands intertwined before her.

 

“So you’re (Y/N). My sister has told me all about you. I have to thank you for aiding Arendelle in its time of need,” she says, bowing her head.

“I… uh, hehe… it was nothing, really, I just sorta did it, you know?” You mumble, a childish nervousness taking over.

“Anna, would you give us a moment? I have a few things to speak to our guest about.”

Anna nods.

“Alright! I’ll be with Kristoff if you need me,” she informs, leaving the room. Only a second after she opens the door, popping her head in. “Kristoff’s right next door so I’m next door… just to let you know.” She closes the door again.

 

Elsa snickers.

“She hasn’t changed despite all I did to her. She’s a strong girl.”

“She is. I know that too well,” you agree, crossing your arms.

“Now, I have to apologize to you. I… lied to Anna. I told her I don’t remember anything during the time I was… indoctrinated, one could say. But I remember everything.”

Your eyes widen, a drop of sweat coming from your forehead. You slowly turn your upper body to face the Queen.

“E-Everything?”

She slowly nods. Elsa turns and walk towards her balcony, looking out the glass to her city.

“I know what you did… what we did. How you were the first to…” She attempts to find the right words. “Make love to me.”

“I had to-“

 

Elsa raises her hand to silence you.

“Your reasoning was for my benefit, I understand that. To be honest there are too many secrets about you, despite your aid.” She slowly begins walking towards you. “Where are you from? Why did you claim to be my fiancée?”

“I-“

“But while everyone is asking that question… I know the answer.” She stops in front of you, looking slightly up to meet your gaze.

You audibly gulp.

“You do?”

“I do,” she immediately responds. “But, perhaps you can tell me the story? I only know what I was… told,” she looks away, her mind trailing back into that time. “Though it was so full of hate, and…” Her composure is visibly deteriorating just thinking on it.

You place a hand on her shoulder, snapping her out of the trance.

“I’ll tell you everything you want to know. Is there a place we can talk?”

Elsa nods.

 

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The two of you walk through the halls of the castle until you reach the garden. Somehow it’s still beautiful, teeming with life and colour.

“Everything else is barren. How is this place still alive?” You ask whilst observing the beautiful room.

“Anna always kept this place alive. Her room and this garden were the only places I didn’t allow my ice to touch.” She places her hands on her chest, exhaling. “It’s so beautiful.”

You turn your gaze to her, seeing the Queen so gripped by such a place is… just like before… the same look Elsa always had when she saw something she loved. The same look she used to give you. Elsa notices your staring and smiles.

“What?”

“I, uh, nothing,” you quickly look away. “T-There’s a spot to sit over there.”

“Yes, it’s my favourite spot.”

 

_“You’re so pathetic.”_

“Shut up!”

“Excuse me?” Elsa responds, a tad insulted.

You wave your hands in front of you.

“No, no, not you! I…” You sigh. “Heh… You really do steal my composure,” you chuckle.

Elsa smiles, leading you to the bench and sitting down beside you. You nervously sit down, hating your demeanor. You’re like a child, not a powerful adult.

“I was… told… that you weren’t from here. This place. This world,” she attempts to clarify. “Is that true?”

She stares into your eyes with her beautiful blue orbs. You could never lie, never say no to those eyes. It’s amazing how different she feels now and then. Even her eyes were different, despite not truly changing. These ones… they’re like lie detectors too.

 

“It’s hard to explain. I’m… uh… from… another world, I guess. A place that has an Arendelle, an Elsa, an Anna… it’s…” You start stumbling on your words, not sure where to go from there. Elsa looks at you with supportive eyes, encouraging you to proceed. You puff your cheeks before continuing. “My father… he… well, he killed my friends… he killed you,” you squeeze your fist just saying those words. “I have to get back to my world or you and all my friends will be dead permanently. Whatever guy who controlled you is blocking me from returning. I…” You lean over your knees, eyes locking onto the ground below you. “I just need to get back. I haven’t seen Elsa, my Elsa, for so long… and watching her die… me not being there… then seeing you as this corrupted… I just need to get back. Heh, funny, huh?” You clench your fists in your line of sight. “All this power and I’m useless.”

 

Elsa takes a moment to absorb all the information you gave her. She knew of your Draconic nature but the fact that you’re from a completely different world is almost unbelievable. If you told her that before all this then she would have thought you were crazy. But now she’s not even that phased by what she’s hearing. One thing that catches her off guard is your utterly natural and genuine way of speaking about her… another her. You love her, you care for her and Anna.

 

“Is that why you helped us?”

You nod, not bothering to look at her.

“Yeah… Ryu said I should leave it but I couldn’t… I couldn’t leave you like this no matter what the consequences were.”

Elsa rests a hand on your shoulder in an attempt to comfort you. The feeling of that familiar hand resting on you initiates an automatic reaction of putting your hand atop hers. She doesn’t flinch. She sits with you for as long as you need.

 

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The shining sun begins to hide itself for the people of Arendelle. This includes Ryu who’s been searching for hours. Luckily his search hasn’t been in vain. He’s been flying from place to place, scouring and exploring places both flourishing with magic and devoid of it. Going to these places has both been tiring and aggravating. He’s gone to every location on this continent and hasn’t found any trace of this puppet master. There’s only one place left which Ryu completely forgot about. He retracts his wings, coming to a crash in the snow. The white powder flies up on contact, fluttering down around the determined Drakon.

 

Ryu looks up at the castle before him, glowing a brilliant blue shade. He feels like an idiot for not checking here first. This place was even in his timeline. The magical castle Elsa built when she ran from Arendelle on her Coronation Day. This place has a strong magical energy that radiates over Arendelle. Ryu notes that the magical presence is stronger than his timeline. Perhaps that’s a clue. Ryu keeps his eyes open and his ears alert as he pushes open the front door. It’s a smooth opening with absolutely no greeting. Last time you had to contend with the snow monster and those little creations Elsa made while sick. Now it’s just eerily quiet.

 

Ryu keeps his footsteps light and breath quiet. He doesn’t know if anyone is here and doesn’t want to lose his element of surprise. He scales the stairs, hoping two at a time until he gets to the top floor. Immediately upon entering he finds an artifact that definitely doesn’t belong there. It’s a mirror surrounded in dark energy that’s familiar yet unfamiliar. Ryu makes sure to scan the entire room before approaching the mirror. He stands in front of but his reflection doesn’t show.

 

“Clearly the mirror is just a front… but…” Ryu extends his hand in an attempt to touch the glass. His hand smooshes against it, confirming it to be an object and not an illusion. “Okay… so what is this for… I can feel it has some magic to it… perhaps I can suppress it and bring it back for investigation. Best to get it out of their hands,” Ryu rolls his shoulders.

 

He grabs the mirror and lifts it easily. He’s surprised that it wasn’t locked in place or secured in any way. This causes some concern for Ryu, but he can’t just leave it here for his enemy. He lifts it up and walks it to the balcony, giving him space to sprout his wings and fly off with the artifact.

 

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You and Elsa cross the bridge that leads to the city. You appreciate her support and understanding to your plight, but focusing on the negatives of the situation doesn’t help and you don’t want to waste the Queen’s time like that. After a brief conversation about what your Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf is like, your brother, your parents, Hans, what you know of your childhood, Shadow, Carnage, everything. All the adventures you’ve gone through, the battles, the losses, the complications. Elsa just listens attentively, never interrupting you for anything. She’s slightly fascinated by what you’re telling her. It’s like a book she would power through and the way you tell all these experiences makes her believe your origins even more. The times you’d laugh when remembering something silly, the genuine feeling when discussing things involving Elsa, the anger when you failed, the joy when you succeeded. All this becomes foundation for her imagination of what your world is like.

 

Besides that, it makes her feel slightly odd about you being in love with, what’s essentially her. You have a true love for the woman which throws her off since she doesn’t feel the same, and she shouldn’t. It’s not her, yet it feels like it should be. When you speak of dates you took her on or situations you both were in the way you describe your Elsa and the things she does is exactly what this Elsa would do. This both scares her and excites her because she still doesn’t totally understand how there are multiple worlds, but at the same time hearing how strong and capable she is can be… flattering. At times she even blushed when speaking of your more romantic moments with the woman. Despite knowing nothing about you her heart still flutters at the stories, as if she was your beloved Elsa.

 

At times you ramble about silly things that really have no reason to be told. Like when she does her hair when getting for work and how cute she looks when she’s so concentrated. How she would sing in the car without even realizing anyone else is there, then laugh at herself when she makes a silly voice. Of course, embarrassment follows but it’s always playful and entertaining for both parties.

 

Your stories go on for so long that neither of you notices that you’ve past the center of town. Elsa takes the time to look at the buildings that have been repaired. Thankfully most of the repairs are done thanks to the near hundred hands aiding in the recovery effort. It surprised Elsa immensely when she heard that not only did the other kingdoms come to aid in taking Arendelle back but that they also remained to rebuild what was lost.

 

Elsa stops walking and takes a deep breath. You stop a step ahead, looking back at her. Her eyes are clearly mixed with different feelings that you can’t quite distinguish.

“I almost destroyed all of this… but who could do this? Who would want to destroy this place? Kill everyone here?”

You shrug, slipping your hands in your pocket.

“I don’t know. Power? That’s what happens in my era… though I guess a ton of people are just greedy,” you shrug. “Human nature, I suppose.”

 

Elsa looks back at you with a heartwarming smile.

“It takes the pure hearts of others to break through the dark. Anna saved me when I was consumed by fear… and you saved me when I was consumed by darkness.”

You blush a bit but don’t shy away from her gaze.

“I just fought you. I didn’t talk you out of it or anything. Probably won’t take to the guy behind all this either.”

“He doesn’t deserve it,” Elsa speaks with resentment. “He’s the cause of many deaths… I can’t forgive that.”

 

“You’re right, Queen,” a grizzled voice speaks.

You and Elsa face the man who spoke as he walks out of the alley, a pitchfork in hand. The moment he appears you hear more people come out from behind you, armed as well. You note three people behind while one is infront.

“You killed our families.”

“You’re not our Queen.”

“You’re a poison to the world.”

“Magic is a curse.”

 

They attempt to surround you which… wouldn’t do anything to you. You’re surprised they have the courage to attack Elsa with you accompanying her. Everyone in Arendelle should know your power and how, if you’re just a regular person, you stand absolutely no chance at beating you. It’d be a shame to hurt regular people but if they attempt to harm Elsa then you’ll have no choice.

 

Elsa closes her eyes and bows her head.

“I can understand your anger. I did much that I regret and hurt a lot of people. I know there’s nothing I can do to accommodate you, but I’m su-“

“I want nothing from you!” The first man shouts. “You killed my wife… my son… you have to pay for that,” he grinds his teeth trying to hold back the tears.

“Of course. I’m sure I did something to all of you,” she speaks, taking a step towards the middle and shifting her body so she can look at both groups. “But violence doesn’t fix anything. I swear to all of you and any others whose lives I’ve… made more difficult.” She sighs. “I want to fix my mistakes no matter what. I ask you all for patience and support so Arendelle can grow from this and become an even better place.”

 

The civilians’ gaze all sink to the ground. With one sentence they’re all reminded of the peaceful, beloved ruler they once had. It’s been so long since they’ve heard such kind words from her mouth. But not all agree with it. One closest to you grips his pitchfork even tighter. In a flash you appear beside him and grab the handle, staring into his eyes with a deadly look whilst subtly shaking your head. The man attempts to struggle but he can’t even move the weapon an inch with you firmly grasping it.

 

“She’s different. Give her a chance,” you whisper.

Lucky for this man, Elsa’s paying attention to another who’s conversing with her. The man exhales, releasing hold of his weapon for you to take away.

“I’m glad. Arendelle needs to unite,” you say to him, but he refuses to reply.

 

You toss the pitchfork beside a nearby house and approach Elsa who finished speaking with the group. You rest your hand on her shoulder.

“Are you okay?”

Elsa nods, eyes closed.

“I am. I knew there would be people still angry, and rightfully so. I just hope I can make it up to everyone.”

You pat her shoulder.

“You will, I know it. Now how about we get something to eat? I’m a tad hungry,” you chuckle.

“Oh, you may join us for dinner! I requested King Frederic and the Corona family to dinner. You’re welcome to join us!”

You bow.

“I would be honoured, my Queen.”

 

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“So we have no idea where we are,” you continue, setting down your fork to be more expressive with the story. Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Rapunzel, Eugene, and the Monarchs of Corona sit at the table as well, having a family dinner to celebrate Elsa’s “return.” “Allana is just flipping out in the back seat of the… carriage...” Keep up these lies can be a little hard, especially changing the names of Kristoff, Anna, and Olaf around. “While Oliver sways back and forth, shaking the whole thing. I could tell just by looking at her that Elsa was on the brink of exploding,” you laugh, remembering the times before all these complicated events took place. “If not for the miracle of sweets we might not have all came out alive.”

 

“I still can’t believe you met another woman named Elsa,” Rapunzel points out before taking another bite of her food.

“Well some names aren’t as unique as yours, dear,” Eugene answers for you.

“He’s right,” you nod. “Just funny how the Queen had the same name.”

“Lucky too,” Anna chuckles.

“So when are you returning home?” Frederic politely asks, cutting a piece of his food for eating.

Elsa quickly shoots a glance at you, wondering how you’ll respond.

“When everything settles down here. I doubt I can stay any longer than a day or two,” you answer honestly. “It’ll be good to get back to them.”

“What’re they doing?” Kristoff inquires.

You let out a lone snicker as you blankly stare down at your food.

“Waiting for me to come back,” you whisper.

 

“Pardon?” Kristoff leans slightly closer.

“Oh, uh… probably just working or something. Maybe getting into trouble,” you nervously laugh.

“It’s good you have people to return to,” Frederic comments. “Family is important.”

“Heh, it is. Honestly I don’t know what I would do without them. I was alone until I met Elsa and her family. I don’t think I’d be the man I am today without them. I… really love them.”

“As a family should,” Frederic lets out a booming laugh.

 

Suddenly the door is shot open and Durr is standing in its place.

“My apologies your Majesty, but I require Sir (Y/N). We think we spotted the suspect.”

You give Elsa a look and she responds with a nod. You get out of your seat and run past Durr.

“I’ll handle it. Keep everyone safe!”

You sprint through the halls as fast as you can towards the closest window. Lucky for you it’s open so breaking it isn’t necessary. You leap out the window, curl into a ball, and perfectly land on your feet. You immediately jump to the highest point you can get to, that being the castle walls, to scout the town.

 

You’re not exactly sure what you’re looking for but a cannibal should be fairly easy to spot. You leap off your perch and land on the bridge connecting the castle and the city. There’s not a soul around, not even a scurrying mouse looking for bits of bread that fall off through the day. You keep your footsteps light as you slowly walk into the center of town. Your ears are on alert for any heavier sounds that could indicate a human… or something humanoid.

 

You reach the other side of the market and head down a path with houses on either side. Before you even step foot out of the market you hear an ominous laugh behind you. Not a full, gutwrenching laugh, but a mere humble chuckle. You slowly turn around to face whatever being is the source of these sounds. You’re met with a figure in a hooded cloak swaying side to side as their near maniacal chuckling continues. Their movements aren’t normal by any stretch of the imagination and that’s only seeing what’s shown through the cloak. Its knees could be bent backwards, fingers contorted, anything your mind could think up. What you do know is that this thing is strong and you have to be on your guard.

 

“I can’t believe it’s you,” it laughs, taking a step towards you, leaning its whole upperbody forward. “I couldn’t believe it but you are… haha, HAHAHAHA,” it breaks out into a crazed fit of laughter.

 

_I’ve… I’ve heard this somewhere._

“Who are you?”

 

“I wonder what you’d taste like… (Y/N),” it licks its lips. “Drakon blood… so much sweeter than these cattle… hahaha,” it flips its upper body backwards as it laughs, then returns to a normal stance. “Let me just have a taste.”

 

_“Take this outside of the city.”_

_I was thinking the same thing._

Before you the being leaps away from the city in one jump, landing a fair distance outside of Arendelle.

“What? Dammit!”

You run across the stone floor and jump ahead, passing the entrance gate then sprinting forward again. You reach the incline and easily scale it, eyes always on the swaying figure awaiting you. Its laughter still rings in your ears as you get closer and closer. You can almost feel its blood-stained grin widening as you approach. The figure slides its left leg back, throwing its balance completely off on purpose. You slide to a stop in front of the cloaked figure, a little turned off at the awkward stance it takes along with the laughing.

 

You dig your heel into the dirt and prepare for anything it could throw at you. The figure leaves itself vulnerable, slowly creaking its head to the side as it watches its prey. It decides to act, disappearing completely only to reappear with its fist in your stomach. It pushes through your organs and hits your spine. Your eyes go completely white, your heart skips a beat. You fly back, twirling through the air towards Arendelle. You slam on the top of the outer walls and twirl over the entire city. You crash against the water, bouncing across it like a stone. Some points you simply slide along the water, leaving a trail behind in the water then bouncing once more. You eventually slow down and come to a halt, floating face down in the water. You aren’t even in view of Arendelle anymore.

 

The figure drags its hand down his face, his sharp nails drawing his own blood. He begins laughing maniacally at his actions. Only thanks to his enhanced eyesight and elevated position can he see you despite being nearly a hundred kilometers away. He excitedly jumps towards your location, only needing a single jump to reach you.

 

On the otherhand you finally manage to regain complete consciousness. You activate your Drakon abilities and create a sheet of ice to rest on. You roll on your back, releasing your power and just taking in as much air as possible.

 

 _“What the hell is this thing? With one punch… nobody has that strength,”_ Shadow comments, his voice riddled with panic.

“And-“ You cough up some blood which falls back on your cheeks and mouth. “And… you felt it too, right?” You huff and puff, your eyes unable to focus yet. “He wasn’t tr… trying… not yet.”

_“Could it be…”_

“The Drakon, no doubt… it’s me…”

 

Having no time to react, the Drakon comes down from his initial jump, driving a punishing blow into your stomach and sending you into the water like a bullet. He also enters the water, though in far more control than you. Using a combination of Elemental power and natural speed he swims around you at speeds you could never keep up with. You slowly recover and attempt to get back to the surface but the Drakon speeds by you and gives you a complementary claw, spinning you out. He speeds from below, then comes from above, then left, diagonal, up, left, right, down. His speed and power are incomprehensible to you in your current state. He’s completely overwhelming you.

 

In a final attack he comes from below, digging his nails into your jaw and dragging you back to the surface. He throws you ahead of him so you burst out of the water before him, but of course he follows suite. He punches you towards Arendelle, the contact creating a shockwave. He follows you by moving so fast that he can jump off the water and hit you once more. He repeatedly slashes, kicks, and punches you the whole way back to the city docks.

 

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The man taps on his throne, thinking on the next stages of his plan. Having Elsa taken away from him puts his plan back significantly, and now his ultimate weapon is running amok with you. Though you could solve the newfound problem they’re dealing with. Now that his artifacts has been moved it’s no longer-

 

A mirror, just like the one stationed at Elsa’s palace, begins flourishing with all sorts of magical energy. This development steals his attention. He lifts himself off the throne and marches up to it, hovering his hand over the glass to scan the newfound magic.

 

“Wait, this…” A dastardly yet joyful smile creeps onto his face. “This is more than Drakon power we’re absorbing… This is enough! It’s enough!” He closes his eyes and focuses on his partner. “You need to return now. The plan can move into the next stage.”

 

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The Drakon keeps his beating constant and unblockable. Once in a while you manage to block or maneuver a slash out of the way but he’s far too fast for your regular state. You’ve had no time to transform in order to fight – he’s pressuring you too much. He drags his nails along your face then thrusts his fist into your stomach. He flips over his shoulder to bring his heel down on your cheek. Now on his back and you leaned over, he wraps his hands tight around your skull and brings you in for a taste.

 

Just before he can a voice rings in his head. He rolls his eyes, disappointed that he can no longer play with his new toy. Instead he laughs.

“Looks like you’re saved, (Y/N)… but I want you…”

He cuts through your cheek to draw blood then brings his lips upon them, sucking your blood into him. His eyes roll back in his head from the pleasure of your taste. The Drakon taint to your blood makes it the best he’s ever tasted. He pushes your head back only to dive both feet into your stomach, then flips onto his feet.

 

“You… disappoint me, truly. I wanted a little more of a challenge, but… hehehehehe, HAHAHAHA” He grabs his own head through the hood to try and cope with the joy. “YOU’RE JUST EASY PREY!”

With his distraction, you quickly power up and fire a quick beam of all the elements. It pushes him a decent distance into the sky before detonating. You slowly get onto your feet, holding your side in pain as you await his return… but he doesn’t. After a few moments you power down and immediately fall back on the floor.

 

“He was…”

_“Powerful… how? Ryu isn’t this level…”_

“If he’s our enemy… I don’t know if we can stop him.”

_“It’s feasible to say we have a chance. Your base is relatively weak.”_

“What about you?” You rebut.

_“I’m not you.”_

 

You ignore Shadow’s words and focus on recovering. You’re unsure how much time passes as you stare up at the night sky, but you’re there long enough for Ryu to arrive.

“Knight?! What happened? Rhaegos said the timeline was beginning to crumble,” he says with more concern than you’ve heard from the King.

You shake your head.

“I met the Drakon of this world, Ryu. He’s… strong.”

Ryu straightens his posture at the news and looks away. The Drakon really is with this Mastermind and will be an obstacle for you both. It’d be easiest to just amplify your power like he did but… the process Rhaegos explained wouldn’t be possible as of now. That means you and Ryu will have to team up on him.

 

Ryu offers his hand to you.

“Come on, I found something interesting.”

You take his hand and get to your feet, then answer him with a head shake.

“I can’t. I have to keep with Elsa.”

Ryu crosses his arms.

“True… perhaps it’d be best if we keep her with us, just incase.”

“You want to show her… whatever,” you slightly shrug, not knowing what Ryu found. “Well, I suppose it does pertain to her city…” You ponder.

“Perhaps, but it’s best to hurry. If we dally any longer then you won’t return to the time you want.”

“I know, I know, everyone will be dead. I don’t need reminding,” you respond with evident agitation. You sigh. “Fine, lets go see this thing you found.”

 

**Everything is moving fast and the end is approaching. Yeah it’s plot after plot but… I mean I have to progress and wrap things up in these last few chapters. I know some people want more Elsa x Reader but this Elsa isn’t the same and I don’t think the character of Knight would cheat emotionally, unlike he did physically to try and save her. So, you know. Once the main plot is done I’ll probably add some fluff chapters as epilogue or bonus chapters. But it’s all coming to a close and I’m right on track.**

**But I don’t have much to say. I hope you all enjoyed!**

**Want to keep up with me? Know what chapter’s coming out next and the progress of them? Follow me on Twitter! Twitter . com (slash) Chinsangan**

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**A special thank you to Patreon supporters: GrayJack72**


	54. A New Beginning for Two Worlds

#  **Chapter 54: A New Beginning for Two Worlds**

 

You and Ryu examine the mirror standing atop the large mountain. It’s the safest place in all of Arendelle so nothing can access it. It’s in the best place for you and the worst place for them. Problem is neither of you have any idea what this is supposed to be. Clearly, it’s a mirror but the purpose is lost on you both. You have no idea how to identify magic or its source to the degree Ryu can, so you’re more here for ceremony than being someone actually useful.

 

“You found it in Elsa’s ice castle?” You question.

Ryu nods.

“Indeed, though I’m not sure why it was there.”

“Have you asked Rhaegos or that hawk guy?” You inquire, leaning closer and poking the outer rim.

“I attempted to but they haven’t contacted me. I’m unsure what they’re doing during such a critical time.”

You let your hands smack your sides as you walk away from the mirror.

“Well, that’s great. So what do we do with it? Can it lead you to wherever these guys are?”

Ryu shakes his head, following your movements.

“I can’t, but it's best if we keep it here. One of us should be watching this at all times.”

“What?” You question, spinning on your heel to face him. “We have to guard Elsa, guard this thing, and look for the bad guy?”

Ryu shrugs in response which only makes you sigh.

“Well… maybe we can bring Elsa here? She was under their influence so maybe she knows what this thing is for?”

 

Ryu taps his foot as he thinks on your idea.

“Perhaps… you do that then. I’ll continue my search. Maybe there’s something else at the castle.”

You smirk at your Kingly counterpart before giving a short wave and jumping off the side of the mountain. He shakes his head whilst his wings sprout. He takes off towards the mountain once again, thus you both head in opposite directions. You slide to the bottom of the mountain and stumble off of the rocks to a clean walking cycle.

 

“What are these guys planning?” You whisper to yourself, slipping your hands into your pockets. “Attacking the city and placing some mirror thing at Elsa’s palace… maybe they’re trying to get me out of the way? I’m not THAT big of a threat, obviously. That other Drakon kicked my ass with no trouble. Which is still concerning…” You rub the back of your neck and stretch it from side to side. “Hopefully Ryu and I can handle him. But I guess wasting my time walking isn’t helping anyone.”

 

You power up and soar into the sky, power trailing behind you as you cut through the night. In a flash you land within the castle walls and approach the main gate, skipping most of the security. It’s not like they’ll deny you access anyway. You swiftly make your way through the halls of Arendelle until you reach Elsa’s personal chambers. There are two guards on either side of the door who acknowledges you. The one on the right shifts to face the door then knocks.

 

“Queen Elsa. Sir (Y/N) is here to see you,” he reports.

“Please, let him in,” she responds from behind the door.

The guard moves out of the way and allows you access to the bed chambers. You calmly open and enter the room, quietly closing the door behind you whilst your eyes focus on Elsa. Her hair’s streaming down her back like a waterfall, landing a decent way above the cut off of her sleeping dress, which ends around her thighs.

 

“Oh, you’re… uh, I didn’t expect you to be…”

“I was readying myself for bed but I assume you had something important to discuss,” she speaks, adjusting her hair and approaching her bedside. “So, what’s the issue?”

You clear your throat before continuing.

“Well, Ryu found something at your ice castle.” This immediately sets off alarms in Elsa’s mind, visually showing her intrigue. “We’re wondering if you have any idea what it is.”

“Do you have it with you?” She inquires, though considering you have nothing with you, she already assumes the answer.

You shake your head.

“No, I thought its best to bring you to it rather than bring it to Arendelle. I apologize for interrupting your sleep but anything you can tell me may help us find this guy.”

“Of course, I agree,” she nods, pushing off the bed and heading to her bathroom. “Let me quickly change and I’ll be with you,” she finishes, closing the door behind her.

 

You cross your arms and aimlessly take a few steps around the room. It’s odd for you to be in this place once more after everything. You didn’t see it when Anna and Rapunzel were here, but now that you’re all alone with your thoughts you can remember every detail of the passionate night. You shake your head to rid yourself of those thoughts before you get too deep into it. Thankfully Elsa exits her bathroom with a different type of outfit than you’re used to. It’s still made of ice but it’s not quite as royal as you’d think a Queen would wear as she’s wearing regular pants rather than a dress or skirt. Her shirt is still professional and leaves everything to the imagination, though in your case that’s not an issue. Still, it’s all a shade of beautiful blue symbolizing her role as Queen and her Elemental status.

 

“No need to look formal if it’s just us, no?” Elsa speaks in response to your reaction.

“Oh, uh, yeah. No problem. It’s just a trip up a mountain, after all. Nothing major,” you wave off, turning to face the window leading to the outside.

You push open the window and turn your body towards Elsa, holding out your hand.

“Alright, let's get going!” You flash a smirk.

Elsa rests her hand in yours for you to grip. You subtly power up and gently float out of the window with Elsa dangling along. You make sure to manipulate some wind to cushion her so she isn’t literally hanging. Once out of the castle you bring Elsa around to your back so she can wrap around you more comfortably and securely.

 

“You good?” You assure, looking over your shoulder at the Queen.

After a quick nod, you look back to the mountain and speed ahead, though slower than normal to accommodate your passenger. You make sure to manipulate the air around you to be tranquil for both you and Elsa, not that it ever bothered you before.

“You fly like this every day?” She asks as she takes in the beautiful view of her kingdom.

“Yeah, kinda. I only really learned I could do it when I came to this world. I don’t think my age would like a flying guy, but… I’ll probably still do it. Good for vacations, maybe.”

“I suppose so. Faster than boats or… what were they called? Cars and planes?”

You chuckle at her inexperience.

“Yeah, cars and planes. I just have to keep fighting before I can have that normal life.”

Elsa tightens her grip as you pass over some trees.

“Maybe you’re not meant for the ‘normal life,’” she rebuts. “I know I’m not, and you’re more special than I. Maybe you’re meant to use these powers to help your world like you helped Arendelle?”

 

You chuckle.

“Maybe… I’ve just fought for so long… it’s not who I am. I’ve been forced into these conflicts rather than choosing to do it.”

“As long as you’re not scared,” Elsa adds. “Fear held me back for too long. But I honestly doubt that’s your case.”

“Yeah, I’m not scared… more just not cut out for this,” you nervously chuckle. “Anyway, we’re coming up on the mountain.”

 

You circle around the mountain top and gently land around the edges of your small plain. Elsa gets off your back and takes position beside you. Her eyes catch the artifact standing prominently near the door.

“Is that it?”

“Mhm,” you nod. “Take a closer look. Maybe you know something we don’t.”

 

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The Mastermind proudly stands in front of a glowing orb held deep within his lair. This is far from the throne he usually resides in and far from his Drakon ally. The orb shines brightly with a dark, shadowy aura that would send shivers down anyone’s spine. Though this man… he smiles. He embraces that feeling and makes it part of him.

 

“Are you ready?” He speaks aloud, using his magical abilities to speak with his ally. “Go to Arendelle. I shall enact our plan.”

He raises his arm and grabs hold of the energy inside the ball.

“With a mix of Drakon power… this power… and my own… I shall rule this world!” He proudly shouts, his plan finally becoming reality.

 

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Elsa examines the mirror to its smallest details in an attempt to draw out any memories hidden within her brain. You stand a short distance away with your arms crossed, doing your best to stay silent so the Queen can think. You clear your throat and slightly reposition yourself as you wait for the evaluation to be complete. Though as time ticks by something sparks in your mind. It’s a feeling you’re unfamiliar with but you know it's bad. You take a quick look around the area to see if anyone has come. The ever blowing wind, the sound of pebbles bouncing across the ground, all these sounds are normal with nothing seeming out of place to you. You return your gaze to Elsa and squint at the mirror.

 

_Is something happening? Is she doing something to it?_

 

You uncross your arms and take a few steps towards Elsa before the mirror begins glowing a dark light. Acting on instinct you dash forward, wrapping an arm around Elsa’s waist then jump back to get both of you out of the way. Just as you move Elsa a large cloud erupts from the mirror, bursting away from the island and towards the city of Arendelle. You keep Elsa below you to keep her hidden from this dark power as it blankets over everything in the area.

 

“What’s happening?” Elsa screams, attempting to try and see the commotion.

“Stay down!” You urgently shout as this dark aura surrounds you both.

 

Far from you and Elsa, past the docks of Arendelle, the waters begin to stir from the depths of the ocean. Something is pushing its way to the surface, disrupting wildlife all around the area. Soon enough a tower slowly pushes its way through the surface of the water as if it's finally experiencing the feeling of fresh air. The tower rises higher and higher, surpassing the castle in height by a fair amount before stopping. On the very top of the dripping tower is a similar sheet of glass in the shape of a circle that has the same ominous glow the mirror does. Like its smaller counterpart, it discharges more of the same power over Arendelle.

 

This cloud darkens as it approaches, becoming thicker and darker. Once the two halves connect over Arendelle it falls onto the city. Screaming can be heard even from the mountain as the dark mist does its work.

 

You tightly grab Elsa and fly straight across the ground and away from the mist, stopping a mile away from the mountain with Elsa holding onto you.

“My city… what’s happening?” She asks, mind flooding with the worst outcomes possible.

“I… don’t know…”

A familiar presence grinds to a halt beside you, the sound of flapping wings being all too familiar.

“What the hell happened here, Knight?” Ryu questions, in awe of both the tower and Arendelle’s current situation.

On the inside he sees his city being attacked by this mysterious mist. He has an unconscious need to protect it.

“I don’t know! Elsa was looking at the mirror and all of a sudden that stuff came out a-and the tower came out of the sea and, well,” you lazily gesture at Arendelle.

“No time to waste, then. We need to get to Arendelle right now!” He declares.

 

With no arguments, the three of you speed towards the terrorized city, unsure of what you’ll find. By the time you reach the city, which is in very little time, the black fog has already dissipated. Even so, something tells you it still had some sort of effect on the city that you’re unaware of. You, Ryu, and Elsa land in the middle of the city. You let Elsa stand on her own then immediately scout the area like Ryu is currently doing. It’s deathly silent despite it being the dead of night. Something about the aura, the feeling of the city is drastically different.

 

You and Ryu pick up on sounds coming from… all directions. Sounds of shoes sauntering along the stone floors of Arendelle… a lot of shoes, both civilian and soldier.

“Knight.”

“I know.”

 

Soon enough the populace of Arendelle begins marching out from all sides, every step heavy, every breath full. Not only is it people who you might not recognize, but Anna, Kristoff, Rapunzel, and all the other royals come from over the bridge. Even Captain Durr is among them. This isn’t, however, a sign that people are coming to your aid. It’s clear that every single one of them isn’t themselves. Their skin has lost all colour, going almost grey in colour. Their eyes still have some of their original colour but it's so dull that you can barely tell. Veins are visible around their eyes as if they’re strained.

 

“Elsa, stay between us,” you whisper, keeping the Queen in the safest position possible.

“But, Anna’s-“

“Not herself,” Ryu cuts off. “If I were to guess I’d say the mist has gone inside them.”

“Do you feel it,” Ryu?” You bring up. “They all have Drakon power.”

“I know…” Ryu breathes.

 

They slowly surround you until the whole population of Arendelle is keeping you all in a specific area. You’re both ready for anyone to attack but you know this will be a difficult battle if everyone here has Drakon power.

 

“So you’re the invaders,” a voice echoes from above.

You vision shifts to the source, that being a man floating benevolently from above to land within the crowd of people. The crowd splits so this mystery man has plenty of room for his descent. His feet grace the ground with its presence as they land one after another. He flashes a smile at you both, keeping his hands to his sides. Your eyes widen when you get a glimpse of this man’s appearance.

 

He has a flowing white cloak that stops just above his shoes so it doesn’t get dirty. There’s a golden trim along the bottom and the ends of his sleeves. His cloak is topped off with fur around the collar. It’s not done up or anything so his dark blue vest and black tight pants show. His apparel isn’t what shakes you, however. It’s his face. The face of your father.

 

“Alistair,” you say through your teeth.

He adopts an amused expression at your words.

“So you know of me, other worldly Drakon. How interesting.”

All of a sudden something comes crashing down beside Alistair, smoke, and dust erupting from the place of impact. Once it’s gone you see the hooded Drakon hunched over and watching. He leans side to side as he waits for the action to start, laughing to himself every so often.

“I recognize your face, that’s all. Though I guess there are some more similarities,” you respond. “Shadow, what do you think?” You whisper.

 

“Shadow? Shadow… Shadow…” The Drakon moans the name over and over with joy before bursting into a fit of mad laughter. “He’s here too!? YOU KNOW HIM!” The Drakon shouts in delight as he grabs his cloak and throws it off of him.

To nobody’s surprise, the man under the hood looks exactly like you. No shirt, ripped pants and tattered shoes. The look in his eye screams insanity, but it’s an insanity you’re familiar with. One that haunted you for years of your life.

“Carnage?” You exclaim, taking a step back.

Ryu grinds his teeth at the sight of this new Drakon. It’s just like Rhaegos warned him… one with the power of three.

“I DIDN’T REALIZE HOW MUCH FUN THIS WILL BE! I CAN KILL YOU AGAIN! TAKE YOUR POWER AGAIN!” He ends with maniacal laughter that pierces your eardrums.

“That’s…” Elsa tries to speak but she can see the fear in your eyes. “(Y/N)…” She lightly places a hand on your arm.

“Elsa you stay behind us,” you sharply state.

 

“I see you’ve been shaken by your other half, one that I prefer,” Alistair smiles. “I enjoyed watching him amalgamate the two of you… and how much stronger he grew.”

“What?”

Alistair chuckles.

“You don’t even know the power you wield, do you? The potential…” He closes his eyes and smirk. “No matter. Carnage will take your power.” He looks to his Drakon partner. “I’ll leave this to you, Carnage.”

 

Alistair turns around and begins walking away.

“Don’t think you’re getting away!” You shout. “We won’t let you control Arendelle!”

Alistair stops, shaking his head.

“Please… I’m not content with this city. With Drakon power…” He looks to the sky and smiles. “I’ll have this world… I’ll be a man beyond those pathetic beasts.”

Carnage subtly rolls his eyes at Alistair’s words, completely uninterested in those selfish goals. Then again, his is utterly selfish as well. Done with your conversation, Alistair uses his magic to disappear into the sky and return to his castle.

 

“He’s at the castle. He has to be,” you declare. You take a few steps in front of Elsa and Ryu, closing in on Ryu. “Ryu, take Elsa and stop Alistair. She’s safer there and with you than here.”

“What? Are you insane?” Elsa screams.

“If you don’t stop him we don’t know what’ll happen. I’ll handle Carnage and these people.”

Ryu slowly nods.

“Very well. Elsa, you’re coming with me.”

“What? I…” Ryu cuts Elsa off using only his eyes. She can feel his message through the iris. “Be careful, (Y/N)! Please don’t hurt my people!” She requests.

“I won’t. Now go. I’ll handle this.”

 

Ryu takes Elsa and flies towards the castle in the sea. Carnage doesn’t even budge, his eyes locked on his true goal.

“Am I… dead to you?” He asks as he contorts his neck.

“I absorbed your power,” you crack your knuckles. “Though it was mutual. I doubt it was the same for you.”

Carnage chuckles.

“No… I beat you both into submission… if only it was real and not in that purgatory,” he sneers. “But now I can really taste you…” He shakes in anticipation. “I can’t wait.”

 

Your eyes sharpen before power fluxes through you. Your eyes change and you achieve your Drakon form, the pressure pushing at everyone around you. Carnage smiles, licking his teeth.

“That’s it… make me try for it.”

At that moment the entire population of Arendelle runs at you, Carnage included.

“Be careful. He’s stronger than you. Focus on staying away from him and incapacitating everyone else.”

“Right!”

 

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Shadow crosses his arms and sighs. All he can do now is wait until you’re fatigued and take over. In truth, he wants to be the one to defeat Carnage once and for all, but he won’t sacrifice victory for a selfish goal. But victory is a fleeting hope at best. Carnage is far more powerful than both of you – even stronger than Ryu. Of course, you wouldn’t know that because you’re not attentive or inquisitive enough to figure it out. Rhaegos didn’t make an attempt to hide it, per se, but he only revealed it to Shadow because he asked.

 

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_“Ask your questions, Shadow. Anything you want,” Rhaegos offers._

_Shadow, arms crossed, taps his arms as he thinks. There are plenty of questions he has in his head, plenty of information he would like to collect. However, there is one thing that’s at the forefront of his mind._

_“Why did (Y/N) and I become so powerful when he absorbed Carnage? We were clearly more powerful than the average person. With training, we would have reached Ryu’s limit. So what made us stronger?”_

_Rhaegos internally smiles at the question. You were rather straightforward with your inquiries but Shadow is being more analytical._

_“The answer to that is not simple, but I will answer nonetheless.” The area around them shifts to show visions of the past for Shadow’s benefit. “There was once a time when multiple Drakons would exist at the same time, centuries ago.”_

_“But I thought the timeline couldn’t handle it,” Shadow points out._

_Rhaegos breathes out his nose, disappointed at the mistakes of the past._

_“At one time there were three Drakons living at the same time. They were all weak, untrained, but the timeline was still experiencing tragedies. In truth, I’m unsure how three existed at once, but I shan't dwell on that insignificant detail.”_

_Shadow looks away from the massive Dragon and focuses on the images being shown. Three people, one looking like himself and you, and the rest being completely different people. Obviously, these are the three Drakons._

_“These Drakons grew in power and eventually fought one another. This was a more primal age of humanity, after all,” as he speaks the three engage in combat with one another. After a brief explosion, the Drakon that resembles you remains standing over the others. “In the end, only one stood. He took the essence of the other two and increased his power dramatically for each Drakon. That same essence is rare and has only taken place in two Drakons throughout history.”_

_The apparitions disappear, leaving just Shadow and the Dragon._

_“You’re saying that we’re not one Drakon split into three, but three in one body?” Shadow clarifies._

_Rhaegos slowly nods his head._

_“You are correct. When you absorbed Carnage his Drakon essence gave you both an exponential increase. You’re the second most powerful Drakon if you learn how to master your power.”_

_Shadow taps his shoulder whilst he thinks. He knew something strange happened when Carnage was absorbed but this proves it. This also helps explain his own existence. He always pondered whether it was natural or not that three existed in one form, and the personalities they took on. Shadow has looked into this for a long time but he never expected the truth to involve a form of reincarnation._

_“So if I took his essence or vice-versa…”_

_“You’d become a Drakon of unimaginable power. In truth, you may rival some of my comrades. But you realize what that would mean, correct?”_

_Shadow nods._

_“One of us dies.”_

_Rhaegos chuckles._

_“Indeed, though you know more about that than you’re telling me.”_

_Shadow gives the elder Dragon a sharp glance – the two’s wills clash for a split second._

_“You’re an interesting Drakon, Shadow. I look forward to watching your plan.”_

 

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Shadow can’t even begin to think of how to defeat this Drakon. There’s absolutely no way either of you is going to overpower him. If he were to explain it to you then you’d realize the severity of the situation. If both of you started as three different people that were rated at a five, you would now be a twenty-five whilst he’s six hundred and twenty-five. Evidently, that’s a large gap, and that’s the sort of difference you’re dealing with right now.

 

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Your first goal is knocking out all of the civilians and then focusing on Carnage. You push off your foot and head to the right instead of facing Carnage head on. You turn your whole body this way and attack a corrupted civilian. You start with a strong punch to the jaw, all the momentum from reaching there behind it. They fly through the crowd and crash into a nearby building.

 

_Even with an amp, that punch should have taken them out._

 

Within milliseconds, your eyes note every person in your current field of vision. You block a punch from the right then take grasp of their arm and throw them over your shoulder into another one of the Corrupted. Utilizing Earth, you sprout vines from the ground to wrap around those two and slam them deeper into the crowd, taking out one more. A fist comes from your side but you catch it in your palm, making a satisfying sound of a clean counter. Knowing there’s more coming from all over, you grab the tight tightly and redirect them into an incoming Corrupted. Before the first target can hit the second, you sprint past the thrown Corrupted into a slide. You maneuver through the legs of your target and, one stopped, punch the heels of it. You quickly push off the ground and get back to your feet, immediately blocking another punch and countering with a large gust of air. Behind you, the two Corrupted collide and fall to the floor. You smile, knowing your plan succeeded, then flip backwards, retracting your feet so you land on the small pile of Corrupted you made, then flip off of them.

 

Taking the initiative, you dash forward at the next Corrupted… but your body stops. This one is Anna, her optimistic eyes now dull and lifeless. You take a few breaths before sighing.

“I’m sorry, Anna. You’ll be back to normal soon. Forgive me for this… all of you.”

Anna speeds at you with three others to back her up. You counter her initial attack with your forearm and push her out of the way and collide your fist right into the upcoming one’s face. There’s still more coming from all sides thus you dig into your fighting stance. They all come at you at once forcing you to ramp up your combat speed. You keep shifting your body, constantly moving as you block, hop, redirect, and dodge every attack coming at you. Dozens of fists and feet coming at you. Your eyes catch every fist, your hands move faster than everyone here put together. However numbers will overwhelm you eventually, and it does. Kristoff dashes towards you, foot first, kicking your back and sending you flipping across the ground. You curl up and spin before throwing down your hands and drag yourself to a stop. Instantly you push off the ground to avoid an attack from above.

 

You land a short distance away from the crowd and enter your fighting stance. However, as you notice some of the people who should be down are standing in the crowd.

“What the…”

From a distance, you hear maniacal laughter that’s a signature for Carnage. He’s standing on a nearby building looking like he can barely handle the joy and humour he’s getting from this.

“You think you can just stop them? That it’ll be me and you in the end?” He laughs. “No, that'll be much for fun… These entrées won’t stop until you kill them but you’re too scared and weak to do it,” he rubs his hands together. “So what will you do?”

 

His laughter grows and grows as the Corrupted close in on you.

 

“You better hurry, Ryu.”

 

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Ryu and Elsa fly away from the city and towards the tower residing in the ocean. Elsa keeps looking back at the city, worried for your safety. Ryu, on the other hand, has full confidence in you. He has to for his own sake. Right now his job is to stop whatever it's feeding the Corrupted power, and his first guess is the opening at the top of the tower. He flies up there first, circling around at a safe distance. There’s a massive flow of energy constantly coming out of the opening, meaning Ryu can’t just dive in there.

 

“We’re going to have to enter the tower and find whatever is releasing that energy,” he tells Elsa whilst flying around to an opening. “Stick with me and don’t do anything rash. You’re my top priority right now.”

“I… okay.”

Ryu circles around to find some sort of opening to enter the tower. There is the obvious front door but that likely isn’t a warm welcome. However, everything else seems completely impenetrable, which in hindsight makes sense. It was under the water, after all, so any structural weaknesses would have been dealt with long ago.

 

_I suppose I’ll have to use the front door. No matter._

 

Ryu descends to the entrance and lands gracefully for the Queen accompanying him. The floor is still wet from its time below the sea that held it. He sets Elsa down beside him and returns his eyes to the grand door ahead of them. Unable to prepare anymore, Ryu and Elsa approach the large door.

 

“Come in, please. I’ll happily take your Drakon power and Elemental essence,” Alistair’s voice echoes out of the building.

The doors shake as they’re finally opened after centuries of remaining closed. It opens up, inviting the two to come into its deserted hallways. Ryu is unfazed by this and proceeds into the building with Elsa close behind. The architecture is ancient, possibly rivaling the old Drakon hideouts Ryu discovered in his youth. The two enter a long hallway with eerie stone statues that depict guardians of this castle.

 

“For not one, but two Drakons to come into this world… I had to wonder what could have caused this. My plan was so close to completion and you both come and fuck it up,” Alistair speaks with disdain. “Perhaps that Dragon has taken notice of me… am I that much of a threat?” He asks with pride.

 

“He cares little for you. Our arrival was merely a coincidence. Don’t put so much importance on yourself,” Ryu responds, keeping his senses sharp in case of an attack. “You’re just a power hungry moron. I’ve seen it before.”

 

Ryu and Elsa make their way through the main corridor, ignore side doors. They approach a very large door and stop. Ryu examines the door, waiting for Alistair to respond to him. It’s not locked, not jammed, well oiled. This has been used frequently which means something important has to be behind this door. Ryu places a hand on either side of the middle and pushes it open. The sound of the doors moving echoes through the halls, giving Elsa the chills as she looks behind them to the deserted, dark hallway. Ryu puts a little more effort into it and opens the door enough for both he and Elsa to enter the next room.

 

“Elsa, stay close.”

Elsa nods, moving closer to Ryu as they proceed into the next room. It’s a very large room with windows along each side. It resembles a throne room, sharing a throne, pillars along the sides, and wide open space for guests. Unlike Arendelle or Corona, however, this place would scare off any normal folk in an instant. The most terrifying thing would be the man sitting on the throne, smiling as he stares at his guests.

 

“How bold of you to leave the other alone with Carnage and my puppets,” Alistair snickers.

“The people of Arendelle aren’t your puppets!” Elsa retorts.

“Coming from the Queen Puppet herself,” he says, getting off his chair. “But no matter. Once I have the power of three Drakons at my disposal there won’t be a single thing that will stop me.”

Ryu looks over at Elsa, flicking his chin towards the corner.

“Well, you have no Drakon power now. I suggest giving up,” Ryu speaks, slipping off the upper half of his clothing. “You face a Drakon King.”

Alistair frowns at the threat.

“I tamed Carnage – you are nothing to me!”

 

Alistair throws his hands to the side, summoning power that resembles a Drakon. Ryu focuses on this quick detail. There’s no way he could have Drakon power and he’s not taking any from Ryu, so where is it coming from? Unfortunately, Ryu has no time to work on it as Alistair throws a ball of blue fire. Ryu flips over it and dashes forward the moment his right leg touches the ground.

 

Elsa stays in the corner, unsure of what she can do. It’s true that Alistair has to be stopped, but her city needs to be saved. She has to find the source of the corruption and stop it.

 

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You push back on your heel to get some distance between you and the dozens of Corrupted before you. You manage to get a few meters away before spinning around, prepping your elbow, and driving it into the side of Durr’s head. He spins through the air and crashes into a nearby building. You immediately jump a couple meters into the air to avoid someone rushing you then immediately focus your body and fall back down at tremendous speeds, slamming them into the ground. You then look to your right and catch a punch with your left hand, pull it in and connect a powerful punch with your right, and finally finish by pulling him even more while falling back, hooking your foot into the man below you and throwing him headfirst into the stomach of your second attacker. With that same speed, you almost teleport above them both and send a massive wave of air at them at point blank range.

 

You land on the ground, taking a quick breath before ducking under a hook, spinning around and punching one of the Corrupted through the crowd. Eugene manages to catch you off guard and grabs a hold of you from behind. You struggle, looking back at your twisted friend as his emotionless eyes meet yours. Anna glides across the ground and dives her foot into your stomach only to be followed up by Rapunzel kicking your face. You flip over Eugene and are instantly grabbed by a Corrupted and thrown to the ground. With a breach in your defenses all the Corrupted swarm your location, all of them throwing punches and kicks that could have killed you only a year ago. You do your best to push them all away with each of your limbs but there are too many to fight off conventionally.

 

“HYAAAAAAAAA!” You scream, sharpening your eyes and spiking your power.

The pressure and power push away the Corrupted and the ground around you. It’s not the same amount of power you released when fighting the Elementals but it’s still enough to shake the earth for miles. You get back to your feet, calm and collected. You suppress your power once more before giving deadly look to your demented doppelganger. Your glare makes him laugh rather than intimidate him.

 

“Can you really hold back? KEEP HOLDING BACK AND DIE!”

Carnage throws his hands into the air to release visible Drakon energy. It sprinkles over the Corrupted. Their bodies begin spazzing, screams clawing their way out of their lungs as pure, untamed Drakon energy fills them.

“Regular people aren’t meant to have this power! You’ll kill them!”

Carnage cracks his head to the side and snickers.

“Why would I care about the cattle?”

 

The power overwhelms their bodies, their skin becoming completely black and eyes dimming to a complete grey. There’s no way to distinguish one from the other anymore. They’re husks for Carnage’s pleasure. Your fist tightens as you watch some of your closest friends be taken over by pain and become dead inside. There’s nothing left of them now… how can you save them?

 

“Can you keep holding back, (Y/N)? CAN YOU?”

 

The Corrupted swarm you, moving dozens of times faster than before. You’re completely caught off guard by their speed, allowing one to connect with your jaw and send you spiraling into another who grabs the back of your head and throws you to the ground. They release the back of your head, giving you the opportunity to bring your legs close and push off the ground, thrusting your heels into the Corrupted’s stomach. You land atop the figure and immediately leap forward to get some distance. You land, spinning around to face your enemies.

 

“Damnit… they’re hitting a lot harder…”

 

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Ryu drives his foot right into the side of Alistair’s neck, sending the man crashing to the floor. He slams into the side of his throne only to bounce off the stone and land a few feet away. Ryu lands and takes a breath.

“You’ve stolen Drakon power but don’t know how to use it. You won’t be able to beat me as you are,” Ryu comments.

He hasn’t had to transform into his full Drakon mode yet, but that doesn’t mean Alistair is to be taken lightly. He’s a skilled fighter for a regular magic wielder, but he’s lacking raw power for him to be a threat to the Drakon King.

 

Alistair covers his mouth to catch drops of blood he coughs up. He wipes the blood on his knee then pushes off that same knee to stand up.

“You insult me, Drakon. Do you think I’d take over the planet in my current state?” He snickers. “I have more Drakon power at my disposal than you do!”

Alistair throws his hands in the air and taps into the link he made between Carnage. He pulls his hands down to rip Drakon power from his ally.

 

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Carnage watches with child-like joy as you struggle with these more powerful puppets. Suddenly his body begins burning as Drakon power is pulled from him. He grinds his teeth as it feels like his life force is being stripped from him.

 

“Alistair… you’re next…” He hisses.

Carnage tightens his entire body and focuses his Drakon energy into his hands. He impales his chest with his augmented hands and rips apart the tether placed on his by Alistair. He pulls his hands out and drops to one knee, chuckling as blood pours out from his mouth and chest. He glances to the crowd of Corrupted attacking you and looks for the farthest one away from you. He reaches out his arm and extends it past what a normal arm can. His skin tears apart and becomes an amalgamation of bones, veins, and muscles with his hand at the very end. He wraps his extended arm around the Corrupted and drags him back, flinging him from side to side until he slams him to Carnage’s feet. The Corrupted doesn’t move, doesn’t attempt to fight Carnage. The Drakon smiles at his prey and digs in, ripping open the Corrupted’s stomach and making a meal out of him. His wounds and tattered skin slowly regenerate thanks to his unique ability and taking the Drakon power he gave this Corrupted. The euphoria of tasting flesh and blood once more is intoxicating for the demented Drakon.

 

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Alistair feels the Drakon power abruptly stop with no warning. His hands drop, his body going numb.

“Carnage… I’ll take your power soon enough,” he mumbles under his breath. He surges the power he did take through his body and merges it with his own stored power. The unique power of Carnage manifests itself within Alistair, contorting his bones and muscles into makeshift arms. He throws his coat away and stares down the Drakon ahead of him. “No more holding back, Drakon. I’ll use all my power then take yours!”

Ryu unsheathes his blade and hardens himself for the battle ahead.

“You won’t be taking anything. Your corruption ends here.”

“It won’t end!”

 

The two collide in the middle of the room resulting in a shockwave that pushes Elsa against the far wall. She rubs the sore spot on her head before looking back to the fight. However, something manages to catch her eye. Through the broken cracks of the throne is a brilliant light that’s trying to break free. Elsa pushes off the wall and runs towards the throne whilst Alistair is distracted with Ryu. She reaches the throne and examines the hole.

 

“There’s a hallway? This has to be the source!”

Elsa frantically slams both hands on the chair and unleashes her ice. It overtakes the stone until there’s nothing left but ice. Elsa forces the ice to crumble and reveal a hallway with an overabundance of magical energy. At the end of the hallway is an orb protruding a dark cloud.

“That’s it!”

Elsa runs into the hallway and immediately falls to her knees. Her body feels heavy… heavier than it ever has before. Her actions draws the attention of both Alistair and Ryu as they land on the other side of the room.

 

“Hmph, that hallway drains all magic from it. Elsa relies on that magic. She will perish,” he smirks.

Acting on those words Ryu dashes towards Elsa but Alistair extends his arm, wrapping it around Ryu’s stomach and throwing him out of the castle entirely.

“You’re fighting me, Drakon!” Alistair declares before jumping through the hole he made.

 

Elsa thinks back to her sister, her cousins, and you… she can stop all of this if she just pushes herself! Elsa takes another step, sliding her foot across the ground. She keeps herself balanced by leaning slightly against the nearby wall as she walks. Unknown to her the magical energy that is tied to her soul is being drained at an alarming rate. She needs to move faster but her body doesn’t have the energy to do so.

“It’s so close… I… have to…”

 

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Ryu sprouts his wings to stop himself in the air. He looks down at the hole he created and witnesses Alistair burst through the cracks. He lands along the slope of the castle and smiles at the airborne warrior.

 

“With Drakon power… and my own… NO DRAKON SHALL SURPASS ME!”

Alistair charges his energy within himself to amplify his abilities and powers. However, this leaves him wide open. Ryu speeds in and slashes a deep cut through Alistair’s chest. Alistair’s eyes widen as blood drools out of his mouth. He falls to one knee and grips his wound.

“H-How… I kept up with Carnage… with less power…” He huffs.

Ryu retracts his wings and sighs.

“That beast isn’t normal. I’d dare say he’s manipulating you, but I won’t make assumptions. Now stop your magical interference. You know this world will die with so many Drakons.” Alistair looks up at Ryu with confusion, something that catches Ryu off guard. “You… don’t know what I’m talking about?”

 

“Carnage… said Drakons were coming to stop us…”

Ryu crosses his arms, his eyes drifting just beside Alistair.

“We couldn’t return Knight to his timeline because of an interference… but you… you aren’t the problem. Carnage,” he turns to face the city where you and Carnage reside. “He manipulated you… made you think you could fight us… that you could control him…”

“That… bastard…” Alistair coughs up more blood as his vision blurs. “He said… we would… that we could rule the world…” Alistairs rests along the diagonal roof. “That I wouldn’t be… forgotten…”

 

Ryu watches as the life fades from Alistair’s eyes. He was underwhelming for the King, not that it’s a bad thing. If both he and Carnage were extremely powerful than this would just take longer. But Ryu thought Carnage was just a beast made for murder and violence. To scheme, to manipulate to such a degree is interesting. He knew Alistair would be no match for a Drakon yet he pretended to be his pet.

 

“What does he…” A thought reappears in Ryu’s head. “ELSA!”

Ryu jumps into the larger breach and lands gently on the floor. He immediately sprints towards the open hallway as fast as he can, helplessly watching Elsa limp her way through the taxing trial. Because of his worry, he’s completely oblivious to the figure coming from above. Carnage lands on Ryu, burying his face into the ground with his own hand. Carnage chuckles, leaning down so his mouth is at Ryu’s ear.

 

“You killed the pawn… he’ll be a delicious desert…” He breathes through his teeth, amused at the situation. He slowly lifts his head to look at the Queen. “A pointless pursuit… I don’t need that bootless ball that holds no meaning to me.” He looks back down at his snack as Ryu struggles to get Carnage off him. His eyes are sharp, showing rage and hatred. “That’s what I want to see… THAT’S WHAT I WANT TO SEE!”

 

Carnage steps off Ryu and throws the King through the right wall at unfathomable speeds. He bursts off the spot, destroying the floor below, and catches up to Ryu. He reveres his direction, catching Ryu’s face, forcing a sudden stop that damages his body, then pushes Ryu into the water. He sharpens his claws and begins tearing away at Ryu’s chest, laughing maniacally despite being under the water.

 

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You twirl through the air and slam into the outer walls of Arendelle. They crumble upon you, compromising the entire wall. You lay under the stone, dust building up on your clothes and hair. You push the stones off of you and cough out some dust in your lungs. You wipe away the debris from your jacket and rustle your hair in a meager attempt to clean it. The Corrupted are all watching you, waiting for you. You vibrate your lips out of annoyance.

 

“Great… They’re getting stronger by the minute and won’t stay down. If I could at least knock them out…”

“ _Numbers can overwhelm. Don’t bother reserving any power. Focus on keeping yourself alive_.”

“I know…” You push off the stones and sprint towards the crowd. “I know!”

 

You speed up, catching one by surprise and close-lining them. You spin around and elbow another one, then grab that one’s arm and throw them over your shoulder. You finish them with a powerful stomp to their forehead. One comes at you with a punch which you dodge by jumping back, falling into one of the Corrupted on purpose. You wrap your arms around their head and flip them over you, slamming their head into the stone then pushing them into the crowd. You roll over your shoulder and push off the ground, spinning in the air until you land on a Corrupted’s shoulders. One jumps and tackles you from behind, but the momentum allows you to flip around and slam them onto the ground when you land. You deliver three earth shattering blows to its face but are interrupted by a powerful uppercut by another.

 

You stumble back but regain your composure nearly instantaneously. You catch to punches from two separate Corrupted. The one on the right ducks to allow a foot to go over him and dig into your cheek. Immediately after one from the left drives their fist into your left cheek, you catch a knee but miss an elbow, dodge three punches but miss a knee to your skull. The constant rain of attacks from all directions is becoming too much to handle, even for Ryu. But you have to stay strong. Elsa and Ryu will fix this. You just have to hold on.

 

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Ryu shoots out of the water, cuts and bruises present all over. He hovers a few feet over the water just long enough for Carnage to re-emerge and kick Ryu into the castle, far from the throne room. Ryu breaks through wall after wall, Carnage right on his tail like an animal on all fours, leaping from hole to hole with a grand smile on his face. Ryu sprouts his wings to pause himself midair. He retracts them and allows gravity to bring him to the floor. He drags his hands along his chest whilst he Drakon powers heal the deep cuts given by Carnage.

 

“You heal too?” Carnage smiles. “Let's push it to the limit!”

Ryu activates his full Drakon power, shaking the entire castle. Carnage’s hands shake in anticipation. His bones start breaking through his skin all over his body, piercing through the little clothing he has. His face slightly deforms but not enough to make him unrecognizable. The two Drakons burst at each other, Carnage destroying the entire wall while Ryu just cracks the floor. The two clash, Ryu’s fist passing Carnage’s head while Carnage’s fist is deep in Ryu’s stomach. Ryu’s winces from pain. He didn’t even see Carnage’s attack Carnage slams his sharpened hand into the side of Ryu’s face and pushes him right to the floor, breaking apart all the tiles below them.

 

Ryu uses the momentum to fling his foot around and kick the back of Carnage’s head and immediately follow up with a headbutt. Carnage pushes back against Ryu’s head, laughing through his teeth and he pushes Ryu to the ground, crushing his skull between the floor and his opponent. Ryu struggles with Carnage whilst his wings push against the ground, getting him some much-needed space. Ryu moves one hand from Carnage’s shoulder to his face and proceeds to unleash a torrent of lightning at point blank range. The lightning travels through all of Carnage’s muscles, weakening them long enough for Ryu to push Carnage off of him and follow with a kick. The violent Drakon crashes through the nearest wall and slides across the ground, his body shaking ever so slightly.

 

“He’s vulnerable to the elements?” Ryu notes. “Okay… I might have a chance.”

 

Carnage gets to his feet with a huge smile on his face. His bones sharpen along his arms, his nails becoming harder than any weapon, any structure. He bolts from his current position to attack his Drakon opponent. Ryu unsheathes his own blade and soars towards Carnage. The two clash once again, shaking the castle.

 

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Elsa drags her hands along the wall as she takes one step at a time. She’s never felt so lifeless and drained. Her beautiful hair and skin are far different from what they were before she entered. Their colour is slowly changing to a lifeless grey every second she stays in this hallway. Not only does she feel this fatigue, she can hear the screams of everything around her. The pain of her people is echoed through this magic. She can see visions… a portal to what’s happening.

 

_You stand your ground, legs shaking as both arms are blocking seven punches from the Corrupted, some of those being Anna, Rapunzel, and Kristoff. You push off the attackers on your right then grab Anna’s head, who’s directly in front of you. You push her head down and jump over her, slamming your hand onto her back in place of a platform. You bring both legs in and kick two Corrupted in the chin, then spin around on Anna’s back and knock away the rest. Your spin ends with both hands on Anna’s back so you push her to the ground and you into the air._

_A dozen jump to pursue you, all throwing their own basic yet powerful punches at you. You guide one away and kick another simultaneously, then roll over a Corrupted’s shoulder to bury both heels into one’s chest and bounce off, delivering a devastating elbow to the previous one’s back. You spin to face their back and push off, gaining some speed to barrel through the crowd on the ground._

_“Come on! I can do this all day!”_

 

Elsa slows down just for a moment when seeing this.

“(Y/N)… I see it…” Visions of your past flow through her. The time with Elsa, how you got here… she can see it all with this magic. “You’re fighting for… a place that’s not your own… I won’t… let that be in vain!”

Elsa pushes off the wall and attempts to run but all that accomplishes is her falling flat on her face after a few steps. She huffs and puffs, her hand shakily reaching out to drag the rest of her body forward.

“I’m… I can’t…” Elsa’s eyes are as tight as they can be as she struggles, visions of you, Ryu, and all her people being forced into her mind.

 

_Carnage catches Ryu’s blade, catching Ryu completely off guard. He twists the blade forces Ryu into a side flip. When Ryu’s upside down, Carnage grabs his chin, piercing the skin, and throws Ryu right to the ground. Carnage keeps the Dragon Sword in his hand, staring at it in amusement for a moment before throwing it down to where Ryu is. Ryu slams against the ground, bouncing up for just a moment before his sword impales his stomach. Ryu coughs up blood from the wound but the blood is forced back onto his mouth when Carnage comes down with a meteoric punch. If not for the magic durability of the castle, it would have shattered the earth itself. Carnage laughs, holding Ryu’s face._

_“Drakon… Drakon… Drakon…” He chants as he pulls the sword out of Ryu’s chest and replaces it with his own, sharpened hand._

_Ryu cringes in pain as Carnage literally toys with his innards._

_“Scream for me…” He sadistically moans, digging into Ryu’s stomach. Ryu doesn’t scream or anything. He grinds his teeth and thinks of some way out. “SCREAM FOR ME!” He moves some extra bones into his hand and extends them into the Ryu’s body._

 

Elsa drags her near lifeless body along the floor, reaching ever closer to the orb causing all this. You both are losing, both slowly dying because Elsa doesn’t have the strength to move on. She’s trying and trying but it’s not enough. She finds the strength to lift her head to get a simple view of the orb. It’s only a few feet away… the end to everything is right in her grasp. For you… for Ryu, for her kingdom, for her family! She has to do this or else she’ll lose them all!

 

Elsa uses every ounce of strength left in her body to push off the ground and runs the short distance to the orb. Risking her own life, she summons as much ice as she can in the form of a pick and slams it into the ball. It impales it, shaking both her and the ball until it finally explodes, releasing all the energy stored inside. The explosion flings Elsa back down the hallway and that’s where she will remain.

 

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You push some bricks and wood off of you so you can continue the fight. Suddenly something shakes the entire area, making more bricks fall and bury you one more. The Drakon power forced into all Corrupted dissipates into the air. They return to their normal selves but immediately fall unconscious. Once again you push everything off of you and stand up. You’re about to comment on how unfortunate that was but seeing everyone now asleep holds your tongue.

 

“I… did… what?” You scratch your head. “Wait, Elsa and Ryu! They did it!” You shout, looking over at the castle in the water. “But where’s Carnage?” You jump out of the rubble and into a clearing, though sleeping civilians are still close by. “He’s not here… where did he go?”

 

You hear something cutting through the air coming from the castle. You quickly glance over and focus on the object soaring towards you.

“Wait… Ryu!”

You jump into the air, catching the Drakon and landing near the harbor. He’s bloody, unconscious, and on the verge of death.

“Ryu… how… Ryu!”

You set him down on the wooden deck and examine his wounds. Deep cuts and bruises. He’s taken so many that it's overtaxed his healing. Nobody could do that to Ryu… except for one person. You look back to the castle where Carnage stands on the roof, holding the dead body of Alistair.

 

_“(Y/N), let me take control. You’re tired.”_

But Shadow… this gu-

_“I’ll handle him, (Y/N). Just let me take control, fall asleep for the time being. It’ll be over when you wake.”_

You grind your teeth as you eye your insane counterpart.

“I… fine… but make sure Elsa and Ryu are okay!”

_“I will. Just sleep… let me handle it.”_

 

 You close your eyes and allow Shadow to take over. Your body begins to fall forward for just a moment during the transition. Once Shadow becomes dominant he stares at the floor for a moment while he focuses on Limbo. As requested you do indeed fall asleep, becoming absent to the world and what’s happening.

 

Shadow gets to his feet and looks down at the defeated Drakon.

“You won’t die, Ryu. Just let me handle it.”

Shadow activates his Drakon form, though unlike you, it doesn’t shake cause any sort of reaction from the surroundings. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. This is a careful procedure that requires an immense amount of concentration. If he fails… either of you could die, and the other would be trapped in Limbo. But if he doesn’t do it then Carnage will slaughter him.

 

Carnage, once devouring Alistair’s corpse, leaps across the sea and lands on the same platform Shadow stands on. He leans his head to the side and begins laughing.

“Shadow… Shadow… I watched you scream before… I’ll watch you scream now.”

Shadow keeps his focus on drawing more power from you. He can’t take it all, but…

 

Shadow’s eyes open… but they’re different. One is a grey, similar to when you transform and have a completely white eye, but the other cycling through a variety of darker colours. His entire eye always has at least seven colours present yet they change every second. He looks down at his hands, opening and closing them.

 

“Hm… only half the power… still, this is the best I can do for now.” He looks directly at Carnage, sliding his right leg back, extending his left arm, and pulling back his right arm so that hand is parallel to his face. “Carnage… I’ll be the one to kill you this time.”

 

**So… two more chapters… jeez, that’s awesome to think. It’s definitely going to be some work to finish the last two but I’m super excited. I really don’t have much to say this time around. I’m getting to work on the next chapter right away. I hope you all enjoyed and I’ll see you next time!**

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**A special thank you to Patreon supporters: GrayJack72, Ride The Lightning**


	55. The Last Knight

#  **Chapter 55: The Last Knight**

 

Your consciousness slowly comes back. You don't remember what happened… you gave Shadow control and… as feeling comes back to your body you realize you're in the tattered remains of a suit that's been dampened. You're on some sort of platform just outside of Arendelle. Your clothes are damp with water and blood. You don't feel it, of course, as they were Shadow's wounds but your body is still weakened by… whatever happened. You get yourself to your feet and notice a body on the other side of the platform. It's Carnage with… a hole between his eyes. His body seems to be ripped to shreds, his skin barely covering the pieces of bones and muscle that were underneath. But… he's dead. Somehow he's dead.

 

You try to rub your face but you realize your left arm isn't working at all. It refuses to move to any capacity.

"Well… I guess he did it… But what the hell happened during the fight?"

You activate your Drakon power and fly a little higher to check the surroundings. It's only then that you realize the castle Alistair erected from the sea is almost completely destroyed, and on top of that, not too far behind the castle, there's a hole in the sea.

"Is that possible? What the… wait, Elsa!"

 

Your speed towards the front of the castle, one of the three places which still had walls, and fly inside. After breezing through a hallway you reach the throne room. At the very back is a hallway which hosts a body. You instantly recognize that body and rush towards it.

"Elsa! Elsa are you okay?" You scream, landing just outside the hallway and running the rest of the way. "Arendelle is safe! You and Ryu did it!" You slide beside Elsa and rest her against your knee. She's almost lifeless as you set her into position.

 

"Elsa?" You shake her a bit with no reaction. You look at her chest… a chest that isn't moving. You lay Elsa on the floor and place your ear on her chest. She's not breathing.

"Elsa..?"

 

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**One Day Later**

 

Arendelle is more or less undamaged by recent events. Nobody truly cares about the few buildings that fell apart or the breach in the wall. Everyone stands in the cathedral in their fanciest attire. Elsa is laid in a funeral casket with Rapunzel and Anna crying before their fallen relative.

 

You and Ryu stand at the back of the room, hidden away.

"She knew what she was doing. She did this of her own volition," Ryu speaks.

"I believe you… I just… I wish I could have been there."

"We all played our part and now it's time for the final piece of the puzzle. Nothing's keeping you from your timeline. It's time to return. You can't stay here any longer."

You tighten your grip on your clothes in frustration.

"How can you be so calm about this? She's dead… we let her die!" You spitefully whisper.

 

Ryu shakes his head then looks to the passed Queen.

"This isn't your world, Knight. You can't beat yourself up over something like this. You shouldn't have been here to begin with. Think about it like this – if you hadn't come then Carnage and Alistair would have succeeded. This world would have been darker if not for you. In fact, I would have been killed if not for you," Ryu acknowledges, looking down at his healing wound. "It's time to fight for your own world." Ryu moves towards the door, stopping with his hand resting on it. "Let's go. We don't have any more time."

 

Ryu pushes the door open and leaves the building. You look to the front of the room one more time to pay your final respects to this Elsa. You close your eyes and take a deep breath.

 

_I won't fail you, Elsa… I won't let this happen in my world._

 

You turn to the door and leave quickly and quietly. Ryu is waiting a short distance from the door.

"Are you ready?"

You respond with a simple nod. Ryu sprouts his wings and you activate your Drakon form before taking off from Arendelle. You reach the mountain in no time where Rhaegos is patiently awaiting your arrival. The two of you land and return to your normal states. Rhaegos has his old eyes on you the whole time.

 

"Are you ready to return home?"

You nod.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Well, you shall both return to your proper timelines. (Y/N), you have little time. You have less than a minute before Alistair kills your brother when you arrive."

You take in a deep breath and nod once more.

"I got it, I got it… I won't let your efforts be in vain."

Rhaegos drags his head to face Ryu.

"I will return you first, my son. It will be as if you never left."

"Thank you, father," he bows to the Dragon. "And Knight… good luck."

You smile at your elder counterpart.

"You too. It was cool meeting you."

 

Rhaegos breathes a flame over Ryu, sending him back to his own time. You, on the other hand, will remain here for a moment. Rhaegos can only think as he stares at you. You truly have no idea of the power you hold inside whilst your brother, Shadow, knows almost everything. How one can be so ignorant yet still pull through is… a nuisance to him.

 

"You are lucky, (Y/N)."

You raise look left and right, unsure how to react to that statement.

"Uh… thank you?" You shrug.

"I do hope you find your peace… both of you."

Before you can respond Rhaegos douses you in the same flame as he did Ryu. You feel your body almost melt as you're sent through time. Every inch of your body feels like it's going a different direction, your heart and mind feel like they're attempting to break free of your body. Unable to scream, unable to think, unable to move, you are sent through the flow of time to your home.

 

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All at once your body comes together and is spit out of the time stream. You suddenly fall from the sky and tumble across the cold stone, rolling a few times before you can stop yourself.

"Whoa, what a head rush! He could have warned me about that!" You complain, wobbly getting to your feet.

Though you don't notice right away, the trip has rejuvenated your body back to perfect health. You did treat a majority of your wounds after the battle, but now you're back at %100. What you do feel, however, is the presence of one… no, multiple people. You look around to find at least five dozen people all staring at you in amazement.

"You… came from the ceiling…" A woman comments.

 

You look up to see a stone architecture that's… familiar. Upon looking up you scan the area, really taking in where you are.

"Corona Castle? But… wait… all that time ago I saw something here. Is this the place that links my world and that one?" You say to yourself, hand to chin. "What are you all doing here, anyways?" You ask the crowd.

"A worldwide alert was issued," a police officer states, approaching you. "A state of panic… Some guy is claiming that he's our new leader now. It's on the TV," he says, pointing at the television in the corner.

 

You look to it, first noticing that it's hooked to a generator just so it can be used. Bank

"Some poor souls are trying to fight that guy but… he's not from this world, none of them are. It can't be real," the officer shakes their head.

On the screen, it shows Alistair standing in front of Hunter, who's on his last legs. Your eyes widen and you burst to the door.

"NO!"

 

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Alistair stands proud on the streets of Arendelle, right in front of W.A Industries. Juno is by his side, eying their beautiful handy work. Anyone who opposed them is now littered around the street at near death. Matt laying on the hood of a car while Gaia is face down beside it. Hiro and Baymax are unconscious in a nearby building. Wasabi and Honey Lemon are scattered in a nearby corner store, covered in various candies and cards. Go Go is hanging from a street lamp, completely out cold. Fred's face down against the concrete, his suit mostly torn and destroyed by the battle. Rain and Hunter are side by side, though Hunter is still conscious. He's holding Rain, both of them bloody and beaten.

 

"You gathered quite a team for your final stand, but it did you no good. Your elementals were completely nullified by me, and those children playing hero were nothing when going against anyone of true importance," Alistair speaks. "You've lost, Hunter. Now to finish you."

 

Alistair holds his palm up and charges a blast. He suddenly feels a cold wind sweep the area. You land, sliding across the ground with your elbows tucked and your knees bent. Your eyes, or lack thereof, are locked with Alistair's. The man smiles at your arrival. He knew you weren't dead, not yet. It wasn't enough for someone like you. You straighten your body and slowly walk towards Alistair. As you march you look to your fallen friends, all nearly dead after trying their hardest to stop your father. Hunter, the only one conscious, looks back at you as he chuckles.

 

"Brother… I knew…" He stops talking when he feels an enormous amount of pressure coming off of you. Your stance, your confidence… he's never felt this level of intensity from you before. "What happened to you?"

 

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Alec sits in his office with three empty bottles of liquor. His head is faced down as if he'd drank himself to death. Unfortunately for him, he failed to do that like he fails at everything. His best friends are about to die, Alistair is going to rule the world… and Alec can do nothing. If he even attempts to tamper with Elsa's restraints, attempts to help Hunter in any way he'll be murdered on the spot. Thus all he can do is sit here and wait for the end to come.

 

However, as if fate decreed it, he decides to look one last time at the tablet with the news on it. For some idiotic reason, one news station is brave enough and stupid enough to be in the area of his battle. Something unexpected is on that tablet.

 

"We don't know how this happened, ladies and gentlemen, but a man has seemed to… have appeared out of nowhere and is confronting this man! Does he know what he's getting himself into? When will the military arrive?"

 

He wipes his eyes, thinking he's just drunk and seeing things.

"(Y/N)? He's alive… Maybe… maybe…" He starts breathing heavily as he battles himself internally. In a flash, you bring the wounded inside the building. Seeing this Alec shakes his head. "Ooooh, fuck it!" He pushes off his desk and heads towards the hallway.

 

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You set down Hunter and Rain with the rest of the wounded warriors. It's still a harder pill to swallow than you thought despite seeing this already. But now seeing all your friends shivering from pain, on death's door… your power surges from pure rage.

 

"(Y/N)… what happened to you? How did you survive? Get so strong?"

You shake your head.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you after I stop Alistair. Stay here, Hunter. This'll be over soon."

 

In the blink of an eye, you're gone from Hunter's vision and are outside. Seconds later the elevator door opens and Alec stumbles out. Hunter rolls over to see who's come and smiles at the sight of his friend.

"Alec… hrr," he holds his side in agony.

"Hunter! You… come on, we're getting everyone to the basement."

 

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You walk out of the entrance slowly and confidently. Alistair, Juno, and the camera man have you in their sights.

"You're faster," Alistair comments. "But it's for the best. They would just get in the way."

You remain silent as you approach the ever prepared Alistair. You stop a few feet away from him, prepared for battle.

"I don't feel like talking. You want to take over this world and I won't let you."

"And why is that such a bad thing, huh?" He questions, beginning to pace for his speech. "This entire planet is ruled by corruption and selfishness. Too many people have been on the receiving end of these people. Me? I have no bias. I'm not some power hungry power house hoping to be the one and only! I want this world to have no corruption, fair justice!" He stops to the right of where he once was, taking in a deep breath. "Once my machine disperses the nano machines… I'll end the Hierarchy myself. They're selfish, one and all. In fact, all political leaders will be stripped of their status, becoming a plebian like all others."

 

"So you can rule as some god among men? An Arbiter which all aspire to be? How narcissistic of you."

"And who else would it be?" Alistair snaps, losing his cool for a moment. "I've experienced what this system gives, how it doesn't care! I have no agenda, no secrets to hold. This is what I want, (Y/N), my life goal. I ask you one more time – join your mother and I. We can keep this world safe, prevent catastrophes! I'll even spare you and your friends – you and Elsa can remain a family!"

 

Your muscles tense when he mentions this.

"You were going to kill Elsa… kill all my friends… no, Alistair. I won't join you. Subjugating people isn't right."

"And what is right, (Y/N)? Allowing those with agendas to rule our society? How is that any better? Getting rid of them, replacing them with pure souls who darken over time. It's human nature to want more! But you and I… we're not human. In your case… literally."

Your face changes with the realization.

"You know?"

"Of course I know." He smiles, opening his arms.  "My son, bearer of legendary Dragon blood. How could I not be proud?" He looks at you from top to bottom. "A true man you've grown into, though not whole, am I correct? Is Shadow still with you?"

You slowly nod.

"Ah, fantastic. You both live. So, what do you say? I would rather not lose my sons but I won't sacrifice the world for them."

"What a father," you sarcastically remark.

Alistair shrugs, admittedly in the wrong when it comes to parenthood.

"I suppose. Now answer."

 

You slide your foot back and bring your arms up.

"I'm not that kind of person, Alistair."

Alistair huffs in disappointment, shaking his head.

"I… I'm sorry you feel that way. Juno," he looks to his bride. "Stay out of this, please. I will handle our son."

Juno hesitantly nods. She doesn't like this battle. Even she can tell you're not the same man you were before. But she respects her husband's judgment and steps away, waiting near the entrance to W.A Industries.

 

Alistair flicks his head to the left. You take a quick peek and notice the town square. It has the most open space. You return your gaze to him and nod. You both walk over there, each of you on opposite sides of the street. Your eyes never break contact during the walk.

 

"Tell me, what have you done to grow so strong? You weren't this confident last time."

"Let's just say I got more than enough training in to fight you. I know about my Drakon power now," you look to your hand as you clench it into a fist. "And I know what you'll do if I lose. I can't afford not to care anymore. This is my path, this is my choice. I will stop you, father."

"I wonder if all of you think that," Alistair whispers to himself.

 

The two of you reach town square. It's almost completely empty – the only noise being the fountain that still rains water into its small area. You stop at once side of the area, he stops on the other.

"No more words," you say.

"No more explanations," he replies.

"The one who is right."

"Is the one left standing."

 

Your bodies tense at the same time, they jump at the same time, and you clash at the same time. The pressure from your punches hitting shatters all glass around you, be it from cars, buildings, or even a watch left on the ground. Even the concrete is cracked from the collision of your two punches. Alistair slightly squints at the two fists as they shake, fighting for dominance.

 

"I see…"

You throw your body forward, bending your arm so you can thrust it once more and throw Alistair into a nearby office building. You fly into the building, your eyes locked onto Alistair who's just recovered from the attack, and connect a devastating uppercut to his jaw. Alistair flips through the various floors though the impact of each floor individually doesn't hurt much. He crashes through the ceiling and falls onto the very top of the building. He holds his jaw, flexing it side to side.

 

"If I don't take this seriously he'll actually kill me. This isn't a joke… he's far more powerful and he's not even breaking a sweat." Alistair pushes off his knee and gets to his feet, his senses attuned to find where you're going to attack from. "If he keeps pushing me like this… I've never used energy in that way before, it might kill me. I can't die. This world can't afford my death."

 

He keeps his senses acute as he keeps circling on the spot, watching out for your next assault. It's been only seconds, but it feels like hours. You should have attacked by now, so what're you doing? His ears pick up something cutting through the air coming from his left. Alistair charges his hand with pure energy and fires the second it comes into view. Once fired, he sees a hole through a car that quickly falls back to the ground below.

 

"What the-"

Before he can react a foot buries in the back of his skull. He's forced forward, going past the edge of the building. You slide across the building, your instincts telling you to wait a moment before striking. Alistair recovers whilst he's upside down. He turns himself right side up and brushes off his suit.

 

"Interesting… it's difficult to hear your movements. I'll just have to keep you in my sights."

"If you can."

 

You blitz Alistair without a second thought, digging your fist into his stomach and forcing saliva out of his mouth. You follow up with a second punch to the stomach then a third one for his face. Alistair slides across the building, his dress shoes pushing the stones out of the way. He regains his wits and charges a ball of energy in his hand to throw at you. You lean your upper body to the right, dodging the blast but Alistair throws another where your head is going. You slam your hand on the ground and spin yourself around to dodge the second attack. You land on your feet once more, rather professionally. Alistair focus for a moment then rushes you, throwing three precise punches that you manage to block. You catch the last one and throw a punch to his head which Alistair dodges and goes for another punch. You pull your hand back and catch it his fist. He surprises you with a knee to the stomach, making you wince, then follows with two kicks that make you fall to one knee, then he slips away for just a moment and kicks you off the building.

 

Alistair quickly jumps off the building to follow up but your fist immediately connects with his jaw. Alistair's sent high into the air and this time you pursue, circling around and driving your heel into his side. Alistair uncontrollably rolls through the air, soaring over Arendelle. You continue your assault, landing a powerful punch to his stomach, circling around behind him and smashing your elbow into his spine, then finishing by flying above him then coming down at an unfathomable speed, delivering an earth shattering hammer fist to his back. The Monarch slams into the ground in an instant, the ground shattering and dust flying through the entire city. Juno covers her face, eyes closed as she's almost pushed off her feet from the mere air pressure.

 

Alistair coughs up blood as he gets on his knees. His body is shaking in pain from your blows.

 

_He let himself get hit… he knew I wouldn't be able to react to his speed… DAMNIT!_

 

Alistair's eyes enlarge. He pushes off the ground and utilizes air to push himself faster. Your punch connects where Alistair once was. Alistair drags his feet and hands along the ground before boosting towards you, both his hands filled with pure energy. He pushes through the dust and throws his hands towards where you are. However, you leap a mere foot into the air and catch both of Alistair's wrist with your own hands. Your eyes meet once more, a brief moment of silence, tension, and recognition. You crush his hands together and push them to the ground, your feet hitting the ground moments later. Alistair's blast releases itself inside the planet, shaking the city like no earthquake could. You bring your knees together and shove them into Alistair's face. You place your hands on his shoulders and push back with sole purpose of giving your legs room to spring out and kick Alistair away.

 

He bounces across the cracked cement until he slams into a car, rolling over the car, then landing inside a small shop. You land on your feet and proceed to use your air to blow away all the dust in the area. You're in the middle of the crater, though thankfully a small one. You held back so you wouldn't level this section of the city, but the block is practically unusable. The cement is all destroyed, both sunken and raised. At first glance, this would look like a war zone and not a place where people use to spend all their time. Not that it matters now.

 

You begin marching towards the downed Alistair as he strenuously getting back to his feet. He keeps a hand along the wall to support himself.

 

_"Interesting. You've been holding back before now, (Y/N). I thought this fight might be harder."_

"I'm not bothering to hold back. He's not going to get the chance to kill anyone," you state.

_"Yet you're still holding back?"_

"It doesn't matter."

 

Alistair stumbles out of the store, now able to stand without support. He looks down at his arm, opening and closing his fists. He has something to counter you… but at a cost. He clenches his fist and rushes at you, gliding across the ground. You slide your foot back in preparation for his attack. You pull back a fist and throw it at the incoming enemy. Alistair's punch is faster, however. Your punch slides across his cheek while his connects with your face directly. An overwhelming pain floods your body as his punch flings you diagonally, sending you through building after building, destroying desks, rooms, TVs, kitchens, any and all things that were in your way is just junk. You keep going outside of Arendelle and finally stop when you connect with the closets mountain.

 

Alistair still has his hand extended, steam coming off his arm. He falls to one knee and grabs his arm as it spazzes, agonizing pain swirling through that limb. He breathes heavily after just one charge.

"That's the only way I can hurt him… and yet…" Alistair looks to his environment. "Dropping a building will do nothing, I hit harder than that. Rejuvenating myself after each attack isn't an option either… Perhaps…"

 

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You shake your head to clear your head after the colossal punch you received. You're indented into the cliff side, arms out and legs stuck. You rub your face and moan.

"Ow…" You push off mountain and hover in the air. "That was different. The hell did he do?"

_"I'm not sure. We should be careful for any other attacks like that."_

"You don't say," you respond as you stretch your neck from side to side. "Alright, let's go."

 

You speed back to Arendelle and land on the same street in mere seconds. Alistair is on his knee, holding his arm. This clearly says he's weakened and this is your time to attack. You tap your holowatch and summon your blade, the sheath attached to the black material of your jacket. You grip the hilt, holding your pose.

 

"Are you done, Alistair?" You calmly speak.

Alistair's arm is still throbbing from his brief power-up. His mind is still calculating possibilities and options. He drifts his eyes to look at your positioned form.

"Do you mock me with that? I would insult every one if I did!" Alistair retorts, his mind flashing with pictures of his fallen family. He taps his own holowatch and summons a blade directly into his hand. "You don't know what's at stake! Who's died for this! What I've sacrificed!"

"And you know what I have to protect, what's still alive for me." You clench your free fist. "I'm fighting for those who live, you fight for those who are dead!"

Alistair grips his blade tightly and rushes you, anger filling him.

"Don't talk like they mean nothing!" You clash with your father, holding him back. "Don't you care about the people who've died? The ones who helped forge your path!" He begins pushing you back as he surges his body with pure energy. You drag your feet along the ground, wincing.

 

But your mind goes to those who have died for you… Kat, Olaf, Elsa… everyone who you've seen die and who've helped you along your journey. You push back on Alistair's blade, freeing yourself of the clash and slicing him. He leans his body as far back as he can to dodge then slams his hand into the ground as support whilst he pushes off that hand and twirls himself to the right, kicking you with both feet. You fall to the right and immediately get those two kicks once more, forcing you to the left. Alistair drops his sword and slams his other hand into the ground, bucks his hips and kicks you into the air. He flips to his feet, grabs the sword and leaps into the air. By this time you've recovered and are ready to counter any offense he can throw at you.

 

Your blades clash in the air, sparks flying after each hit. You break apart and clash again, break apart and clash again. Left, right, right, up, down, your swords dance in a fluid motion that only you two can truly comprehend. The slight tilt of your head to let the cool steel pass by, the immediate weaving under and counter, the hard push against Alistair's sword all happens so naturally, so instinctively that anyone else wouldn't even know how to react. Due to your push, Alistair falls into another nearby shop, crashing into the front desk and ruining the wall behind. You wrap both hands around the hilt and launch towards your downed father, sword pointed towards him.

 

"It's over!" You shout, piercing through flesh.

 

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In one of the lower levels, Hunter and Alec place everyone, save Baymax, into a rejuvenation tank. They hover in their tank, bodies speedily recovering. Hunter rests against the wall, deciding to be the last one to enter the tank.

 

"I can't believe you were so lucky," Alec shakes his head as he double checks the data put into the tanks. "If he hadn't arrived… I don't know what would have happened."

"We would have died," Hunter bluntly answers, staring at his fallen allies. "Hey, Elsa is on the roof, right?"

Alec nods.

"Yes, with the device," he fixes up some code but his fingers start to slow down. He turns towards his friend. "You're going to free her, aren't you?"

Hunter shakes his head.

"No, you're going to. I'm going to help (Y/N)."

Alec shakes his head whilst rushing in front of Hunter.

"What are you talking about? You can't do anything in your current state! A-And my defying the Monarch's and-"

"'Take a couple shots to wash away the regret.' Those were your exact words," he snickers. Alec gives Hunter a disapproving look to which Hunter responds with an eye roll. "Look, with (Y/N) here there's no way we can lose. Free Elsa, bring her down here. I'll help (Y/N) in any way I can."

"Which are no ways, Hunter! I could beat you right now!"

 

"That's not the point!" He shouts his voice echoing through the room. Alec is taken back at Hunter's outburst, but the white haired man remains stoic. "I can't just let (Y/N) fight my battles. He's my brother… what sort of person would I be if I left him there alone?"

"One who'll live, maybe?"

Hunter shakes his head as he pushes off the wall.

"Give me one of those adrenaline shots. I should keep me going for a bit."

Alec fights an inner battle on whether to let his friend go or not. After a few huffs and some mumbles he points towards a box hung on the wall.

"They're there. You shouldn't feel any pain but that doesn't mean your body is healed!"

Hunter smiles, patting Alec's shoulder.

"Thank you, my friend. We'll get a drink when this is all over."

"We better!" He shouts, his eyes following Hunter as he rushes for the box.

 

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Your sword shakes inside of the body in front of you. Both you and Alistair are astonished at this… because it's not Alistair with the blade in him. Juno stands between you and her husband, a hole through her body and a pierced heart. She's holding the blade so it can go no further, a smile on her face despite blood pooling out of her mouth. You retract your blade and leap a few feet back. Juno falls on her back, blood inching out from her body.

 

"Juno!" Alistair wails, rushing to his wife's side. He leans her back on his knee, his arms wrapping around his wife as he looks down on her. "Juno… you…"

"You're the important one, Alistair… you're my dream, my life. As long as you're okay," she places her hand on his cheek. "It doesn't matter what happens to me."

Alistair places his hand on hers, his eyes welling with tears.

"You're insane… of course, it matters what happened to you!"

She shakes her head, a smile never leaving her face.

"You saved me, Alistair. You saw in me what no one else would. Thank you so much for that… thank you… for everything… Live for the world… for me… I love… love…"

Her hand loses its strength and falls out of the comfort of Alistair's. Her eyes close and she releases her last breath.

 

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Within Alistair secret room, one filled with all his purpose, the picture of his wife slowly changes. It flips to reveal a new picture, one with two people on it. One-half is Juno, an X covering her body. The other is a picture from years ago, a picture of Carnage when he fought Elsa's parents, also with an X over him.

 

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Alistair stares in disbelief at his lifeless wife. You can do nothing but stand in silence while your father mourns. Sure, she was a psychopath that you had no feelings for but she was your mother. You at least give the respect of not attacking during his mourning.

 

"I didn't mean to kill her," you quietly say.

"But you were going to," he coldly replies. "You'd have to." He lays Juno on the floor. A large stone coffin surrounds her and brings her underground, away from everything. Alistair gets to his feet and faces you, a fury burning in his heart. "I have no one left… I'm all alone… she was the last one I had to fight for and now she's gone… she was my wife, my crutch, the woman who equaled me in will. I loved her with all my heart… and you fucking killed her." Alistair's body surges with pure energy. He lets it take over every inch of his being. "I don't care anymore… you fight like someone who has everything to lose… I fight with nothing to lose!"

 

His body bulks ups, ripping the majority of his current clothing. His skin circulates with the bright white power that flows through him. You keep your body loose yet ready for whatever Alistair could throw at you. He can feel his body attempting to cope with this massive surge of energy and power. He's fully aware of this suicidal tactic… but he doesn't care. If he dies… it's not over.

 

Alistair dashes out of the store and slams his fist into your face. The sudden attack catches you completely off guard. You drop your blade mid-flight as you slam into the nearest building. A moment later you burst from the building, destroying it even further, and clash with your father above the city. The force in which he pushes with is totally different from before.

 

_"He's going all out now."_

_Then so will I!_

 

You let out conserved power making a clear, white aura surround you. You push forward, your aura flying the opposite direction. Alistair pushes your arm up and drives his fist into your stomach. You wince then deliver a punishing blow to his cheek. He tries to knee you but you catch it with both hands, so he returns the favour and hones his fist in the center of your face. Each blow sends shockwaves that span worldwide, the buildings nearby by crumble each second as you both connect hits over and over.

 

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Hunter keeps low to the ground whilst attempting to get closer. The pressure from your power alone would push back anyone, but the fact that your punches are so powerful makes is absolutely impossible for Hunter to reach you. One of the shockwaves knocks him over and slams him into a light pole.

 

"To think they could go this far! This isn't even human!" While resting against the pole he notices the helicopter attempting to stay in the air. He rolls his eyes and pushes off the pole.

"Of course they're here!"

 

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Alistair manages to get the upper hand, intertwining his hands and executing a powerful sledgehammer to your back. You spiral right into the ground, destroying a previously untouched street. The cement flies into the air as you crash several feet into the ground. Alistair follows up by charging even more energy into his fist and coming down upon you. You push off the ground, throwing yourself down the street. His fist connects with the ground, energy seeping into the earth around you. Light breaks through the dirt and cement within a thirty-foot radius of him which you happen to be in. The explosion ruptures everything around Alistair and spreads out. You curl your body, blocking your torso with your legs and your face with your arms.

 

The blast blows you back, destroying nearly everything in the area. His fist rests against the ground, sweat dripping from his disheveled hair. It's no longer slicked back and professional. His hair falls over his forehead in smaller pieces thanks to the sweat. Though he didn't want to destroy this much of the city. He can't control this power to your degree but he has too. He can feel his body falling apart from this power up. His body is shaking, unable to control the power swelling inside him.

 

You burst through the dust, leg first, and dive your foot inside of his chest.

"You idiot!" You scream as it connects.

Alistair's eyes lose their colour. He wasn't prepared for another assault, especially an attack with this much force behind it. You follow up by flipping to the side and kicking him down into the debris he created. You land close to the ground and hold your pose.

"Destroying the city for the fight… you bastard!"

From inside the rubble, a beam of energy shoots out right for your chest. You catch it with your hands but it pushes you back a few feet. You redirect the blast to the sky, leaving you open for a second blast to knock you away. You crash into the ground, dust rising from each impact of your dense body. You recover as quickly as you can to burst off the ground and rush Alistair once again.

 

Alistair dodges your first punch and throws one back at you. You catch it and respond with a powerful punch to the stomach. Alistair side kicks your ribs, you elbow his neck, you block his punch, he blocks your kick. The movements speed up while the two of you go higher and higher in the air. Eventually, it gets to the point where neither of you is hitting each other. You've become so in tune with this moment that both of you can predict the other's punches and kicks. Finally, you both throw a punch that pushes you both away. Alistair, not bothering to slow down, throw his hands forward and unleashes a barrage of energy blasts. You tense your body and track the amount of blast coming your way, but that's useless considering he keeps firing more and more. You knock one up, flick your wrist and deflect another, side kick one, elbow another, and keep knocking them away as fast as you can.

 

Alistair becomes frustrated at the mere sight of you deflecting everything. He charges up more energy and launches a large beam that shines brighter than anything on earth. You knock a few more away before seeing the large beam. You throw your hands forward and catch the beam. Similar to before, your hands can feel the pure power of this attack, but this time your body is far more durable and skilled than when you were beaten before. Your teeth threatened to crack under stress of holding this back. It's got more weight and power than the plane you held back over a hundred times over. You surge power through your hands and unleash all types of Elements to combat it. You let out a scream as the Elements push against Alistair's beam. You manage to push it a third of the way back but the collision is tearing apart the city. Buildings are falling down, the cement and dirt are rising up, thunderclouds are forming above you. Both of you notice this but Alistair can't pull back. The stress on his body makes every attack require a hundred percent commitment. You, on the other hand, have a few more tricks up your sleeve. One of those is simple speed blitzing plans. Your aura flares up even more, preventing him from seeing anything behind you, and you dash around as if it was a semi circle. Alistair has no time to react as you deliver a devastating hammer fist to his temple.

 

The Monarch spirals to the ground, crashing into the base of a skyscraper which causes the building to crumble on itself, and thus, crumbles on him.

 

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The living Dukes and Duchesses gather around their meeting grounds, far away from the battle taking place. Their lives are at stake, their secrets. Everything is hanging in the balance…

 

"To think he could turn on us like this."

"Is it surprising? He never has us in mind."

"Must we really leave our fates in the hands of our own project?"

"Do you want to fight Alistair?"

"But he is not on our side!"

"No, not (Y/N)… Our new Monarch..."

 

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You summon your blade once more, intending to go for a killing blow. Alistair lets out his power, destroying the building atop of him. That very moment you speed towards him, becoming little more than a white dart cutting through the air. Alistair can barely keep track of your movements, so every blast he throws is completely off. You get closer and closer, blade ready to kill.

 

_This time!_

 

You almost reach him but something stops you. Your body tenses up, almost seizing in place. Your aura completely disappears and, in the process, you drop your blade. Alistair seizes this moment and rushes you, grabbing your blade with one arm whilst uppercutting you with the other. He speeds up, passing you, then elbows you back down. To finish it off he fills his arm with energy and throws the blast, and sword, at you. You slam against the ground and immediately get hit by the blast… and the sword. It impales you right through the chest. Your eyes widen at the pain of the sword and the unbearable energy around you.

 

A massive explosion detonates in your area as a result of his energy blast. This leaves you lying in the middle of a barren sector, Drakon mode gone, blood pooling around you.

 

Alistair looks down at your defeated form, but he's barely in better shape. His muscles are rapidly tearing themselves apart and being replaced with energy. If he doesn't turn off this mode soon he'll die, and even then he'll be permanently disabled. He notices Hunter running to your side in a meager attempt to help you. By the time he gets there your eyes are closed… your life is fading.

 

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Shadow, arms crossed, stands over your dying form.

"You're lucky I have everything planned or else you really would die. Right now the world needs you and not me," he kneels down and places a hand on your shoulder. "I'll take the wound, take the death. You'll take me, assimilate me… reach the true height of Drakon power."

 

The wound on your chest slowly heals while it reforms on Shadow's chest. He stumbles back, falling to the ground. He chuckles, blood coming out of his mouth.

"It's almost done… everything I was planning… it… finally… worked. Just transform… one more time. Just one… more… time."

His eyes close, last breath made.

 

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Alec reaches the tank which holds an unconscious Elsa atop the roof, right next to Alistair ever so precious device.

 

"Alright, no cords, wires… she's not hooked into anything so that's good," Alec notes as he examines the pod. "I should be able to just deactivate it and pull her out. Yeah, got it!"

Alec drains the fluids and opens up the tank. Elsa starts to fall out but Alec manages to catch her right before she can gain momentum. She's still unconscious which doesn't surprise the Westergaard at all.

"She should be okay, but…"

 

Suddenly a massive wave of energy shoots out from the streets far from W.A. Industries. Alec immediately locks onto it and is befuddled at its appearance. Beautiful colours, all swirling and dancing with one another as they spiral around a certain area. To no surprise, this pushes against the layer of shielding Alec put up on his way to Elsa which has saved the building from being destroyed during the fight. It likely only lasted because it's the same energy Alistair uses to battle.

 

Alec keeps Elsa in his arms just in case.

"Come on Hunter, (Y/N)… you gotta pull through on this one!"

 

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Hunter pulls the sword out of your chest and throws it away, which just makes it return to your holowatch.

"(Y/N)! You gotta…" His train of thought disappears when he sees your wound slowly healing. "What the…"

"It's over, Hunter!" Alistair shouts from above, getting Hunter to look up at him. While the attention is off you, your mind becomes conscious again. Your body is stiff but your eyes are opening. "It pains me to kill my sons… but I have no choice. So please, make it easy on both of us…" He opens his palm towards you both. "So just… die."

He unleashes a massive wave of energy at the two of you. You're still stiff and unable to move how you could. The blast is too large for Hunter to carry you out of. He looks back at you, seeing that your eyes are open. He gives you a soft smile before gripping your wrist with both hands and spinning around.

"Hunter, wai-"

He lets go mid swing, sending you hurling from the location. Your eyes are locked, his content, yours distraught. Every second seems to be hours as you soar through the air looking at your brother. Yet he's not scared, no scheming… no regrets. He can't do anything anymore. His time is up. Though he's looking at you, his mind is on his love, Gaia.

 

_Take care, Gaia… I'm sorry._

 

He gives you one final nod, telling you it's okay. The blast finally reaches him and absorbs his form. You reach out for him but it's no use. The blast takes him, kills him. You crash on the ground, sliding for a few moments. You push yourself off the ground and look to Hunter's location but there's nothing left… he's gone.

 

Alistair sneers.

"Damn Hunter… he couldn't just give up. Defiant to the end… stubborn."

 

You clench your fist to the point that you draw blood.

 

_Hunter… you gave your life for me. You'd fought for this your whole life yet you left it to me. Why does everyone do it? Rain wanted to, Elsa did years ago, that other one… so many people put their lives on the line and I…_

 

_"Just transform one more time," Shadow's voice echoes._

_One more time…? One more transformation to end it all…_

_"Just transform one more time."_

 

A new power swirls around you, this time not just white, but every colour one could imagine. The aura beams through the clouds, past the atmosphere. Alistair can't even get close from the pressure its creating. Almost all of central Arendelle is destroyed by this mere power-up, leaving the outskirts a large hole in the main city that's completely barren whilst the rest of the city, minus the outer areas, simply damaged by the battle. The beautifully coloured energy comes back around you, forming a silhouette that only Alistair can see… one of a Dragon.

 

The Dragon seems to roar, releasing more power, before swallowing you. With that, you let out a scream that could shake anyone to the very core as this power becomes one with you. After nearly thirty seconds everything goes deathly silent. It's almost deafening to Alistair. His chest heaves up and down as he watches you, now standing completely still. You relax your body, move your feet closer, and look up at Alistair with your new eyes. No longer are the completely white. Your iris, pupil, everything is back but your eye colour is different. Your iris is swirling with those beautiful bright shades that you unleashed mere moments ago.

 

"He's… different… I can feel it… my body's trembling… I've…" He looks to his hand as it shakes. "I've never… felt this before…" He looks back to your location but you're no longer there.

 

He dashes back but is stopped midway by a figure. He quickly backs up and spins around to face you, floating calmly behind him.

"One last transformation," you state. "It's over, Alistair. I'm not losing anyone else."

Alistair charges his fist and slams it into your cheek… but you don't flinch. You keep staring at him with your new eyes. Simply by intensifying your stare, Alistair is pushed back by pure force. He's a helpless child until you release him from this invisible whirlwind, and even then he continues on for a few feet just from momentum. He finally stops himself right side up and eyes your intimidating form.

 

_My punch didn't even phase him… then…_

 

Alistair quickly fires off an energy blast that engulfs your body. Once he stops firing the blast passes by and you're still standing still, unaffected by it. You furrow your brow a split second before you appear right in front of Alistair, your hand embedded into his stomach.

 

"Dragon Fire," you whisper into his ear.

A surge of flame burst through Alistair's stomach and out his back. A large, flaming Dragon swirls through the air, letting out its roar while being free. Both Alec and the News helicopter are in awe at this sight, never before seeing something like this. Then again, the entire battle was something new to the whole world.

 

The Dragon circles back, mouth open, and bites down over you both.

 

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This is the second time you've been here. It's almost like your own dimension inside this Dragon. But it's far different than when you were here with Adgar and Idun. No longer is it simply fire and emptiness. A certain glow surrounds both you and Alistair as you stand in front of each other.

 

Alistair breaks off to look around at his new surroundings.

"I see… you beat me," he humbly accepts.

"You don't seem angry."

"Hm… I am, to a degree. But you are my son," he smirks. "As a father, I have a certain… pride, I suppose. All parents want their children to be better than they are."

"Your plans are destroyed, you're dead… yet you still smile just because you're proud of me?" You say through your teeth.

Alistair shrugs, slipping his hands into his suit pockets.

"Correct. If I was to die by anyone it's best that it was by you."

 

You clench your fist.

"You… why…" You shake your head. "WHY DID YOU DO THIS? YOU RUINED WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN A NORMAL LIFE JUST OVER SOME VENDETTA!"

Alistair solemnly shakes his head.

"Watch everyone you love die then tell me it's ‘just some vendetta.'" He shakes his head. "In fact, you had a similar vendetta all this time. You chased after me, determined to stop me. Is that not a vendetta?" You remain silent, nothing to rebut him with. "Exactly. But it doesn't matter. I predicted this outcome… and I'm okay with it. Just do me one favour before I go."

"What?"

Alistair walks up to you and places a hand on your shoulder.

"Live up to the Knight name. You're not normal, (Y/N). Don't force yourself to be."

 

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The Dragon explodes, dissipating into a beautiful display of swirling fire. All that's left there is you, alone… the last Knight. But there's no point in dwelling on your loneliness. You're aware that Elsa's on top of the building with Alistair's machine. You still need to destroy that before it can release the nanomachines. Without a second thought, you burst towards the building and land before Alec and Elsa.

 

"Elsa!" You happily smile.

Elsa, now awake, is being supported by Alec.

"(Y/N)… you're…"

You immediately embrace her, letting your Drakon power dissipate. She hugs you back, though her strength is minimal after being unconscious for so long.

"I've… I've missed you so much. I didn't…" Tears threaten to fall from your eyes.

"It's okay, I'm here… we're here…" She calmly says. "Let's just… go home… I wanna go home."

You separate yourself from her and smile.

"Of course. Alec, right?" You say, turning to face him. "Thanks for taking care of Elsa."

Alec shrugs.

"It's no problem. Everyone else is being treated below."

"Really?" Your eyes light up. "I can't thank you enough. I just…" Your fist tightens. "Hunter… I couldn't…"

"Hunter is…" Alec huffs, eyes drifting away. "I see. Well… his death was not in vein. We've won… all that's left is Alistair's machine."

 

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Deep in Alistair’s room the picture of him starts to change. Flip… one half is Alistair, with and X over him. The other…

 

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You hand Elsa over to Alec and walk towards the machine.

"I'll deal with it."

 

"You’ve done quite enough.”

 

**One more chapter! Well, two more… well, shut up. The finale unofficial ending of Project's Past is next chapter which will hopefully be out within the month. I want to get it out by the 25th since that's my three year anniversary but I won't rush myself. Either way Project's Past will be done in August, then officially done in September. It's been a long road and I'm happy to see all of you still here. I'll catch you in the next chapter!**

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	56. Act 3 Finale - Clash of Ideals, The Battle for the Future!

#  **Act 3 Finale - Chapter 56: Clash of Ideals, The Battle for the Future!**

 

"You've done quite enough," the voice echoes through your body.

 

Your muscles beginning spazzing, your power fluctuates beyond anything you've ever felt before. It's like power is attempting to crawl out your pores, your eyes, nose, mouth, every opening. You fall to your knees and let out an agonizing scream while your body undergoes this change. Elsa tries to run to your side but she's physically unable to. All she can do is watch in horror as you wail. However, both Elsa and Alec are shocked when they witness a dark aura expunging itself from you, slithering across the ground and stopping two feet away. More and more pools out of you until the last molecule is taken and added to this new being. You huff and puff, leaning on one knee as you wait for… whatever's about to happen.

 

The essence slowly molds itself together, starting with legs and moving up to the hips. A waist, torso, arms, all these things are formed from it. What you and Elsa notice is they're all inspired by you, presenting a perfect reflection that's more accurate than a mirror. Finally, the head and face are put together, with hair being used as the final touches. A new human stands before you, subtly stretching each part of his body.

 

"Amazing… it worked. All my preparations… and it worked," he marvels to himself.

As you get yourself back onto your feet he looks to the machine Alistair created.

"Three steps down, under the…" He kneels down and rips off a tile.

 

Below it is a holowatch, which he snatches up and equips on himself. You keep your eyes on him, making sure he's making no sudden movements towards Elsa or Alec. Who this person is baffling. Shadow and Carnage are dead, Hunter is dead, Alistair's dead… there's nobody left who could assume this persona. The man selects a preset, making his watch glow. It basks him in light as he's clothed with a pure black suit. The glow disappears and he looks down at himself, a clear sign of content. He then clothes his eyes and takes a deep breath and proceeds to exhale.

 

"Fresh air… for my own body," he smiles. He then opens his eyes and looks to you. "Hm, all confused and scared? I don't blame you, I told you nothing. I suppose it doesn't matter though. Like what I did with you, I managed to give you the majority of my spirit, enough to give you…" He rolls his wrist. "And I… the full Drakon power. I couldn't risk this against Carnage but it worked out anyway, so no matter."

 

"Wait… Shadow?" You question with relief. "You're alive? You're okay?"

"I would say so," he smirks. "I'm finally free… finally my own person," he stretches his neck side to side. "I barely have to get used to this body, either. Drakon power flows through it like yours."

You can't keep your excitement contained. You rush Shadow and embrace him in a hug. He's slightly surprised… but he doesn't return the gesture.

"I never thought I'd ever see you in real life… this is… Elsa, this is Shadow!" You release Shadow and stand to have both people in your view.

Elsa smiles at him, bowing her head.

"We've met… though I admit he was always something I… well…"

"No need for words, Elsa. Alec, if you would take Elsa into the building? She should get some rest."

 

Alec hesitantly nods, completely uneasy at the situation.

"R-Right… (Y/N)," he says, getting your attention. "Um… good job. I, uh…"

"Alec," Shadow repeats.

"Right, she needs help. Come on, Elsa. Let's get you a place to lie down. They can… finish things here."

"Okay… I'll see you inside, (Y/N)," she smiles.

You close your eyes and smile at her.

 

Alec brings the woman inside and to the first elevator. The moment it closes Alec takes out his phone and taps into the security network.

"Your family is at your house," he states, looking through the feed. I'll secure the building with the same protection as this one."

Elsa looks at him with a perplexing stare.

"Why?"

 

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You watch as Alec takes Elsa into the building then let out a sigh of relief.

"I can't believe it's finally over, huh?"

"Almost," Shadow responds, slipping one hand into his pocket while raising the other towards the machine. "Just a few more things to do."

His hand begins glowing a darkened light before unleashing a blast almost identical to Alistair's. It disintegrates the device and all the nanomachines held within it. 

"Whoa! You can do that too now? I guess you do have all my abilities," you point out.

"You did this against Alistair?" He inquires, turning back to you.

"Well, no, I didn't have to," you shrug. "But I still know I can do it. Kinda like an inborn thing, you know? Guess it's our unique Drakon power?"

Shadow nods.

"I do indeed. Now, onto other matters." Shadow walks to the edge of the building, staring off at Arendelle which, from the battle between you and Alistair, is a quarter destroyed. "You know, I'm happy you defeated Alistair. It's more satisfying this way."

 

You follow Shadow to the edge of the building and stand next to him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if you had lost then I simply would have taken you over and killed Alistair myself, eventually."

"Eventually?" You asked, perplexed.

"But now… Alistair is gone and it's just you and I. I'll become the new Monarch."

You step back, facing him completely.

"W-What? What're you talking about?" You shout at your counterpart.

Shadow shakes his head.

"You really are an idiot, aren't you?" He snickers, turning to face you. "Think about it for a moment, (Y/N). If there's three of us, you being independent, Carnage being a representation of mother, what does that leave for me..?"

 

Your eyes widen when the final piece clicks.

"Alistair…" You mumble.

"Indeed," Shadow nods. "I am the embodiment of Alistair, but by no means does that make us identical. I don't care for his nanomachines, his advanced humans. The Hierarchy is too useful to do away with, and thus I've spent the past few months solidifying my place as the Monarch. My only promise was to kill Alistair, which you have done for me," he smiles. "But if you had lost I would have sided with Alistair, for a time. He did teach me much."

 

You clench your fists at his words. You can't believe what he's saying, how he can so confidently claim all this.

 

"How? We were always together! You couldn't possibly-"

"That doesn't matter, (Y/N)," he shakes his head. "This world deserves its Arbiter, its hero. What better symbol of power and peace than a Drakon. It's in our blood."

"So what, you'll just become a dictator like him? Take over the world?" You scream, body tensing up every second.

"I suppose… maybe. It depends on what the world thinks. They're watching us right now, you know," he looks to the news helicopter recording the two of you. "They're watching the turning point of the world."

"No, this isn't what we wanted!" You throw yourself to the side. "We-"

"You, (Y/N)," he assertively cuts you off. "What **_you_** wanted. I am not **_you_**. I have never been **_you_** and I will never be **_you_** ," he says with pure malice. "And we're going to make that clear right here, right now."

 

"Shadow… I don't want to fight you!"

He chuckles, turning back towards the city.

"You have to. Don't you remember, two Drakons cannot exist in one timeline. You can feel it already, can't you? Storms brewing, oceans flailing, the earth itself starting to shake. If we both live then everything dies. I know I'm going to kill you. If I can't then you'll kill me. If you can't… well..."

 

You struggle to find the words but Shadow doesn't give you the time.

"Take a moment. I'll meet you down there."

Shadow jumps off the building to leave you to your thoughts. You're stunned, mortified.

 

_Shadow… what have you been doing? The new Monarch? Training with Alistair? How? When? I always thought we knew each other, but… you've been hiding so much, haven't you, Shadow?_

 

You release your tension and take a breath of fresh air.

 

"But you're right, like always," you say to yourself. "I hate that you are, but… if we both live… Elsa… everyone. Damnit, Shadow…"

 

You hop to the side and fall down the building. Your clothes and hair ripple and flow as the wind pushes against your speed until finally, you come to a sudden landing just in front of W.A Industries. Shadow is standing on the street, staring up at the forming clouds.

 

"We don't have much time, (Y/N). Let me show you a true Drakon… someone who accepts the responsibility of this power and will save this world!" Shadow tightens his fist and summons his power. Similar to you, colours start swirling around him all the way into the sky. Unlike you, his colours are darker, cooler. The energy swirls into a Dragon, consumes Shadow, and his form is complete. Like you, he has his eyes and they're a darker shade than your bright ones. He smiles at you, proud of his power.

 

"I used this power to defeat Carnage! I've proven why I deserve this power! Proven that I'm not just a shadow to be overlooked by you!" He throws off his suit jacket, leaving just a dress shirt. "And I'll show you why right here, right now."

You step opposite to Shadow, facing him from down the street. You clench your fists and summon the power dwelling inside you. An ever changing aura erupts from you, waving like a flame while your eyes assume their various colours.

 

The world shakes at your tension. Volcanoes are bubbling, rain clouds are covering the entire world with lightning to accompany them, tornados and hurricanes are in their starting stages, earthquakes are popping up in a few places. The battle has yet to begin and the earth is already scared by the two of you.

 

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Alec leads Elsa out of the elevator the moment it opens. He brings Elsa into the rejuvenation room and sets her down on the nearest chair.

"We'll be going to the safe room in a moment. I just want to…" Alec pauses mid-sentence to take out his flask and have a drink. "Lock these guys down and send them to the room too. I feel like Alistair planned all of this… the design and security of the building," he speaks, not directly to Elsa.

"Why? There's nothing left…"

Alec chuckles, imputing commands and codes into the computer beside the tanks.

"The battle is reimagined. (Y/N) against the Monarch. Damn Shadow, I thought my brother would be the one wanting to take over but no… it was Shadow who found them all, convinced them he was better… if they really are so powerful…"

 

The tanks are covered in a thick metal and shot down through the floor.

"Perfect," he smacks the console then runs to Elsa. "Come, we're going down there too. We can watch the fight from there."

"Fight? But…"

"We have no time, Elsa. I'll answer everything later!"

 

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"I thought we were on the same side…"

"We were…"

 

You both remain as still as statues until the first lightning strike hits. The very instant the lightning appears you two clash, cutting through nature's extension with each of your punches. Both punches cut through each other, sliding to a stop while lightning flickers along your fists. You hit each other, you know it. You both feel the pain in your own stomachs. You both slide on your dominant leg, turning yourselves around and dashing at each other once more. Your auras flair as your rush each other with an intensity rivaling even your Dragon ancestors. Your fists clash, Shadow dodges your second punch, you catch his knee, he lands an elbow, he guides away your foot with his own then spins and kicks you away. You fly through several buildings, all shattering by such a small impact. Shadow blasts off from his location, the dark colours of his aura leaving a streak behind him.

 

You curl into a ball and land feet first against the side of the mountain. You focus for a second before pushing off and flying towards Shadow, utterly destroying the mountain with a shockwave that blasts even further to tear apart the earth behind it. Shadow's caught off guard by your fast recovery which allows you to hammer an earth shattering fist directly in the center of his face. The force alone sends a shockwave through Shadow that splits apart the clouds above.  Your counterpart is sent soaring through the air at light speeds, but you go even faster, getting around and above him to execute an energy amped hammerfist to the same spot you hit before. Shadow instantly crashes into the ground miles outside of Arendelle. Shadow's impact results in an explosion that decimates everything within a ten-mile radius, which includes the outskirts of Arendelle.

 

You notice the impact and scold yourself.

"Damnit, I have to bring this fight away from the city. If I could, away from this planet. We might-"

 

Shadow bursts out of the dust, his arm cocked for a punch. You block it with both forearms but the force still pushes you farther into the air. You slip your back hand out and slam It just before Shadow's elbow, guiding his body over yours and upside down. Once he passes over, you spin around and drive your foot into his chest. He spins in the air but recovers quickly, eyes locked on you. He attempts to blitz you, nearly teleporting in a zig zag formation. You can tell he's getting more serious, that the warm-up is nearly over. You predict where his next appearance will be and charge an energy blast to fire. You follow through, but miss. Shadow appears behind you and his fist comes from above, catching your cheek while you turn around and forces you deep into the ground far below. Once again, you demolish the impact area just from sheer force and power.

 

Shadow relaxes somewhat and examines the damage. He doesn't want to destroy anything either so he'll have to think of a way to keep you both away from cities… but even he, with his fighting wisdom and control, might get carried away with this fight. Though winning means going 100%, that could destroy half the solar system. It's tricky – there's no way to really save everything. All either of you can do is fight your hardest to defeat the other.

 

He knows you're still in the crater and decides to not allow you to retaliate. He flies even higher than he is and fires a volley of energy blasts down upon you. Each break through the surface of the planet more and more, shaking up the foundation and ruining Earth itself. He keeps up his barrage until he feels a shift in the wind. You appear beside him, momentum already gathered, and drive your heel into the side of his face. Your entire right sleeve and a few inches into your chest are gone from taking a few of his shots. Shadow recovers fairly quickly but you're on him instantly. The two of you trade blows, you being more on the offensive while Shadow weaves and blocks the majority of your attacks. This midair combat brings you over the city once more, closer to the seashore. Shadow grabs one of your punches and spins around, throwing you to the city below. You spiral back to the ground but still have control over your body. You curl into a ball to land, then immediately push yourself right to dodge Shadow's incoming foot. He snarls at your maneuver, keeping you in his sights, and follows with a large energy wave in your direction.

 

You slide your hands and feet along the ground as you look to the incoming blast.

"In the city?!"

You throw your hands forward and catch the beam, though it continues with its momentum and pushes you along the street.

 

_This much power… does Shadow not know how to control his power completely either?_

 

You throw your hands up to toss the blast away from the planet and into deep space. That one moment that your hands are up and your guard is open Shadow attacks, another blast in his right hand.

 

_It's really like…_

 

You jump back and wrap your legs around Shadow's torso.

"What?"

You flip backward, slamming Shadow to the ground and letting you sit on top of him. You extend both hands in front of his face and release your own blast point blank into his upper body. The beam absorbs Shadow and passes into the planet, going through the core and out the other side. Once the beam finishes you push your knees off the ground and fly away from Shadow, taking a position above any buildings.

 

The smoke clears and Shadow is standing in the crater, the upper part of his shirt completely gone. He looks down at the shirt and snickers.

"I could repair this, but it shows our progress, no? Much like your arm there," he points out.

You look at your arm and realize your clothes are gone. Returning your gaze to Shadow, you huff.

"You weren't lying, were you? You really have trained with Alistair?" Shadow nods at your statement. "But… when? When were you training, taking over the Hierarchy?"

Shadow crosses his arms.

"When you were sleeping, of course. All I had to do was make sure we were tucked in. While you were fumbling around in Corona and Sanfransokyo I was assembling a new leadership, learning about our enemy, our family. Did you know we're the last of our bloodline? That Alistair's family was murdered?"

 

You clench your fist.

"I… would you blame me for not caring?" You slightly shrug. "I didn't know those people."

"I feel the same, but it helped me learn about our father. His goal was admirable, one I want to attain with this power… especially with this power. It's our responsibility."

"Responsibility to reign over regular people? No!" You throw your hand outwards. "That's not what our power is for!"

"Is it not? Our power is meant to change the world! Look at Ryu and Carnage! Ryu is the King of Arendelle, someone of power and influence. He'll change his world. Carnage would have changed his world's fate too!"

"He would have destroyed it!" You retort.

"At least he's doing something!" Shadow shouts back, losing composure for a moment. He clears his throat and returns to normal. "It doesn't matter. I'll become the new Monarch and I'll change this world for the better, as is my duty as a Drakon."

 

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Rhaegos and Ryu reside atop of the mountain, staring into a rift in time that allows both to view the battle.

"You knew they'd fight, didn't you?" Ryu poses.

"Of course. I showed Shadow how to split himself from (Y/N). If they'd stayed together… it wouldn't have gone well."

"Their timeline's falling apart. How is this better?"

"It isn't. If one of them doesn't die in ten minutes… no, if they release their full power it would be five…"

"The timeline will collapse in on itself?" Ryu assumes.

Rhaegos nods his large head.

"Indeed. But this needed to happen. Two Drakons cannot be in one timeline, even if they are in the same body."

 

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Shadow flies up to match your height then flares his aura indicating he's releasing more power.

"No point in holding back any longer." Shadow clenches both fists as even more power surges through him. "HYAAAAAAAAA!" His aura breaks through the clouds, shaking the entire solar system with his power alone. He smiles at the feeling of his energy running through him. "How long do you think you can keep up with me?" He smirks.

 

"Tsk, fine! HYAAAAAAAAA!" You mimic his movements as your power flares up as well. Both auras swirl around each other, even after you're done powering up. "All cards on the table, no holding back!"

 

 

Rain begins pouring down all over the world… but not for you two. In your perspective, the rain is as slow as a snail – as if it's not moving at all. You both rush at each other once more, moving instantaneously from one place to another. Shockwaves fly from each impact, and at your speed, the entire battlefield is filled with these attacks. They proceed away from Arendelle and over the ocean, becoming faster and faster.

 

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The moment the elevator doors open the entire building shakes. Alec brings Elsa close, keeping against the sides of the elevator to stabilize them both.

"Hold on… we're safe…"

Once the shaking stops he brings Elsa into an extremely small room that could be mistaken for living quarters. A bed, television and couch, table, fridge, stove, and even a separate bathroom.

"This is a safe room?" Elsa questions. "It's… homey. Where're the others?"

"They're inside the walls. Don't worry, they're safe," Alec declares, pacing to the television and turning it on.

He quickly grabs the remote and goes through all the settings.

"Hm, as he said… clouds have covered the entire planet."

 

Elsa stops inspecting the room and instead looks at the screen.

"Is that…"

Alec nods.

"The planet. Our satellites have the entire planet covered and it looks just like this. Sadly… that's not the worst of it."

 

Alec switches to a view under the clouds. As a consequence of you both releasing your full power, the planet itself is falling apart. The land is breaking apart to reveal the red glow beneath in both desolated and populated areas, swallowing buildings, wildlife, and flora all over. Underneath the grey clouds sits a mix of dark blue, green, and red. The temperature fluctuates, ice burgs forming and melting all at the same time. Not even the planet can comprehend the changes anymore. Drakon power is morphing the planet into something that will inevitably destroy itself.

 

Elsa covers her mouth in pure shock.

"This is… because…"

Alec sighs.

"Alistair said that if it came to this the planet couldn't handle it. But to this degree… I think we've lost a few cities… maybe millions of people."

Elsa falls to her knees, tears rolling down her face.

"I can't… I… Why is-"

"They can't help it," Alec says, kneeling before Elsa with a hand on her shoulder. "My guess is neither wants this to happen. Seems this really is unavoidable…"

 

Alec stands up straight and takes out his flask, downing whats left of it.

"You're safe from any violence here. Perhaps…" Alec's eyes catch something on the monitor. He takes a closer look, grabbing the control he set down on the couch and flips through channels. "Is that… that's impossible."

"What?"

"It's raining."

Elsa wipes a few tears away, her sadness being overridden by confusion.

"So?"

 

Alec flips through channels, checking every angle that's still available to him around the world.

"They're so fast… it's raining all over the world, yet… not a single drop is touching that ground. Underneath the clouds is another layer of rain, desperately trying to coat the planet."

Elsa focuses on the screen a little more after wiping away the final tears. What Alec says is true, both about what's happening and about it being impossible.

"Does that mean they're… everywhere?"

Alec nods in disbelief.

"Could they be perceiving things at such speeds? Would minutes to us feel like hours to them? They'd have to… to move so fast that you're everywhere at once… Elsa," he turns to the woman. "Your fiancée is… not normal."

Elsa snickers despite everything.

"I know… I know he isn't." Her mind goes back to a dark place when she thinks of the harm you're doing. "How did it come to this..?"

 

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Two streaks fly over a city near half around the world from Arendelle. They clash once, twice, three times, shaking the planet with each clash. Shadow bursts towards you and slams his elbow into your back, sending you spiraling down to the planet. You slam headfirst into the planet and pushed even farther by a follow-up kick from Shadow. Moments later lava bursts from the impact area. Shadow flies a meter back, smiling at his attack… until you fly out of the lava and punish him with an uppercut to the jaw followed by a spinning kick. Once you follow through with the motion you jolt forward and follow Shadow into the city of Agrabah.

 

It's a beautiful city if you had time to stop and look at it. It's a technological marvel, mostly due to the Hierarchy's influence. However, the city is split in two by the fissures in the planet from your battle. You know the citizens are hiding away somewhere since you can't hear any talking or breathing. You're safe to continue fighting to your hearts' content.

 

You hover mere centimeters away from Shadow as you place your hands against his stomach and unleash an energy blast to send him barreling down into the ground below. The blast explodes on contact which results in a section of the city being disintegrated by the blast. You dash away when another blast shoots out from the dust. Shadow bursts out from below you, coming up with another blast charged in his hand. You fly faster away, towards the nearest ocean. You're still facing Shadow as you fly backwards, knocking back every blast he shoots your way. He sneers, crushing the blast in his hand and proceeding with more up close and personal attacks. He blitzes you, landing a strong back hit and following up with a punch to the ribs with his other hand, and attempts an elbow to your jaw but you catch it with your right arm which is now caught between your chin and his elbow. You return the favour by snapping your elbow to his across his face, slamming it into his nose, then following up with a punch with your left hand. Shadow slams his forehead against yours before the fist can connect. He grabs your head with both hands and slams it against his knee three times, backs up, then drives his foot into your neck, sending you down into the water. In a large explosion the water is shot in all directions but for you and Shadow its nothing at all.

 

Shadow throws his hands forward and follows your movements. His hand stops when he realizes you're sinking further and further into the water below. Having a moment, Shadow retracts his hands and closes his eyes. He keeps your location in mind, using his control over the water to keep track of you. The other half of his mind feels for the state of the planet. With all the control over the elements he senses the planet's pain. It's possible for both of you to put the planet back together, halt the tornadoes, stop the hurricanes, give pause to the tidal waves… but it would be like putting a band-aid on a dismembered arm – pointless.

 

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Your arms are crossed as you sink farther and farther into the ocean's depths. You know Shadow isn't moving thanks to your control over the air. If he comes after you it'll be easy to sense. That's not the only thing you can feel, however. All the destruction the planet's facing is pounding in the back of your skull as if your body is the one falling apart. Though your body and the planet have two things in common: you can heal neither at the moment.

 

_If I don't end this soon the whole planet will be destroyed beyond repair. I think I can fix it, maybe, but the feeling of our timeline… Shadow can feel it too, I know it. The planet won't matter soon enough. But how can I beat him? We cancel out any element based attacks except this new energy power. Is that how I have to win?_

 

You uncross your arms and look at your hands.

 

_Do I have to unleash everything? But… if I do…_

 

You tightly clench your fists.

 

_I don't have the control over this power as the Elements. We've already destroyed so much just because of my… our… inability to handle this. If I mess up I might destroy everything… but if I don't try everything everyone would die anyways. I can't… but Shadow… why… you're my best friend… I don't want to go all out against you._

 

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"Must I use all my power to end him? Perhaps like I did with Carnage," Shadow mumbles to himself. "Carnage couldn't counter that… so he can't either." Shadow nods. "I have to. We have little time."

 

Shadow pulls his hands closer to his body, taking control of elements around him.

"It's only fitting that I kill both this technique, but this time… I can lace it with energy instead of fire!"

 

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You flip yourself right side up when you realize you've sunken into the sunless section of the sea. Despite feeling the earth's collapse, despite feeling for Shadow… there's something else that creeps into your mind. Someone or something is down here somewhere, you can feel it. This small distraction allows Shadow's attack to catch you. Hundreds of roots sprout from the bottom of the ocean and attack you.

 

"What the-"

 

The roots sprout around you, dozens grabbing each fragment of your body as it lifts you towards the air. You attempt to break free but it's pointless.

 

_This isn't normal wood! I can't even manipulate it!_

 

Roots continue to grow at an exponential rate all around you, forming the base of an immense tree that surpasses the size of even the largest city. Finally, it bursts out from the water, finally forming a completed tree a fair distance above the water. Branches, leaves, all these things come to life as well, all with a dark golden glow off of every section.

 

"I hope you find solace in the fact that I'll take care of this world, (Y/N). I'll even make sure Elsa is safe."

 

Shadow extends his hands to his side as he hones energy on those two points. Shining balls of dark colours. It distorts time itself as he puts more and more power into each ball. Once full enough, he slams his palms together, conjoining both attacks into one grandiose and pointed straight at your exact location. His muscles tense as he fully releases the energy in a devastating wave of destruction. In a millisecond the beam connects with the tree, blasting through the wood and overwhelming your helpless form. The connection between the wood and his energy causes an explosive reaction with his creation. The entire tree explodes upwards, adding a second layer to his attack. The beam flies out from the planet into deep space, just passing the moon and going off to meet a new, unfortunate object. This combination blast creates a light that's visible to the entire solar system if anyone was there to see it. Even Shadow is pushed back from the intensity of this blast.

 

Shadow rests his arms once he unleashed all the energy, taking a breather as he marvels his work. The ocean below is now distorted, the water trying to compensate for the massive, sudden change. The smoke of the attack clears… and you're still there. Your jacket and shirt are completely done, your left pant leg only goes to your knee while your right has a few holes despite being mostly intact. Your body is bloodied, scorched, but you still persist. You're breathing is distorted and heavy, yet you're smiling. You know what's behind you, what that blast has done. He notices over your shoulder.

 

"A distortion in time…"

"Drakon blood mixed with pure energy. We've been leaving these around the world," you state.

"All the more reason to finish this quickly!"

 

Shadow rushes you and attacks with a hook. You block it with your forearm, duck under the following kick, and then drive your fist into his cheek.

 

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Ryu feels the mountain shake to the point where he nearly is knocked off his feet.

"What the? Is that them?" He frantically asks.

"The shockwaves they're creating are slipping through the dozens of holes they've created. Ryu, I must tend to this. Remain here and keep everything stable."

"Right," Ryu nods.

 

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Shadow continues to barrage your forearms with punches as you hold him back. Now in Sanfransokyo, your battle puts more innocents in danger. Shadow puts more power into a punch and slams you through an office building, though you're still stable. Shadow dashes around the building and catches you off guard with a kick that sends you through another building. You flip around once to stabilize yourself then grab his second kick. You spin yourself around over and over, gaining momentum that would tear the skin off a regular person, and throw Shadow straight into the ground and quickly follow. He slams into the ground to create a devastating shockwave that is caught by your intense strike to his chest. The entire city shakes when the blow connects, shattering all glass throughout the entire city. Shadow grinds his teeth as he grabs your fist and throws you over him. You slide across the street a few miles down and ready yourself for Shadow's assault. He first speeds in right shoulder first and smacks your face with the back of his right fist. You slide back from the impact only to be hit by his subsequent flurry of right kicks. Leg, stomach, face, all seem to be hit repeatedly at the same time. After three rounds you get the pattern and manage to block his foot and counter with a fist to the stomach. Shadow slides back a few meters then charges you once again. You dodge his first punch, block his kick with your forearm, throw your own punch which misses, collide fists, connect a left kick, receive a hard punch to the jaw, and retaliate with a head-butt.

 

Your battle brings you through the streets, leaving a massive cloud of dust in your trail. You go through the entire city until you reach the water's edge. You jump over Shadow's kick and fly into the air once more, spinning as you gain altitude. Shadow soars into the air to follow your course. You turn around to face the incoming enemy and raises your hands for any attacks he may deliver. Shadow amps up his speed, moving behind you in an instant then spins around and drives his foot into the side of your head.

 

Your attacks continue to make shockwaves as you proceed along the sea, breaking up the raining clouds and blowing back the water. You clash again and again all around the world, sometimes only centimeters away from each other sometimes flying around the world and clashing with more momentum.

 

Shadow finally stops it all and smacks you down to Corona, watching you crash through the castle of Corona. You land close to the ground, fearing what could happen if Shadow continues attacking. The civilians of Corona are all collected within the various rooms of the castle. As you thought, Shadow fires an energy blast straight at you. You turn your body around, still on one knee, and fires a blast out of your left hand. It collides with Shadow's which blows away the roof of the building. Some of the stone flies towards the still civilians. With your other hand, you blast the small pieces of stone away so they won't hit anyone. You put more energy into your attack as you stand up and fly out of the building.

 

You get closer and closer to Shadow, farther and farther from the civilians. Once close enough to Shadow you throw your hand to the left, redirecting both blasts diagonally into the air, then follow up with an unblockable punch that spins Shadow farther away.

 

"There are civilians down there!" You scream at him.

Shadow, once recovering, notices the people. He was too distracted from the fight. Sneering, he flies past Corona towards a nearby forest that's ablaze. A crack in the earth formed in the middle which seared everything around with lava and fire. Shadow stops far from Corona to the point where he can no longer see it. A small town or two is around, but this time he made sure to listen for any bystanders. There are none.

 

You don't bother slowing down, instead rushing him with a combination of punches intended for his face. Shadow leans his head left, right, and under to avoid the straightforward punches. He catches your right fist then throw his own punch, which you catch. Your arms are crossed, locked in a struggle to see who can overpower the other. In a sudden move, Shadow thrusts his knee towards your stomach. You counter with your own knee which leads to a constant flurry of colliding knees. You move across the forest, ocean, and finally reaching a more populated city, New York.

 

Shadow pulls back his head only to slam it into yours. Your hands unlock with Shadows allowing his to deliver a flurry of punches in your gut, bury his knee there, slam his elbow into the back of your head, then slip around to your back, sliding his arms under yours and locking them behind your head. Immediately he flips you both upside down and charges towards the ground. You both easily break all natural barriers as you get closer and closer to the earth below. Once the momentum is strong enough he pushes you towards the ground while altering his course and flying along the ground. You crash into the streets, the impact demolishing buildings, streets, anything that was on the block. He takes position higher up and raises his hand to your location.

 

"Don't pretend like you're done!" He screams, firing small blasts at your position.

Out of the dust, you backflip away from each small blast as Shadow follows your movements. He sneers, noting he won't hit you like that. He fires a few extra blasts then dives towards the ground. You flip twice in the air to avoid the extras but fail to land. Shadow bursts through the smoke and connects a kick that sends you far into the sky. He immediately soars after you to keep his momentum going.

 

"You're on the defensive! Are you losing your nerve?" Shadow taunts as he hovers over you with a blast charging.

Your eyes sharpen before surprising him with a powerful punch to his jaw and a second to his cheek. He falls back for a mere moment before snapping forward and landing a blow on you. You retaliate and initiate another clash of rapid punches and kicks, blocking and dodging. You both smash your right fists together. You try to overpower each other which leads you to collide left hands at the same time. You push against each other, teeth clenched, muscles strained. You both open your hands and unleash a blast from each hand. So much power in small spaces pushes you both back a centimeter or two. The power builds and builds in an attempt to win.

 

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

"HYAAAAAAAAA!"

 

The immense and unstable energy can take it no longer. It violently explodes, damaging both of you as the explosion grows to cover a large portion of the planet. Yet when the smoke clears you're both still hovering in midair a fair distance apart, battle damaged and fatigued. You're both panting at this point despite only fighting for mere minutes.

 

"Shadow… there's a way to pass this. We can think of something! Move one of us to that other timeline!" You propose.

Shadow clenches his fist, his hair covering his eyes.

"And you would be the one who stays here, huh?"

You keep silent since he isn't wrong. You have too much to leave.

"So I get the seconds… the consolation prize… YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, DO YOU?" He violently shouts, throwing away his calm, calculating persona. "IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT YOU! YOU'RE ALWAYS THE ONE THAT MATTERED, NOT ME!"

 

He takes a moment to catch his breath while his anger bubbles even further. In a flash, he appears in front of you and slams his fist into your face.

"I'm nothing… nothing but a shadow to you, something that nobody cares about. I've never had my own life! My own friends! I NEVER HAD CONTROL!"

You block his subsequent attacks as you speak.

"What're you talking about? You could always take over me whenever you felt like it!"

 

Shadow buries his fist in your stomach, forcing up blood, whilst he slowly shakes his head

"No. After you met Elsa… after you made friends your will grew stronger. I could no longer take control of your body unless you allowed me, or if you were asleep."

You retaliate with a strong side kick to the ribs, getting him away from you.

"That's why you always went out at night," you realize.

"Yes… it was my only chance!" He returns with another punch. "The only time I could make my mark!" Punch after punch. "I learned all the members of the Hierarchy, learned to control Drakon power far beyond you, mastered dozens of fighting styles, became the fucking future Monarch and yet you still kept up in every regard! You found facilities, evidence, your way to Alistair, unlocked just as much power and became just as skilled as I because of others!" You block his fist and counter with a hit to his shoulder, knocking him off balance, then a stronger one to his chest.

 

"So? What's wrong with finding help? Ryu and Rhaegos helped you too!"

 

"No… they helped **_you_** ," he scorns. "And yet after all this here you are standing before someone who should be superior to you and yet… yet…" He clenches his fist hard enough to draw blood. He rushes you once more, this time anger fueling his punches. "Yet I can't kill you! You who don't even want your Drakon power!" Deep in your gut. "You don't understand the responsibilities of this power!" Tearing skin off your cheek. "Why do you, someone who's granted power of the gods themselves, you, someone who has this power handed to them while I unlocked it! Why do you get to come this far! I've done everything right! You've just… just…" Shadow continues his relentless, unblockable flurry of reckless, rage fueled punches. What you don't see is a tear falling from his eye as he attacks. "You don't deserve to take my freedom away from me! I've never had your freedom, (Y/N)! I want it! I want to find someone to love me! Want to find friends! Be recognized by others to be someone other than the ‘other you.' That's all I've ever been my whole life… stuck in your body… no control," he says through his teeth with a mix of anger and despair. "I WON'T LOSE CONTROL ANYMORE! AS DRAKON I'LL GUIDE THIS WORLD, PROTECT IT, BECOME AN ARBITER THAT CONTROLS EVERYTHING! NO LONGER WILL I BE HELD BY THE SHACKLES OF YOUR MIND!"

 

His fist glows as he hits you with the strongest punch you've felt from him. He slams you into a plain south of Arendelle where farmers tend to reside. You hold your stomach as you slowly get back to your feet. His punches are sluggish, tired. He's worn out just as much as you.

 

"I… I won't let you take away life, (Y/N). I refuse it. You're my best friend, my brother… I love you more than anyone, but…" Shadow's power flairs to a point you've never felt before. He pushes back all the clouds around the world, knocks buildings over, shakes the sun itself with the pressure he's releasing now. "I won't let that get in the way of a life I never had."

 

Your hair and tattered jeans are whipping around thanks to Shadow, yet your expression remains stagnant. "That's more than your full power. For once you're letting emotions drive you. Shadow…" You look away while tears fall from your face. "I love you. You've been with me since I can remember… you've been my best friend, my brother, too. I suppose you were right… neither of us has a choice. To truly live we need to kill the other. I'm sorry I took all that away from you, but… I WON'T LET MYSELF DIE!"

 

You release the same amount of energy which causes the flow of time itself to shake. You're both threatening to tear apart more than just your stream of time with this amount of power. The timeline won't last more than a minute if this much strain is put on it.

 

"Then we pit our wills against each other!" Shadow screams, raising his hands to parallel his chest as his body shifts diagonally to face you. His ten fingers curl at varying degrees to hold the forming energy. You pull your right hand to your side, the same height at your armpit, and let your left hand move just under it, crossing your chest. You form your own ball of energy there. Each of your attacks adopts your colours, constantly glowing a different light every instant. "Our hearts, our passion, hopes and dreams, everything! It's all in this blast!"

 

You keep your gaze sharp as you focus all nearly all your energy into this final attack. There's no doubt in your mind that Shadow's putting everything he has into it. If you slip up for even a moment it's over. Everything is on the line.

 

"Now show me your will!" He shouts, letting his energy fire in a massive beam that pushes even Shadow back. You throw your hands forward, palms mere inches apart, and release another beam swirling with your colours. The beams clash in an instant, pushing water, clouds, and earth back for miles. The only thing that remains is a small bit of land you're standing on, and even that's lonely.

 

You grind your teeth as you feel the massive strain being put on your body. There's so much weight you're pushing against with just your two hands, so much power in such a small area. The beams have small specs of energy flying off as they push against one another. Second by second the power and density grows thanks to their users. Shadow pushes his body forward in a useless attempt to gain the upper hand. The entire planet starts shaking as it can no longer handle the immense pressure you're putting on it. Pieces of the earth all around the planet start lifting into the atmosphere, taking pieces of buildings, plants, animals, and any other unfortunate object that happens to be brought up. The tectonic plates of the earth shift, tearing apart cities and landmarks. Lava flows out from the cracks to swallow anything in its path.

 

You're pushed to the ground you use while Shadow is thrown farther up. The flares of each beam circles around it, becoming its own entity entirely. A constant wind is shot from your location preventing anything from coming close to you. Even Rhaegos wouldn't be able to approach this clash now. Your bones and muscles are falling apart just from taking part in this clash. Neither of your bodies can keep this going for any longer.

 

"You won't take my future away from me!" Shadow howls, hunching forward and putting every last ounce of power he has into the blast.

It expands at an alarming rate, The size of his blast exceeds that of Arendelle, and thus it begins overtaking you.

"I could say the same… to YOU!"

You throw your body forward, putting nearly everything you have into the blast. It equals Shadow's, thus stopping his advance before it can truly begin. But this is it. All of Shadow's power is in this attack. He has absolutely nothing left. Everything is being bet on this final attack for him.

 

You wince as you feel both the weight of the blast increase and the earth fall apart. There's no time left. Something has to happen.

 

Shadow's slightly pushed back by the power you've thrown into the blast. He isn't betting everything carelessly, however. He knows full well that this clash will tear your bodies apart. However your body is more injured than his, thus you'll end up giving in before him. There's nothing left but to wait you out until he eventually-

 

The blast in front of him breaks apart as you burst from it, right in front of him. Your eyes are sharp, fist clenches, body tense. Shadow cannot react. He just watches as your charged fist inches closer and closer. Behind you, despite seeing his energy blast, he can clearly see an ethereal Dragon made of bright colours.

 

"DRAGON SOUL!" You scream, shoving your fist straight into Shadow's gut.

Shadow screams as you push him farther and farther into the sky. You're unseeable anymore by Shadow. It's only the Dragon. Finally, once passing over the clouds, the Dragon's mouth opens and swallows Shadow whole.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You and Shadow stand in the middle of a completely empty space in time. Unlike the other times when it was completely white, the surroundings mimic your aura and eyes in its ever changing fashion.

 

"You… how did you…"

"My body wasn't going to outlast yours, I knew that," you say, crossing your arms and taking a breath. "But you were more fatigued – you had less power."

Shadow shakes his head, scorning himself.

"Huh… you're more perceptive than I gave you credit for… and I lost because of that."

"Shadow… I didn't know you… that I took your life away from you," your eyes drift to the non-existent plain. "I guess I just thought we'd be together forever, or…"

"Please," he chuckles. "You knew something had to happen. Don't lie to me. It's true that I don't like the results, but by no means will I be a poor loser. You bested me. There's nothing else to it. My dream, and by extension, Alistair's dream dies."

 

You clench your fist then adamantly shake your head.

"Shadow, you're right." Shadow raises a brow at your words. "I don't like the thought of ruling over people, and I won't, but… you have a point. I don't think I can just sit by with this much power and not do anything. After everything I've been through… seeing Ryu and Carnage, Elsa and Anna, and Hunter… I can't hide away anymore. I promise you, Shadow, as my best friend, I will carry on your will."

 

Shadow snickers.

"A regular super hero, huh?" Shadow crosses his arms. "You do what you want, (Y/N). You proved your path was correct. But… if you really mean what you say…" Shadow raises his arm diagonally. "Then I'll wish you luck. You're a Drakon. You're the last one standing. Shape the world as you see fit."

You hesitantly raise your arm and touch forearms like you did years ago. Shadow adopts a smile that you've never seen his face bear. It only lasts a millisecond before his body dissipates into small particles that surround your body. They fall on you like snowflakes, melting into your skin until he is no more. Just like that, the shadow finds light and disappears.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

The Dragon evaporates leaving you completely out of energy. Your Drakon form deactivates as your eyes close and you fall towards the dark below. For a brief moment time returns to normal for you but stops entirely right after. You land on a platform of water a few meters below, spreading out like a starfish as you breathe heavily.

 

"Rain..? No… this is…"

 

A massive beast breaks through the water and hovers just over you. It's beautiful scales and shining figure nearly blind you.

"The Leviathan… Vespera," you mutter.

"I see your father has spoken of me. Well, not your real father but I see your Dragon side, not your human one," she speaks in a calming voice that puts your mind at ease. "You're the cause of much grief and work for us, you know? We had to contain your timeline during your fight. It took all of us working as one to keep the timeline together for this long."

"Hehehe, sorry… It's not like I wanted this to happen," you say with clear signs of exhaustion.

"It matters little. I've taken the necessary procedures to rectify your damage to this planet. It's returned to normal, at least in a geographical sense. No more cracks in the earth, spills of lava, rampaging elements. Your civilizations problems are something I won't touch. You'll have to deal with that."

 

You lift your back off the ground and assume a sitting position.

"Yeah, I got that. Thank you, Vespera."

"No need. I am the guardian of the world, this timeline. That doesn't mean you can do this again, however," she says in almost a joking tone.

You snicker.

"I won't. I guess I have things to do," you say, moving now to your feet.

"One word of warning before you go, (Y/N)," she starts. "You took the other one's power again. You're amplified your Drakon power three times now."

 

You look down at your hands.

 

_So that's what he did. Does that mean… if Rhaegos said I'd be a six hundred and twenty-five… and he was… what power did you entrust with me, Shadow?_

 

"I suggest proceeding with caution. Your strength is not meant for mortals. You might cause a rebellion by the other half-breeds in your timeline."

"Other half-breeds? You mean there's more than just Drakons?" You take a step towards her.

She snickers in amusement like a mother to a child.

"And in the end, you are just mortal," is her final words before she slithers back into the depths of the ocean and freeing time from its pause.

 

With your perception of time slowed now that the battle is over, rain starts falling then stops immediately thanks to Vespula. You can feel all the natural disasters fade away and the earth correct its placement.

 

"She really did fix everything. I thought I'd have to do it. Well… I guess I have a lot of work to do. I should find Elsa first! Anna and Kristoff too!"

 

You attempt to take off and… achieve it. You stop a second later realizing you're flying without your Drakon form activated. You look at your body once more as if there's a visible change.

"You really did give me something special, huh, Shadow? I won't let it go to waste!"

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Alec and Elsa experience the scariest minute of their life. Constant explosions and shaking every second makes it feel like they're going to die any second. But soon enough it all just stops. Elsa and Alec share a look, neither having an answer to this sudden pause. Alec grabs the remote and starts checking satellite coverage of the planet.

 

"What the… everything's back to normal? No rain, tornadoes, earthquakes? What happened?"

"Is (Y/N) okay?"

Alec flips through every camera until he spots you walking into W.A Industries. He turns off the T.V and heads for the door.

"Come on, he's here!"

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

"Hunter brought them in here, right? Where did they go?" You ponder to yourself as you look around the lobby of the building.

Soon enough an elevator noise catches your ear and you turn your attention to said elevator. The doors open revealing Elsa and Alec. You smile at the beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes of your beloved. You dash across the ground and catch Elsa in a hug, spinning around as you go higher into the air.

"Elsa! I… it's finally over. I can hug you and… I can…" You lose your train of thought and simply hug her even tighter.

She hugs you tightly, though half of it being out of the fear of falling.

"Um, do you mind if you go back to the ground?" She nervously laughs.

"Oh, right!"

 

You lower the two of you back to ground level just beside Alec. You break apart and look at the Westergaard.

"So, you defeated Shadow?" Alec inquires.

"Yeah… No Monarch anymore. In fact, I think the entire Hierarchy should disband. I'll see to that."

Alec nods in approval.

"I agree. But that's easier said than done. Besides, the planet is… well, your battle did a toll on a lot."

You rub the back of your head nervously.

"Yeah, we kinda got carried away. I'll try and do all I can. Maybe you can help, Elsa?" You turn your head to her.

"Of course. I'll allocate as many resources as possible to rebuilding Arendelle and all other cities affected by… you," she softly scolds.

 

You cross your arms and look out the glass door of the building.

"There's a lot to do. But first I want to see Anna and Kristoff. Alec, do you-"

"I'll get things started. First we have to let the people know that they're safe. There's a lot to clean up but I'll see to the first steps."

"I knew I could count on you. Elsa, let's go tell your sister the good news!"

 

You pick Elsa up and fly towards the entrance.

"H-Hey! What's with this flying thing!"

"It's faster, trust me. I'll go slow," you laugh.

You bring her outside then fly above the city. The destruction is clear to see for both of you, putting a dark cloud over your head.

"We'll rebuild," she reassures you, pecking your cheek.

"I know… Well, let's go!" You fly towards your house at a slower pace so Elsa can handle it. "Let's see where this takes us!"

 

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The remaining members of the Hierarchies breathe easy knowing their organization isn't in complete shambles, yet now their Monarch is dead and no one is fit to take the place. They remain silent around the table as each has their own thoughts on how to move forward. You'll come for them eventually and they have no defense against someone like you.

 

"So what do we do? Will we let our own project be the end of us?"

"It seems like Alistair wanted it that way."

"But what do we do now? We can't just wait for him to come for us."

 

The door at the end of the room opens revealing a face none have seen for years. Erik Westergaard walks in with confidence in each step. He takes a free seat and sets his arms on the table.

 

"Oh, he won't be an issue under my Hierarchy."

 

**Holy crap it's done… sort of. Still, the main story, the actual listed chapters are finally over. An epilogue will be coming in the next few days! You'd think I'd have more to say but I'll save it for the epilogue when the story really ends. I have a lot to say in the next author's note so… well, I'm just glad you all were here to read. Thank you. Thank you all for reading up to this point. I hope this chapter lived up to… whatever expectations you had. Again, this isn't the technical end so I'm not ending it with a cliffhanger and a flying through the air ending, don't worry. I have an ending in mind that I've been saving since Act 2. I hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you again in a few days!**

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**A special thank you to Patreon supporters: GrayJack72, Ride The Lightning, Manuel Garcia**


	57. Epilogue

#  **Epilogue**

 

**One Year Later**

Elevator doors open themselves for a certain redhead holding two cups of coffee from a local store. She merrily walks through the hall, taking a peak at the emptiness of the building. There are only a handful of people in these offices at this hour, Alec being one of them. She gives him a cheery smile and wave with a few fingers as she passes by to her sister’s office. She opens the door and giggles at the sight. Elsa is laying on her crossed arms, sleeping. She never came home the night before which caused some slight worry for Anna, but Alec made sure to inform your household that Elsa was safe. W.A Industries is the safest building in the whole world, after all.

 

Anna carefully sets Elsa’s coffee down at the edge of the table as she slips around it to stand beside her sister. She gently places a hand on Elsa’s shoulder and shakes it lightly.

“Hey sis… siiiiiis,” she whispers. “Come on, it’s time to wake up.”

Elsa stirs in her sleep, yawning as her eyes lazily open and look at her looming sister.

“Anna..? What’re you doing here?” She groggily asks, still not completely awake.

“I came bearing gifts,” she sways her coffee side to side. “And also came to wake you. You’ve been here all night.”

Elsa lifts her head off her hands and rubs her eyes. The sun’s fresh from rising and the city is getting busier by the minute. She looks around for the coffee and spots it at the edge of the table, quickly grabbing it and taking a few sips.

 

“I can’t believe I fell asleep. I guess I was filing paperwork and-“

“No need to explain yourself. You’re a hard worker like always!” Anna compliments. “I’m guessing it was about the restoration whodda whadda?”

Elsa nods as she drinks a bit more.

“We’ve been helping the world with recovery and housing. Hasn’t Kristoff told you?”

Anna nods, taking a seat on the other end of Elsa’s desk.

“Yeah, a bunch of new guys have joined up with him while they rebuild the city. Amazing how much progress they’ve made in a year, though!” She praises.

“Well, that’s what we’re trying to do. W.A Industries, along with those other… people, have donated a lot of resources. Every city looks like a construction area now. Not too long until it’s done, though. Maybe another two or three years.”

 

Anna leans back in awe.

“Amazing. You know, if someone woulda told me my sister would be leading a worldwide recovery effort after my sister’s fiancée and his other half or whatever nearly destroyed it…”

“You would have believed them,” Elsa giggles, to which Anna laughs with a nod of her head.

“Yeah, maybe. Makes for a cool story, kind of.”

 

Elsa taps her nails along her coffee cup.

“How’s (Y/N)? Did you see him before you left?”

“Yep,” she nods. “He had to go find someone in Sanfransokyo or something. Those Hierarchy guys or whatever. He’s been awful popular lately,” she says before swallowing some more caffeine.

Elsa’s stare becomes distant as she thinks on those words.

“Yeah… only now have the reporters backed off, but he’s always been good about it. It’s actually funny seeing him on T.V,” she giggles at the thought. “But I suppose after what he did… well, he’s been helping with our restoration. He’s making up for the calamity.”

“I can’t even imagine what it’s like being him,” Anna leans back, daydreaming. “Then again I think Kristoff would feel insecure,” she smiles at the silly thought.

“I would think,” Elsa covers her mouth as she chuckles. “He’s been working a lot, though.”

“Almost as much as you. He’s out there rebuilding every day, but I think he likes it. He took the day off, of course. No need to worry.”

 

Elsa raises her brow as she takes a sip of her drink.

“What do you mean?”

Anna gives Elsa a perplexed look.

“Elsa… you haven’t forgotten your own wedding, have you?”

Elsa’s eyes widen and she begins coughing on her drink.

“Oh my gosh! I totally forgot! How could I forget?” She shrieks, pacing around the room. “I have so much to do! I slept here! I slept at work before my wedding!” She panics.

Anna quickly comes to Elsa’s side to ease her mind.

“Elsa, calm down! It’s at home, remember. Everyone’s known for months now. There’s no need to worry. You don’t want wrinkles before your wedding,” she jokes, making Elsa intensely stare at her. “I was kidding!” She raises her hands to surrender.

 

Elsa exhales.

“I can’t believe I forgot. What time is it?” She asks aloud whilst checking her desk clock.

“We have half a day to prepare. Want to head home now? You can shower and freshen up! You have to look better than the best!”

“Beautifuller?” Elsa brings up.

Anna giggles.

“Exactly. Beautifuller. (Y/N) won’t be home until the wedding so we have some alone time. Come on, let me do your hair!”

 

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You keep your hands in your pockets and eyes closed as you casually saunter down a darkened hallway. You’ve been here before when you cleared out the Hierarchy over six months ago. Over time you and Alec have worked together to try and tame the Hierarchy and their schemes. You keep tabs on all of them but many rebels’ radicals have been supplied with technology they shouldn’t have access too. These radicals beings in this base are a clear example of something that shouldn’t have occurred. You haven’t found any real proof that connects these groups and the remaining Hierarchy members but your suspicions haven’t quelled.

 

But you have to talk sense into these people. Their crimes, or what you assume to be their crimes, are being fixed by Gaia at this very moment. It won’t take long for you to finish here since you know exactly where you’re going. You can hear their hearts beat. No way to deceive you when it comes to locations. This base was rather small anyway, more of a forward post than an actual base. They’re in what would be considered a cafeteria. You approach the door, eyes still closed, and slip one hand out of your pocket to slide the door out of the way. A bullet is immediately shot at you. It passes by your head without you having to move.

 

“You missed,” you calmly say, eyes still closed.

“Hey, Charlie, isn’t that the guy wh-“

“A bullet kills anyone no matter how strong they are!” Another voice declares.

You snicker.

“You sure? I’ll warn you, I’m very strong.”

Another bullet is shot at you, hitting your jaw… and bouncing off. The twelve men all stare in shock as the bullet clinks on the ground. You open your eyes and gently smile at them.

“I told you, did I not?” You politely say. “Now, let’s get to the point here. You’ve been razing farmland and attacking refugee camps. Is there a point? I’m sure you have family of your own? You should know what it’s like in these difficult times.”

 

The one who shot you begins to tremble.

“What would you know… you… your demonic power! You killed my family! I watched them be swallowed into the planet because of you! What would you know?” He screams, tears rolling down his eyes.

He raises his gun and fires every bullet in the clip. Most of them end up missing while the ones that do hit merely join the other on the ground. You close your eyes as a small way to honour his family. He’s not the only one who’s lost their family because of your battle. In fact, most of the radicals and rebels have lost a lot during your conflict.

 

He continues to pull the trigger despite being out of ammunition. His friends are all silent, scared of both you and their “captain.”

“I apologize for your loss, I really do. I know what it’s like to lose loved ones… but this isn’t the way to get back at me. These people don’t deserve what you’re doing to them. They’ve lost their homes, their possessions… everything. I realize this is all my fault but that’s why I’m doing my best to help everyone recover. It’s my duty, both because I’m responsible and… I made a promise,” you whisper the last part, your mind thinking to your fallen counterpart. “So I ask you, man to man, put down your gun and come back with me. You won’t receive any punishments, I swear it. My friend has already fixed your mess by now anyway.”

 

“And if we don’t?” He growls.

You shrug.

“Then I’ll be forced to kill you. You have performed acts of terrorism, after all.”

The group shares glances, unsure of whether they should follow your command despite what their “captain” thinks.

“K-Kill us? But what about jail?”

“I offered you absolute freedom or death. Why on earth would you choose jail?” You chuckle at the notion.

The man drops his gun on the floor, still trembling.

“Fine… we… will return.”

You smile, opening your eyes.

“Great choice. Come now. I want to make sure you all leave this place.”

 

The henchmen collectively begin running for the door and head for the exit. The man ahead of you, Charlie, you assume, remains still.

“Hey, before we go,” you speak. “How’d you find this place?”

Charlie lifts his heavy head to make eye contact.

“We… just found it.”

You stare at him for a moment, studying his eyes. In the end your shrug.

“Alright. Come on, let’s go.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Gaia looks over her work with a sense of pride. Not only has she doubled the harvest, but it’s blooming better than any other she’s made. You slowly approach her from the left, hands still in your pockets.

 

“Very nice, Gaia. Plenty of food for the region,” you smile, turning to face the same direction as she.

“That was my plan. How’d your job go?”

“Same as always. Almost eerily the same,” you tell her with a concerned tone. “They all have the same reason for their crime, they all hold up in a Hierarchy base, and all say the same thing when I ask how they found it.”

Gaia crosses her arms.

“You think they’re linked? That someone’s pulling the strings?”

“Yeah, but there’s no evidence that points to anyone. But enough of that,” you wave it off. “I’m just happy to see you out and about. You’ve been helping me a bunch this month.”

Gaia looks back to the fruits and vegetables she's growing.

“Well, I couldn’t sit back and let you do everything. Now that the Hierarchy’s on a leash… I guess I’m not as scared anymore. Then again people don’t look at me strangely when my only comparison is you,” she teases.

 

You shrug.

“I suppose. It’s good to see you working, though. Your power can do a lot for this world. Are you going to be joining Rain when he goes to Africa?”

Gaia tosses her head back and forth.

“I think so. With the help of your soon to be wife, places less fortunate really have a chance.”

“With the help of you two, you mean?” You correct. “She can’t create clean water and food like you two.”

“I suppose that’s true. I guess it’s just weird seeing people be amazed and thankful for my… abilities.”

 

You gently place your hand on her shoulder.

“You can do a lot of good for the world, Gaia. Don’t forget that.”

She stares into your eyes, so full of confidence.

“Thank you, (Y/N). I don’t think Rain or I would ever… we would ever be open like this if not for you.”

You take your hand back and cross your arms.

“Well, I have to admit I’m glad someone else can do it. I have enough to do nowadays with reconstruction.”

 

Gaia looks down at your watch and sees the time.

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready? You’re wedding’s in an hour and a half.”

You nod.

“I know. You’re still coming, right?”

“Of course! Wouldn’t miss it for the world. On that note, actually, I’ll be leaving. I’ll see you soon, (Y/N).”

“Yeah, see you, Gaia.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

In the large field of property that belongs to both Anna and Elsa, a small wedding ceremony has been set up. Chairs, tables of food, music, everything a wedding should have is set up. Elsa has spared no expenses despite the wedding being quite tame. Neither of you wanted some grand wedding on the moon, despite you suggesting it could be done. No, a simple bonding with your closest friends and family is all you two desire.

 

Everyone’s here: Alec, Gerda and Kai, all of Kristoff’s family, Rain, Matt, Gaia, and Kristoff of course. Even Oaken managed to make it, and boy did he talk your ear off. A few people couldn’t make it, like the members of Big Hero 6 who’re aiding in the restoration of SanFransokyo. They already sent their regards with a letter, however. The only people who’re missing is Anna and Elsa who’re inside getting ready.

 

“Not the most conventional wedding,” Kristoff comments, grabbing some cheese off his full plate.

“I guess. We really only have you and Anna as the best people or whatever,” you say while looking over the guests. “I just kinda wanna get to that cake, if I’m being honest,” you say with a smile.

Kristoff eagerly nods in agreement.

“It looked so good! Chocolate cake, of course.”

“Oh, of course. Those two wouldn’t have it any other way. Why Anna got to dictate our cake is… well, I’m not gonna argue with Anna.”

“Don’t, trust me,” Kristoff sincerely says, though the tone is still light. “So, how’s your speech?”

You raise your brow at him. “Your speech… that you'll say at the altar?”

Your face drops, panic spreading.

“Fuck.”

 

Kristoff bursts out laughing.

“Oh man, this’ll be good. Look, everyone’s even starting to sit down. Come on, groom, time to get this started,” he pats your shoulder as he passes you.

You slam your head straight into your hand.

 

“How could I forget… goddamnit…” You scold yourself while heading to the altar.

Kai stands at the altar, acting as the priest to bound you together. He has a lot more credentials than you thought. It’s convenient, if a little odd. Still, you didn’t turn him down as to keep everything local.

 

You stand on your side of the altar, Kristoff to your left and Kai to your right.

“Are you ready, (Y/N)?” Kai whispers to you.

You take a deep breath and exhale.

“Ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose.”

 

The door to the house opens for Anna as she scurries to the other side of the altar. Her hair, make-up, and dress are perfect but nothing over the top. It’s not her day, after all, so trying to outshine the bride is basically a crime.

 

“Sorry, sorry, I’m sorry! She’s coming!” Anna blurts, getting into position. She intertwines her hands and lets them droop. She has a big smile on her face as she eyes you. “She looks great,” she mouths to you.

You bow your head to respond to her then return your eyes to the door. Thankfully Kai has agreed not to go through all the unnecessary speeches and boring monologues, meaning everything will be over within a few minutes. Elsa comes on stage, he says a few words, you read your vows, kiss, and then chat afterwards. Simple and effective.

 

The music begins to play as Elsa steps out of house. Of course her dress is a dazzling baby blue thanks to the material – ice. It’s strapless, thus it has a modest neckline that is seductive. There are small designs that connect from her dress to her arms, leaving some skin open while the design stops at her forearm. Of course the designs are of snowflakes all connected by the tips. Even her dress has unique snowflakes along the whole thing. Of course her veil conceals her face slightly, as all do. She takes one step at a time as she approaches the altar, eyes on you the whole time with a brilliant smile both of joy and eagerness.

 

She takes her position beside you, shoulders almost touching, as Kai begins his first, brief speech.

“Chose an ice dress, hm?” You whisper.

“Thought it suited me.”

“Richest woman in the world and she doesn’t even need to make her own dress,” you tease.

“I thought this would be more convenient for later. Easier to take off,” she says with ill intent.

All you can do is smile at her words, as by no means is she wrong.

 

“And now we hear the vows. Who would like to start?”

You and Elsa talk through the eyes.

“I’ll go first,” Elsa volunteers.

 

She takes a deep breath before she speaks.

 

“I remember you were annoying when I first met you,” this makes the crowd chuckle. “You got me in trouble, you wouldn’t stay quiet, and you kept talking to me. But… your persistence is the best thing that ever happened to me. I still remember the date where you got a fake snow machine just to have a silly snowball fight. You always manage to make me smile, put me first no matter the situation. Even when things were tough and we were apart I always thought of you, worried about you, and I know you did the same for me. I don’t care about your past, I don’t care about what… crazy power you have, and I don’t care what problems may arise because you never did. You always looked past that for me where others would have ran away. There’s not a single man on the planet that I could look at like I look at you. There’s not a single man that I could love like you. I’m ready to commit to you for the rest of my life. There’s nothing the two of us can’t handle, I’m sure of it. I really can’t wait to see what the future holds,” she finishes, grabbing your hands and squeezing.

 

You smile at her, though on the inside you’re panicking.

 

_Great, I have to follow that up with something random. What am I supposed to say?_

“Well, heh…” You try to find the words. If you can save the world you can make a speech. “Since I was young I knew I wasn’t normal. I mean, I was tortured by my inner demons and tangled in a web that I didn’t even know about. I suppose you could say my whole life I’ve been special, destined for something great. Well, I believe that also applies to you. Elsa, you’re the strongest, most courageous, most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. No one but you could have put up with all the baggage I came with,” you chuckle to yourself. “But even now, after everything that we’ve gone through, after all the trauma and difficulties we’ve faced over these years we’re still together, even stronger than before!” You raise her hands, taking a step closer. “And now… I’m not going anywhere. There’s nowhere else to be but by your side to the very end. I love you, love you so much. That will never change.”

 

You take a step back, your hands staying with hers.

 

“The rings?” Kai speaks.

Kristoff and Anna hand each of you the rings. You slip Elsa’s on her finger and she does the same for you.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride.”

You lift the veil and immediately pull Elsa in for a deep kiss. You both hold back a bit considering you’re in public but it’s one of the best kisses you’ve ever had with her. The crowd claps seconds before you separate and face them.

 

“Cake?” Elsa brings up.

You eagerly nod.

“Definitely.”

 

You and Elsa walk down the aisle towards the buffet table where the food resides. Everyone follows suit to both congratulate and get some of the sweet themselves. Your hands slips away from Elsa as you look to a picnic table that’s uninhabited. Everyone passes by as you stare at this spot.

 

Your former parents stand behind the seats, smiling at you. Your old friends sit down just below them, also giving you warm smiles. Olaf sits on the side of the bench, swinging his legs. The other Elsa appears to the right of the table, Pyro and Tempest on either side of her. Alistair and Juno materialize beside your other parents, holding each other close and watching you with pride. Hunter appears, sitting on the closest side of the bench facing you. Finally Shadow and Carnage appear on either side of Hunter, Shadow being on Alistair’s side and Carnage being on Juno’s side.

 

Everyone meets your gaze with warm smiles, pride, hope. They are the people who got you to this point, the people who couldn’t be here today… but they are. Even dead they made sure to arrive for your special day.

 

You slowly smile brighter than you ever have before.

 

“Thank you… all of you. I’ll never forget you. This day… this day marks the future. I will make all of you proud… I…”

 

And soon enough they all dissipate – their particles being swept away in the wind. You place your hand on your chest, a smile still present.

 

“Thank you… for being there for me.”

 

“(Y/N), come on!” Anna whines. “I wanna taste the cake!”

“Anna, it’s their cake!” Kristoff chuckles.

“But it looks sooooooooo good.”

“I have to agree, I’m eager to taste it myself,” Elsa beckons.

 

You look to your friends, then back to the table. The old and the new. The past and the future… and you know what? The future’s looking pretty damn good.

 

 

**I’ve had that planned for so long. You looking back at the people you’ve lost… ah, I’m so satisfied. I hope you are too, because this is the official ending of Project’s Past. I do have a lot to say this time so please take the time to read it all.**

**First off, thank you. Thank you all so much for reading to the end. I know sticking with a story for three years is tough but… man, it’s been hard for me too. There have been ups and downs through the process of writing this but I’m so happy with the results. I’m proud of what you and I have accomplished with this story!**

**So I don’t do this very often but I’m going to ask now. Please, leave a review. Whether it’s long or short, positive or negative, doesn’t matter. I would love to see all your thoughts now that this really is done. Also, they’re going to be used for something! I plan on making a video talking about Project’s Past, behind the scenes, reading the reviews, and just having a good time. So if you have any questions then make sure to write them in the comments/reviews! It’s also going to be a face reveal, mostly because it’s the easiest way I can make a video. I’m not very professional, to be honest. I’ll let you all know when the video is done. I won’t make it for a week or so.**

**But this isn’t the last you’ll see of Project’s Past. I have a few bonus chapters thought up. Shadow vs. Carnage which is half written but I took out, a three chapter story about finishing things with Erik, and some fluff. That being said, I won’t do those for a while. I want to return to my other stories and get more started! So those will come out in the coming months.**

**I also want to thank my two Beta Readers. Nuclear Deadline, my personal friend, was the first and she helped me for years with this story. There’s no way I would have gotten this far without her. Second is PossessedNightz who was such a pleasure to work with. They helped me a lot and I can’t thank them enough.**

**Either way, I truly hope you all enjoyed the story. And I’ll see you… another time.**

**Want to keep up with me? Know what chapter’s coming out next and the progress of them? Follow me on Twitter! Twitter . com (slash) Chinsangan**

**If you REALLY like me you could consider supporting me on Patreon. Of course you get bonuses and everything. Of course it’s optional but it helps. Pat reon . com (slash) Chinsangan**

**A special thank you to Patreon supporters: GrayJack72, Ride The Lightning, Manuel Garcia**

 

 


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